He didn’t wait for her to finish. He vaulted over the half door and wrapped her in his arms.She went a little stiff, then melted into him, her hands gripping his shirt. She smelled different, like she had on that battlefield so many years ago.
“Just tell me you’re alright,” he said. “That’s all I need to hear.”
She didn’t reply, just buried her face in his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his body.
He stroked her hair, kissed the top of her head. “You don’t need to be alright.”
She laughed softly, sniffling. “I’m fine, my love. And you?”
“I’m just missing you and worrying over you.”
She searched his face, brushing a wave of hair from his brow. “No more headaches?”
Smiling, he leaned down and touched his forehead to hers. “Not one.”
Valenna let out a long sigh. “Thank the Only. But you cannot be here, Van. If my father finds out who you are … Of all the times you’ve run, and this is when you decide to stay?”
“I’ve reversed the habit. From now on, I only run toward you.”
“Can’t you go back to Silvanlight?”
“I can’t leave the Cobblepine conscripts. They need me, whether they want my help or not. And it is partially my fault that they’re here.”
She winced. “Are you angry at me?”
“Do I look angry at you?” he asked, placing his palm on her cheek and caressing her cheekbone with his thumb. “I don’t like what you did, Val. I cannot say I wouldn’t have done the same in your place. I understand.”
Words rushed out of her, frantic and staccato. “I just couldn’t bear to watch you die. Especially when it was my magic that made you ill. I made my father promise he would leave the sanctuary alone, I really did, and I knew he wouldn’t keep his promise, but I tried. I swear I tried.”
“Come here,” Evander said, tilting up her chin and kissing her soft lips. “Right now, it’s just you and me in the whole world. Nothing else matters. When the sun rises, we’ll look our mistakes in the face, but right now we’re together, where we belong, and that’s enough.”
“I've missed you,” she breathed, brushing her lips against his. “I’ve missed you so badly I couldn’t breathe.”
“Then let’s never be parted again,” he replied. He kissed her neck. “Let’s get through this so we can go home together.”
He pulled her into the tack room, shut both doors, wedged a barrel of feed against them, and then spread a blanket on the ground.
“Only if you want,” he said.
Valenna laughed. “Yes, Vander. I want to.”
Smiling, he grasped the back of her neck and pulled her into another kiss.
They sank onto the blanket and found one another again.
Chapter forty-seven
Valenna
As the sun teased the marshes, Valenna lay safe in Evander’s arms in the shadowy corner of the tack room. She’d pulled his old familiar jacket over them to keep out the chill, and the collar scratched her cheek.
He wasn’t angry. He still loved her, accepted her, wanted her. She couldn’t wrap her mind around it. It was too wonderful to be real. And now that the magic was gone from his head, they might get their house by the sea and the chaotic, beautiful life they’d dreamed of.
“I never knew it was possible to love someone this much,” she whispered.
He kissed her forehead. “Neither did I. My life goes gray without you. Before you, my life was all winter wasteland. You brought me spring.”
“Did I, Vander?” she asked, turning and leaning on his chest. “Sometimes I feel as though I’ve just made your life complicated.”
