Nora’s hand finds mine.
When our fingers intertwine, the bond surges bright and alive between us.
Unbreakable.
Chapter ten
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Nora
The little white bunny with pink eyes kicks his dish across the cage. Water sloshes everywhere, soaking the fresh newspaper I just laid down.
I stare at the mess for a second, hands on my hips. “Bad bunny,” I scold, wagging a finger at him. “I literally just cleaned your cage.”
The creature doesn’t even look guilty. He just sits there happily chewing the apple Davie Gibbon dropped in earlier, his nose twitching with smug satisfaction.
I sigh and mutter, “Good thing you’re cute.”
Then I turn around.
And forget about the bunny entirely.
Because across the room sits what might be the most attractive sight I’ve ever witnessed.
Sorren, King of the White Warren, sits cross-legged on my alphabet floor mat, surrounded by children. They crowd aroundhim like he’s some kind of storybook hero. One little boy leans against his leg. Two girls sit crisscross beside him with their elbows on their knees. The rest hover nearby, eyes wide and shining as they listen.
Sorren holds a brightly illustrated book in his hands, the pages made comically small in his large fingers. His back is straight, his expression carefully serious as he reads a story to the children. He does this every time he comes to my classroom. The kids’ favorite part, the thing they beg him to do every time he visits, is the voices.
His voice trembles dramatically for the frightened scarecrow.
It booms deep and heroic for the brave lion.
It turns stiff and mechanical for the tin man.
And when he does Dorothy, pitching his voice high and earnest, the entire group of children collapses into giggles. They roll across the mat clutching their stomachs, faces bright with laughter.
Sorren looks up at them completely straight-faced, like he has no idea why they find any of this amusing.
Which only makes them laugh harder.
And me too.
The kids adore him.
They ask about my “boyfriend” constantly. Every morning it’s the same barrage of questions.
What’s his favorite color?
Blue.
Favorite food?
Carrots. I try not to laugh when I say it.
Favorite sport?
