I was a moment away from letting my daughter go with El next time, just for a minute alone with my wife. In truth, I was at least six years away from letting her go tomb raiding.
Ryn’s death had impacted us all. It had made El’s drive for vengeance against Caym ravenous. It was as though she never stopped moving. I’d asked her once if Ryn had been her Source Match—she’d thrown one of her daggers at my head.
Sybilla took the necklace from my fingers and held it up before she handed it back to El. “It looks like these are moonstone beads. Give it to Asterie to inspect when she returns from the cabin this afternoon.”
“Aunty Lora!” Our daughter’s voice burst from over the balcony. Lark had created the nickname when she’d beentoo young to pronounce Elsedora and had jumbled her name together into something new.
Lark sprang down the stairs and into El’s outstretched arms. In a blink, Elsedora went from looking exhausted and pissed off to melting like putty in the girl’s grip, as she usually did. She lifted Lark and spun her around twice. “Hello, little troublemaker. Gah! You’re gettingwaytoo big for this. Can you stop growing?”
“No! I need to grow so I can come with you to the catacombs! I asked for throwing knives for my next birthday so I’ll be ready.”
Elsedora laughed. “Why don’t we go for a walk in the gardens while your parents finish…packing?” Elsedora gave Sybilla a not-so-subtle wink before setting Lark on her feet.
Lark squealed, “Let’s go!” and then dragged El by the arm, sprinting toward the back doors that led to the garden.
“Alright, alright,” El said as she was dragged away by our spitfire, our whole heart.
I’d been pretending not to notice that Elsedora had been allowing our daughter to visit Emmerick’s chamber with her. Sybilla wouldn’t approve, but I thought it wise that Lark saw the realities of the world as it had been. She needed to see the consequences of things she would later face.
Still, it was difficult to be so harsh on Lark about her studies and training. El offered her childish games, silly faces and the fun a child needed, and I couldn’t be more grateful to her for that.
Sybilla’s voice interrupted that thought. “I think Elsedora might be my favorite person today.” She touched my abs and pushed me back toward the steps. She glanced at the maids, who were dusting the main hall. “Asha, Lex—leave us. Please.”
I smirked as Sybilla grabbed me by the collar and claimed my mouth. The staff knew very well from the early days of ourmarriage what “leave us” meant. Get out of the room or prepare to get a show.
The Luz maids scurried out of the room.
I knew well, too, and my length already pressed against the seam of my breeches as her fingers found the buttons. She pushed me further toward the staircase. She had my waistband pushed down and my length freed before my ankles even hit the first stair.
We were not going to make it to the bedchamber.
I hissed when my bare ass landed on one of the marble steps, and I ran my hands under her dress, delighted to realize she was wearing nothing beneath the skirts. When she straddled me, and I pushed deep into her welcoming warmth, I groaned between our lips.
This was what eternity felt like.
None of it had been perfect. We’d loved and lost and still stood to lose so much more.
Yet every time a muscle ached or a joint cracked in a way it never had before, I realized that growing old with her might be the best form of forever I could have imagined.
Epilogue
Lark
We strolled through the garden, and Aunty Lora swung my hand happily, pointing out everything that was in bloom. Fall flowers were my favorite.
“Did you rememberallof your texts this time?” she teased.
“Yes,” I sighed, unhappy that Papa seemed to have gotten to her too.
I could never tell if he was truly angry with me, and Mama often called him many things that I wasn’t allowed to repeat. She said he was far less grumpy than he used to be, but that was hard to imagine.
Schucks.
Therewasone book I’d forgotten. I’d left it in the boathouse by the pond. It was a spell book that Aunty Asterie had gifted me. I had wanted to see if I could turn a toad into a prince like in the storybooks. Turned out, therewasn’ta spell for that, and all I’d ended up with was seven unhappy toads.
There had only beenboringenchantments in the book. Like how to light a candle or move an object from one side of a table to the other.
“I forgot one—I’ll go get it!”
