“Do you want to go back?”
Leave the dragons and go back to Leo and my father and Hannah?
“No. But we have to.”
Haydn frowned. “Five more minutes.”
“Why?”
“I want to see your Energy magic.”
Evelyn faced him. “I can try. I’ve never done it in front of anyone.”
“You’ll do fine. Show me.”
Evelyn closed her eyes and put her palms together. She focused on her magic, then on finding her pulse. Normally, she would listen for ocean waves, but that wasn’t an option here. She could hear the faint sound of wing beats from flying dragons and concentrated on that. Soon, Evelyn separated her hands to create the red and gold ball of light about the size of an apple.
“Yes!” Haydn encouraged. “That’s perfect!”
He placed his hands on top of Evelyn’s. His magic flowed into the sphere of Energy, which tripled in size and became a more equal mix of red and gold.
“We can combine our magic?” Evelyn asked.
“We can do anything we want, my love. I will conquer the stars beside you.”
She let her magic fade. Haydn followed suit, and the light disappeared. The darkness around them was heavy. They stood and a question passed between them.
What now?
“Thank you for bringing me here,” Evelyn whispered.
Haydn leaned closer, giving her ample opportunity to say no or push him away. “You are extraordinary, Princess.”
She threw her arms around his neck and dragged him the rest of the way to her. Their lips crashed together, hot and breathless. His hands roamed through her hair, down her chest, and over her hips.
Is this what my life could be? Magic and dragons and adventures and the way he’s touching me… Is this what it means to marry Haydn? Because I think I would enjoy that.
37
Yes
A gust of wind whipped past Evelyn and Haydn. Her feet sank into warm sand and she broke their kiss. They stood on the beach in Gryon, no longer on the mountain in Brevig. But something was different.
“This isn’t where we left from,” Evelyn noticed.
“No,” Haydn explained. “We were east of the palace before. I brought us back on the west side and a bit farther away.”
“Why?”
“Plausible deniability. We’ve been here the whole time, but the guards lost track of us.”
“Damien will never believe that.”
“He doesn’t have to. But he can’t prove we’re lying.”
Distant shouts indicated they’d been spotted. Damien and a few guards ran toward them.
“I need you to agree to a deal,” Haydn said quickly. “You can’t tell anyone where we went or how we got there.”
