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I pull back to look at him. His expression is grim, and his hand trembles where it rests protectively against Toto's back. Nick. Our cool, controlled, impossible-to-rattle Nick, is shaking.

“You got her,” I say through a tight throat.

He looks down at Toto, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. “Only just.”

Those two words nearly finish me because we all know exactly how close that was.

I look at Toto again, needing to know she’s here, that she’s safe. Tears cut tracks through the dust on her cheeks, and her bottom lip trembles.

“I'm okay,” she whispers.

I shake my head because I can't seem to find the words. I saw that rock coming down. I saw her lying beneath it. For one terrible second, I was certain I was about to watch the woman I loved die.

“You scared the absolute shit out of me,” I finally manage.

A shaky laugh escapes her, but it turns into a sob.

Nick presses his lips to her forehead, his expression so strained that I wonder if he's as close to falling apart as I am.

“I've got you,” he murmurs. “You're safe.”

I cup Toto's cheek and kiss her forehead, then her temple, then the corner of her mouth. “Don't ever do that again.”

She gives me a watery smile. “Get held hostage by a witch or drop a boulder on her?”

“Either. Both. I'm not fussy.”

A rush of air sweeps through the clearing, stirring the dust around our feet. Leo descends from above the cliff, his enormous wings spread wide as he approaches. His landing is considerably less graceful than usual, his paws skidding across the disturbed earth before he folds his wings against his back.

His gaze immediately finds Toto. “Is she—” He stops abruptly, one enormous paw flying to his mouth. “Holy shit.” His fingers move over his lips, checking that they're no longer sealed together. “I can talk.”

“Unfortunately,” I mutter.

Leo shoots me a murderous glare. “Asshole.”

“Yep. Definitely back to normal.”

“She's okay,” Nick assures him, apparently deciding that someone should answer the question Leo was trying to ask.

Leo doesn't look convinced.

Neither am I, frankly.

Toto slips out of our arms and hurries toward him. He drops to his knees and catches her as she throws herself against his chest. His massive arms close around her, and he buries his face in her hair.

For several long seconds, neither of them speaks.

I watch Leo's wings curve around her, sheltering her from the world, and my chest squeezes painfully. We came so close. Too damn close.

“I thought I was going to lose you,” Leo murmurs.

Toto pulls back and cradles his face between her hands. “You didn't.”

He closes his eyes as she kisses him, and when he opens them again, I can see how much that reassurance means to him.

To all of us, she is the most precious thing in the world.

Nick comes to stand beside me, his eyes never leaving Toto.