“The moment you walked into the library that first time,” I say softly, stroking her cheek, “your entire face lit up at the sight of all those books. I knew right then we were kindred spirits.”
She nods, a laugh escaping.
“Your mind was the first thing to fully captivate me.” I trace my thumb across her forehead, then down to her jaw. “Your inquisitiveness, your sharp wit, the way your brow furrows when you ask questions or lose yourself in one of the old tomes.”
I kiss the space between her eyes, then slide my fingers into her wet hair.
“Your eyes entranced me next—like the tranquil seas of the world’s most beautiful islands. And your kiss?” I draw her close, pressing my lips to the corner of her mouth. “Even for someone who’s spent fifteen centuries with his nose in books, I don’t think I’ve ever come across the right words to describe what it feels like to kiss you.”
Her eyes glaze with emotion.
“Do you remember what I said to you the other night, after I watched you with Auggie and Jude, and you wanted me to kiss you?” I ask.
“You… you said you’ve been waiting for someone like me your whole immortal life.”
“No. Not someonelikeyou, Westlyn Avery. You. I’ve been waiting foryou. This perfect, beautiful, inquisitive, demanding, sassy witch. We’veallbeen waiting for you. Nothing ever felt right until you showed up, and now you’re ours. Do you have any idea what you mean to us? To me?” I shake my head, still shocked at the wonder of how she came to us, at the force of my feelings for her. “For so long, I felt like I’ve been wandering an empty, barren wasteland. I didn’t even realize I was lost until I met you. Falling for you felt like coming home. And now that I’m here, I never want to be lost again. You are my home. My heart. There’s nothing I won’t do for you.Nothing. Because I didn’t just fall for you, Wild West. I love you. Iloveyou. More than all the pages in all the books in all the libraries in the realms.”
With that, she pulls me into the tub with her, wraps her arms around my neck, and kisses me until I’m boneless, too, and the first signs of sunrise glitter on the distant horizon, and I finally tear myself away from her and head up to the roof, knowing with a deep and heavy dread that when the moon rises on a brand new night, I’m going to have to break her heart.
Chapter Thirty
AUGUSTINE
Moon Blessed. The Peacebringer. Righting the ancient wrongs. Death to all who refuse to kneel before the two great lords…
Belinda Eckhardt’s ominous rants take on a whole new meaning in light of Rook’s recent discoveries.
Draegan and Jude have been in the city since last night trailing various shadow magic society members in hopes of finding more intel on the archmage and Detective Reedsy. So, over a meal of butternut squash soup and roasted vegetables, Rook told me and West about his occult studies friend, Tatiana—the vampire-witch who’s apparently known about our existence for a century—and everything she shared with him last night about the so-called Moon Blessed prophecy.
About West’s rune.
Kept. Owned. A property claim.
Those were Tatiana’s exact words.
I wanted to find the nearest working fae portal and jump right the fuck through it, hunt down every last Wintermoon prick, and rip their fucking dark hearts out of their chests. But that would only get me killed and put West even more on the radar.
West took it all in stride, like she always does. Asking questions. Taking notes. Trying to make connections. She’s like Rook in that way, I realize. Her mind on a constant quest for truth and knowledge.
But I know it weighs on her. Not knowing who she is, what fate has in store for her. After dinner, she told us she needed some air, and went out to walk the grounds with Lucinda and Huxley, hoping to clear her head.
Now, two hours later, I find her in the apple orchard, quietly pacing among the stately trees as her ravens investigate the fallen apples with great interest.
She turns toward me as she hears my approach, her face bathed in moonlight, hair shimmering around her shoulders, and for a moment I just watch her, memorizing the way the light dances in her eyes, the gentle flutter of her hair stirred by a soft breeze.
“Hey,” she says softly, reaching up for a hug. “I’m glad you’re here.”
I gather her in my arms, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Just checking on you. If you need more time alone, I can—”
“No. Stay. I was about to head back, anyway.”
“Feeling better?”
“All things considered? Yes.” She takes my hand, and we walk beneath the boughs, leaving the ravens to their apple treasures. “I should probably be more freaked out—and don’t get me wrong—Iamfreaked out. But knowledge is power, right? I might not like what the knowledge has to say, but it’s better than being kept in the dark and making up stories, playing the ‘what if’ game.”
“We don’t know for sure though,” I say. “This prophecy… there’s a lot that could be misinterpreted. And we don’t know what the whole thing says.”
“No. But again, it’s a start, and it’s a lot more than we knew yesterday, and ahellof a lot more than we knew on my wedding night. So I’m counting it as a win. Besides, it sounds like Rook’s friend Tatiana might be able to find out more. Rook was going to check in with her again and see what else she can dig up on the prophecy and the royal demon lines.”
