“Me neither,” she whispered.
“It is difficult to think clearly in his presence.” Or hers. But I did not need to say it. She could feel it, surely.
Koryn huffed an unamused laugh. “Imagine having him in your head.”
I couldn’t begin to fathom it.
She raked her teeth over her lower lip, again and again. I’d spent hours turning over the possibilities, trying to understand Syleris from every angle, but I could not come up with an answer. He cared for Koryn deeply. He might even hold someaffection for me. But he had his own agenda. The real question was—what would he do when those priorities came into conflict with one another? And would Koryn and I both be strong enough to resist him when it came to that?
Koryn released her lower lip from its prison and lifted her eyes from where she’d been staring off into the middle space between us.
“Garrick, I… I spoke with your mother.”
That was… news to me. My jaw locked into place, my face flattening by habit. It was not inherently bad, but my response to anything that surprised me was always to clear my face of any emotional reaction. Emotions made you easier to manipulate.
“I see,” I said.
Koryn’s brows drew together. She frowned. She’d gotten better at hiding her emotions, thanks to her efforts with Tomin and her sessions learning to control her power with Syleris. But she did not hide them from me. That was a gift—one I needed to return.
It took effort, but I let my own discomfort and uncertainty come through. My mouth tightened into a line. My eyelids opened wider. Koryn tracked the motions, even with the mask in place.
Her chin wobbled slightly as she spoke, all in a rush. “She has agreed to come with us when we leave. I offered her a place with Kyrelle. Once the curse is broken, she could build a life there.”
My mouth fell open. I wouldn’t have been surprised to look in a mirror and see that my turquoise irises had consumed the whites of my eyes entirely. Koryn had done the impossible—what I’d failed to do for years. And all of it because at a soul-deep level, she believed in… us.
“You think we will break the curse,” I said.
Her eyes glistened as brightly as the mask that surrounded them. Her smile was just as tumultuous. “I cannot consider another option.”
“My audacious, gorgeous, incredible witch.” I shook my head, emotions devouring coherent thoughts. “Thank you.” It was all I could get out.
The tears broke from Koryn’s eyes. They slid beneath her mask and down her cheeks, falling in fast droplets across the swells of her breasts.
Her fingers gripped mine.
“I love you, Garrick. I should have said it sooner. I should have said it when I knew it after the Devotion Gate. I should have said it every single day, even when I was angry with you, because it never stopped being true.”
She took me apart with words. Stripped away every part of me and exposed the parts that I’d kept inside to protect myself. Then she reassembled me into something new. A man who was worthy of her love.
“Witch,” I groaned, closing my eyes against the intensity.
“That is not the response I was expecting.” Koryn’s entire body began to tremble.
I could not have that. Not unless it was from pleasure.
I’d been so hesitant to touch her, but now I could not stop. I slid my fingers into her hair, tangling them in the mass of rich brown waves. With my other hand, I captured her hip and pulled her flush against me.
“Do you need me to tell you again, witch?” I said, tilting her head back so I could press a kiss to her jaw. “Then I will. Every day? That is not enough. I will show you I love you with every touch. When you shiver in the night, and I curl around you, I am saying I love you. When the composure I fought so hard to build falters, it is because I cannot keep any part of myself from the woman I love. You have every single part of me, Koryn. Withoutreservation and without restraint. I will love you every moment that remains to me, be my life mortal or immortal, and when we both pass from this world…”
There was nothing left to separate us. I kissed Koryn for all the time we had lost, and all the time that I prayed we would still have together. I made love to her lips the way I wanted to make love to her body—slow, thorough, with the promise of forever.
“… I will still be there, loving you. Forever,” I said, pressing my forehead against hers.
We stayed there for several heartbeats, sharing breath. We both felt the enormity of what was between us. I let Koryn breathe it in, experience it, believe it.
She slid her hand up my chest, her fingers a brand even through the thick wool of my quilted surcoat. My breath stuttered, but I did not try to calm it. How could I? I wanted her to see just how deeply she affected me.
When she rose onto her tiptoes, I was there to meet her, steadying her with a hand on her hip, tilting her head back so that I could angle myself deeper into her mouth. Koryn moaned against me, the vibration so exquisite I felt it straight down through my chest, into my stomach, and through my cock.
