"I'll figure it out. Mind if I crash here tonight? Her shadows are helping a little, but I don't think being alone right now is a good call."
"That's fine. Stay with us." Grayson had to grit the words out.
Darius looked away while we dried off and got dressed.
We ended up sharing our bed with my best friend on the last night of our honeymoon.
I was so happy for him that I didn’t even care.
I laughed hardwhen I found Grayson and Darius snuggled up together in the morning, the shadows on their skinleaning away from each other so much it looked as if the magic was trying to escape.
I had no idea if Dare's plan was going to work, but I knew he wouldn't give up.
He left me with a hug and athank youwhen he ditched us the next morning, and Grayson held my hand tightly as he called Rae on the way home.
She didn’t answer his call.
Or mine.
Grayson groaned. "Fuck, what a mess."
"It's kind of funny though, don't you think?" I asked, biting my lip to hide a smile. "My best friend and your sort-of sister. I'm kind of excited to see them together."
"That's because you're addicted to romance books, Death. Life isn't always quite so perfect."
“That makes it more exciting, though.”
"Yeah, it does.” He squeezed my hand lightly. "I love you. At least we get to deal with this together."
"No kidding." I lifted our interlocked hands to my mouth and kissed his knuckles lightly. “I love you too.” His shadows tickled my face in response, and I smiled.
Maybe it was unhinged of me, but I'd never been so happy in my life.
At least, not until we got back to our apartment, and Grayson showed me to the recently renovated spare room.
It was now full of bookshelves, stocked with romance books that had actual pages I could turn. My favorite couches from my house were there too, nestled between the shelves and in the center of the room.
When I threw my arms around Grayson, my eyes watered just a little bit.
And when he admitted with a grin that we had one more day off work to spend sitting in my library, just so I could read, I didn't even try to stop the happy tears.
If he ever wanted to abduct me again… I'd let him.
epilogue
GRAYSON—A FEW MONTHS LATER
Merrily squeezed my hand tightly,tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. "This is so much worse than the price of my magic."
The quiet buzz of the tattoo machine was the soundtrack to the moment, and the music playing from the earbuds in her ears didn't really seem to be distracting her.
"You told me not to let you stop after you started. You’re going to be fine. You can do this, Love," I said firmly. "You’re already halfway there."
"Only half? Oh my god." She choked out a curse.
"You’ve got this."
"I don’t know if I do."
