“Stay.” The word comes out raw. A demand wrapped in need.
“I already said I would.”
“Say it again.”
“I’m staying.” She presses a kiss to my collarbone. “Not because I have to. Not because there’s nowhere else to go. Because this—” Her hand presses flat against my heart. “This is what I choose. You are what I choose.”
The constant vigilance in my mind goes quiet. For the first time in ages, the endless calculation stops. She’s here. She’s not leaving.
I tighten my arms around her. Press my mouth to the top of her head.
This is what the running was toward. Not an ending.
A beginning.
THIRTY-THREE
TYR
Idon’t sleep much that night.
Don’t need to—my body is satisfied in ways I didn’t know possible. But my mind keeps turning over the future, examining what comes next.
But they can’t reach us here. My territory is absolute—nothing enters without my permission. Nothing threatens her while I’m alive to prevent it.
We can prepare. Plan. Build defenses for whatever they send next.
And we’ll face it as one.
The word doesn’t frighten me anymore. Doesn’t carry the weight of weakness I once associated with it. Together means her sight and my strength. Her clarity and my power. Her truth and my violence.
We killed an executioner that had hunted me for ages. Changed the balance of power in the entire realm. And we did it because neither of us was willing to let the other die.
That’s not weakness.
That’s the closest thing to strength I’ve ever known.
Zephyra stirs against me. Her eyes open, find mine immediately. No confusion, no disorientation—she knows exactly where she is and who she’s with.
“You’re watching me again.”
“Yes.”
“Still unsettling.”
“You’ll get used to it.” I don’t look away. Don’t apologize. “Or you won’t. Either way, I’m not stopping.”
She stretches. Her body presses against mine in ways that make my blood heat. I respond immediately—apparently twice isn’t enough to dim the effect she has on me. May never be enough.
“Already?”
“You’re naked in my bed. In my territory. Pressed against me like you belong there.” I roll on top of her, pin her beneath me with my weight. “What did you expect?”
“A few hours of rest.”
“Rest is for people who aren’t trying to memorize everything about you.” I lower my mouth to her throat, feel her pulse jump against my lips. “I have a lifetime of learning ahead. Might as well start now.”
She laughs. An actual laugh—a sound I’ll never tire of hearing. A sound I didn’t know I wanted until I had it.
