“Look at me, Gavin.”
I rubbed my fingers over his jawline until he did.
“You’re right. We never do anything the easy way. We’re standing on a cloud bridge a hundred feet in the air, stone creatures to our right, a giant to our left, and all I can think about is how no one has ever held me the way you do. Kissed me. Kept me safe. Shared my stories. Made me laugh.”
My palm cupped his cheek as I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss against his lips.
“There are endless reasons why I love you.”
My words hung between us like the mist curling in the air. He heard every one of them, taking them in like I was scattering jewels at his feet. And I saw it then, the greed in his eyes. Not for gold or power, but for me, and everything I was offering.
It was staggering. How had I missed it before? This was Gavin. He’d been looking at me that way for years. Like I was his horizon, or stars, charting his course home.
Then his brow arched, a teasing glint flashing in his eyes, because we were still us. And that was never going to change.
“You can admit it. You’re also thinking about me without a shirt.”
I laughed, the sound breaking free and competing with the wind.
“All day, every day.”
“I knew it.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Don’t let it go to your head.”
“Too late for that. First, it’s my beard, then it’s my body. What’s next? My irresistible charm? Stunning intellect? Let’sface it, Mare. You can’t resist me.”
Heat splashed my cheeks. “I’m going to feed you to the giant. It’s not too late to change my mind.”
He winked. “Drizzle me in honey first. Might as well make it a tasty treat.”
My eyes flared as he dragged me against him, and this time, teased my mouth with a kiss. A gust of wind battered us, and Gavin immediately braced me in the rushing air.
He pulled back just enough to brush the hair off my face. His thumb traced my cheek as if memorizing me, and this fragment in time before our hunt started again.
Another messy moment made beautiful by us and not the sinister surroundings.
But then Gavin’s smile faded, his fingers still tangled in my hair.
“You said you found Reid’s journal. You should have said something sooner. I could have explained.”
Guilt twisted inside my chest. “I know. But I was horrified by the way I treated you. I’m so sorry for believing—”
“No.” Gavin’s voice cut through mine. “Don’t apologize for anything. You were tricked. We all were. Even Reid. That day on the ship, when I left you that note… I didn't just want to tell you how I felt. I wanted to show you.”
He reached into his satchel, his fingers curling around something.
A compass.
The breath rushed from my lungs.
“This is what I really left you. Reid switched it with the comb. I didn’t know that until recently. I always thought you saw it.”
Tears streaked down my cheeks. I shook my head, unable tospeak.
“I told you in the market to stop searching for the crest, not because I didn’t care, but because the answers didn’t matter to me anymore. Where I came from wasn’t as important as where I wanted to be. And that was with you.”
Gavin’s fingers tightened around the chain. Then, slowly, he held it out to me. His voice thickened.
