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The nerves threatened to bubble back up. I was surprised by how eager he was being to show me things in the queendom he’d fled from. How much he was lingering. I’d assumed he’d be desperate to get as far away from here as possible.

My gut clenched hard with foreboding. What if being back here for the first time in six years was making him realise how much he actually loved it? What if he changed his mind and wanted to stay?

Crossbody shrugged, his cheeks lightly flushed and a faint smile dancing at his lips again. “I am suddenly appreciating the beauty of it all, now that it’s no longer a millstone around my neck.”

I tensed but tried not to show it, dipping my chin in a jerky nod. My heart started beating faster, and I had to work hard not to yank my hand from his as the idea that he was going to leave me—just like my dad did, then my mom every fucking weekend for most of my childhood—suddenly felt like a sure thing, making me want to get defensive and snarly and angry and distance myself before he could do it first.

“I can’t wait to get home, though,” he then said, looking over at me, gripping my hand tighter as if he’d been able to sense the turmoil suddenly roiling in my gut. “Back to our lives.”

Slowly, uncertainly, all that ugly emotion began to sink back down, settling beneath the surface where it always lingered, waiting to bubble back up. I exhaled slowly, watching our feet as we walked. Somehow, with just a few plain words, Crossbody had managed to soothe the frightened and insecure part of me. The part that made me lash out. The scared little kid with no stability who’d only learned to trust a very, very select few when Uncle Robbie started looking after me.

I trusted Crossbody, though. The realisation hit me like a slap to the face.

I believed him. I trusted him.

Who would you take with you if you had to go back into Frank and Beans’ home?

The question popped into my head, and I thought it was a pretty good indicator of trust levels, to be honest. Who would I trust to have by my side if I had to go back into that hellhole for whatever horrifying, fucked up reason?

Before, it would’ve been Dan. My best buddy. The guy who’d already gone through that nightmare with me once.

But now, I realised… it would absolutely be Crossbody. It was Crossbody who I’d want covering my back, protecting me, facing down those two fucking monsters with me.

Crossbody would never ask me to give up my favourite pair of pants as a sacrificial lamb. Okay, in Dan’s defence, he’d been wearing sweatpants, so it wasn’t like he’d even had a zipper to offer them himself. And yeah, alright, I hadn’t argued all that hard at the time, because I’d just been desperate to get out of there.

But still. Crossbody would’ve found a way for me to leave The House That Pure Horror Built with my pants and my dignity intact. He would’ve used his cruel, vindictive fae cunning to beat them.

Okay, I got it now. That was pretty hot.

“You’re the one I’d want with me if I ever came face to face with Frank and Beans again,” I heard myself say, my voice hoarse and faintly vacant as I relived some of the horrors.

“What is a Frankenbeans?” Ianthe asked curiously.

Crossbody, who was probably very confused by that arbitrary statement, chuckled warily. “I… Well, what an honour. Thank you.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Ianthe’s brows shoot up as she stopped dead and stared at us. Crossbody didn’t seem to notice, but he was coming to a stop too as he pointed at a small stone building up ahead.

“I want you to try one of our traditional galettes.” He grinned and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “This bakery makes the best ones. I didn’t want to leave without having it one last time.”

“Okay, sure.” My gaze kept darting over to Ianthe, brow furrowing a little with confusion, because she still looked somewhat stunned. “Uh, what’s a galette?”

Crossbody chuckled. “I’ll go and buy us some. Just let me—oh. Damn.”

“What?” My eyes jumped back to him, before I spun to stare at the path we’d just walked down, in case his mother or her creepy guards were barrelling toward us. There was nothing.

“I forgot I have no money.” Crossbody sounded sheepish, and I turned back to see him rubbing his flushed face. “Sorry.”

“Elvis, take some of mine.” Ianthe was already reaching into her pants pocket. “I insist.”

He stiffened. “I appreciate the offer, but I will decline, Ianthe.”

She rolled her eyes. “It comes with no catch. No binding promise. I expect nothing in return.”

“No.” He gave her a tight smile. “I appreciate it.”

“Oh shit, wait.” Ducking down, I unzipped our suitcase and shoved my hand in, feeling around for the sock I’d stuffed right at the bottom. Just in case any sneaky palace staff had decided to go through our suitcase while we’d been preoccupied.

When I found it, I straightened and showed the coin-laden sock to Crossbody and Ianthe, who both stared at it in mild alarm.