Alina’s lips curve up in the corners. “Severin. Thank you for coming.” She puts a hand on Raelan’s chest. “You’ve met my fiancé, Raelan.”
“Indeed.” Severin holds out a hand, and Raelan grasps it.
“You weren’t quite so composed last I saw you,” Raelan says, mouth lifting into a small smirk.
Severin flexes his jaw. “I prefer my feet on the ground, precisely where they belong.”
Raelan tips his head. “I thought vampires weren’t afraid of anything.”
“And I thought dragons were extinct.”
Their humor has a bite, but warmth rumbles beneath their words. And over the men’s clasped hands, Alina and I meet each other’s eyes and smile.
The orchestra prepares for another dance, and Alina says, “Join us?”
I nod, then turn and catch Poppy’s eye across the room. Waving to her, I mouth, “Come dance.”
Aric sees me, and he immediately takes Poppy by the hand and guides her toward us, coaxing her through her shy reluctance. They join us on the dance floor, as do Lyra and Cairn. Alina turns to Raelan, her hand sliding into his as naturally as breathing. Aric takes Poppy by the waist. Lyra grins up at Cairn.
And I shift to look at Severin.
His red eyes are vibrant in the candlelight, his jaw as smooth and hard as polished granite. But inside my chest, our thread of connection is warm, flushed with life.
As the music starts, Severin steps closer to me, one hand slipping into the dip at my waist while he takes mine in the other.
“You look gorgeous,” he says, his gaze sweeping down the length of my body. “Though perhapsdangerousis a better word.”
Our feet start to move, and Severin guides me across the floor with flawless precision. I should’ve known he’d be a great dancer.
“You look quite handsome yourself.” I move my hand up the slope of his shoulder and curl my fingers around the back of his neck. “Though I think I’d prefer that suit on the floor.”
His lips twitch. “Do not tempt me.”
I smile, leaning in just slightly as we dance, the room shifting into a blur of movement and light. The music carries us across the dance floor, and everything that has brought us here—every choice, every stumble, every moment of uncertainty—seems to settle, like a gentle snowfall in early winter, or the way leaves twirl to the ground in the autumn.
And it all feelsright.
So I smile some more, and I dance in Severin’s arms, and I feel perfectly at home as my best friends swirl around me.
We just experienced an ending of one chapter in our lives, and now it feels like we’re in the turning of the page, suspended momentarily as the parchment flutters down. I’m not sure where we’ll all be when it lands, when the next chapter starts, but there is one thing I know for sure.
Moving closer to Severin, feeling his breath on my neck as his smooth cheek presses to mine, I lift my lips to his ear and whisper, “I love you, Severin D’Arques.”
His fingers tighten around my waist, and our bond sings its pleasure.
He brushes his lips across my cheek, then whispers into my ear, “And I will love you until my last breath, Maeve Vandermere.”
Hearing the words, I know in my bones that they’re true.
Not caring that my fellow graduates and some faculty andmy parentsare in this room, I tip my face back, rise up, and capture Severin’s lips in mine. His mouth is warm, inviting. And just beneath his lips, I feel his fangs. The same fangs that pierced my flesh, that drew my blood away and created something between us that will be everlasting. Eternal. Perhaps the one thing in my life that I can depend on not to change.
The music slows, the song coming to an end. We all stop dancing and take a moment to applaud the orchestra. Then my friends gather around me again, our eyes all shining in the glimmering candlelight.
I shift my gaze to Alina and Raelan, watching the way they gaze at each other, and I ask, “So, when’s this royal wedding? I think it’s about time you two tie the knot.”
Lyra arches a brow at them and crosses her arms. “Seriously. We’ve only been waitingthree years.”
“Can I be one of your groomsmen?” Aric asks, giving Raelan a lopsided grin as he pulls Poppy close. “I swear I won’t embarrass you.”
