“Out.”
I’m rooted in place, and his next words come out on a growl.
“Out, Callum. Unless you're here to negotiate a new contract, I want you out of my office.”
I shake my head, searching for something, anything, the words I need to articulate my racing thoughts. “Who paid off the—”
“She didn’t tell me her name, and I didn’t ask.”
There’s only one person he could mean.
It’s strange, the feeling of having your entire world shift in a moment.
Somehow, impossibly, I’m still standing here in Myron’s office. Still in the clothes I put on this morning and still half-expecting to blink and find this has all been a hallucination and accept whatever assignment my debt means I’ll have to take.
And yet.
Everything has changed.
Life expands, my world gets bigger, possibilities stretch out in front of me in a way they haven’t in more than a decade.
“Callum,” Myron growls again. “Out.”
“Yes, sir.” The honorific comes out through force of habit, and he snorts derisively as I turn on my heel and leave the way I came.
It’s not until I’m down the stairs and out the building’s front door, back in the bustle of Traverdale at midday, that it hits me again.
I’m free.
Free of my debts.
Free of the responsibilities I’ve worn around my neck like an anchor.
Elation and relief and guilt and shame all compete for center stage in the torrent of emotions rushing through me.
But one, more than any other, pushes its way to the fore.
Love.
Love for the witch who didn’t need to do this, who set aside her own plans for her fortune to spend it on me.
Love for the stubborn, wonderful woman who will never let me retreat without a fight, who’s stronger than I am by a factor of a thousand.
Love for my star, who I won’t ever let regret it, for whom I plan to spend the rest of my life making myself worthy of being her mate.
That love pours into me, crashes over me, settles deep in my chest. My magick mixes with hers, a deep intrinsic pull that opens a portal in front of me with half a thought. Nothing could be easier. Nothing in any of the thirteen realms could ever matter more.
I step through.
43
Seren
“Another pint, love?”
I shake my head.
One is more than enough tonight, even though drowning my problems might help me forget them for a while.
