Page 75 of Damien’s Mate

Then I got all that damn money, and it didn’t fix anything. I was still empty—until I looked at you. You’re the one who filled up all those empty places. I may not ever be a better person—I probably won’t even go straight—but I’ll always take care of you.

Except when you’re biting my enemies, because that’s badass.

I’m loyal to the people I love, so I’m the most loyal to you.

D

Lila stared at the note for a long time. Then she went back up the stairs, carrying the carving like the precious treasure it was. She needed to think. Not just about her father, and the way she’d always thought things would be.

She needed to think about the way they really were. What she really wanted.

What she owed to her father, and her heritage. To herself. And to the man she loved.

She was still sitting there when Damien came back. One of the knots inside her relaxed, and she realized how afraid she’d been that he wouldn’t come back.

Maybe not ever.

He seemed calmer now, but uncertain, searching her face as he stood in the doorway. His gaze went to the carving in her hands, and then back to her face.

“Where did you get that?”

“Where you left it,” she said. “I went looking for you, and I found it.”

She stood up, knowing that she was the one who would have to cross the distance between them. “Damien—”

He shook his head. “Me first.”

She went over to him, trying to smile. “That’s not very gentlemanly.”

He gave a soft huff of breath. “I may be many things, Superkitty, but a gentleman is not one of them.”

He reached out to her, brushing back her hair, the backs of his fingers skimming the skin on the side of her neck. “I just wanted to say, I understand. Or, I don’t really. But I know this is important to you. You’ve finally done this big, huge, amazing thing you’ve dedicated your whole life to—something people would say couldn’t be done. You can’t just walk away without finishing it.”

She put her hand on his chest, the other still holding the carving. It was going to be so, so hard to say this out loud, but she knew he needed it. And she wanted to give it to him.

“I’ve never loved anyone,” she said, toying with the collar of his shirt. “Except my father. I’ve never thought about anything but the mission. I never thought there was anything here in this world that would matter to me.”

She looked up at him. “And then I found you. A hooman, not so fragile as I thought, and with a lion heart.”

That made him smile. “How do you know?”

She held up the carving. “Because you put it into this. So I thought, I’d put a piece of me there too, so you’d know I was coming back.”

Wrapped around the two figures was one of the portal keys from the artifact box, on its golden chain.

Damien touched the key, a look of wonder on his face. “You’d give up the Lion Guard for me?”

“For you—and the crew, if they’ll let us stay.”

Damien was still fingering the key. “Brandon offered to let me stay.” He gave her the wicked grin she loved. “Maybe I can convince them to take you too. If you’re good.”

“Well, you can forget that then. I’m never good.”

He laughed. Then he said, “You know, they told me they might even Turn me, one day. If I want.”

That stunned her. “That’s amazing. Do you realize how much they respect you if they offered to do that? Who’s going to do it? Brandon?”

He gave a huff of laughter. “They all volunteered. Well, most of them. I have my choice of animals.”