On the wall beside the door, a great stone fireplace already burning with a steady flame, and in the center of the room, a gigantic bed.
Ostentatious, really.
More than two people could ever need.
It’s perfect.
For more than one reason. Namely, for the things I can imagine doing with my mate, given that much room to lay her down and stretch my wings. But also because it means the two of us could sleep comfortably on each side without touching each other.
After our last conversation, the second scenario seems much more likely.
Seren walks ahead of me into the room, taking it all in. She sets her bag on the bench seat at the end of the bed and lets out a small, disbelieving laugh.
“What?” I ask, still half-distracted by the wonder of her, by the beauty of her, by the sheer impossibility of still having her here with me.
“All of this is just so wild, you know?”
She reaches back to undo the end of her braid, distractedly running her fingers through the long blond strands. They catch the room’s candlelight and glow a warm gold, and my own fingers ache to sink in, to wrap those strands around my hand and tip her head back, pull her to me.
“Which part?” I make myself ask instead.
“Oh, I don’t know.” She laughs again. “Being aguest at court, seeing a place like this with my own eyes. It’s just…”
“Unbelievable?”
Unable to help myself, I cross the room toward her. Stopping just a breath away, my chest clenches painfully when Seren tips her head up to meet my gaze.
“Unbelievable,” she murmurs.
She steps forward and lays her head on my chest, wraps her arms around my waist. Wings pulled forward to shelter her, both arms encircling her, I rest my cheek on top of her head and my breath leaves me in a long, shaking sigh.
“We probably have to talk about it,” she says quietly.
We do. But I’ll be damned if I want to ruin the moment. Turning my head so I can run my lips over her hair, I tighten my hold on her and sigh again.
“Where do we begin?”
Seren pulls her head back and looks up at me with a wry smile. “Let’s start with our trip to Faerie tomorrow and work backward from there.”
“So you’re set on going?” It’s not a surprise, but a heavy pit of fear still settles itself in my stomach.
My fearless witch, my brave star. I’d follow her to the gates of the brimstone realm and back, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.
“Yeah,” she says, quiet but certain. “I’m going. And it still doesn’t mean you have to—”
“Where you go, I go, star. I told you that, and I meant it.”
Her brow creases, but she nods slowly. “And the rest of it?”
“The rest of it hasn’t changed.”
Those creases deepen, and her fingers tighten on the front of my shirt for a moment before she steps back, out of the circle of my arms.
I let her go, though the space she leaves behind is hollow and aching.
“Tell me more about this contract. There’s no way to get out of it?”
I sigh and take a seat on the bench at the end of the bed. “Not unless I want to bring a whole world of trouble down on my head. Demons take the contracts and agreements we make seriously.”
