I show them the card.
Blaze is the first to take it. He mouths the words on it, and his brow furrows. “Pandora?”
I have to take another breath before I continue. “She’s a good, discreet psychiatrist. Therapist. Whatever. I… I already made an appointment. Papa vouched for her, which means if nothing else, she owes him a lot and will be super nice and helpful to me.” I laugh awkwardly. “I figure, going around with stupid hallucinations of bleeding walls and empty cavities in my chest is not really sustainable anymore. And it makes me act really, really crazy around you all, and I… I don’t want that anymore.”
“You aren’t crazy,” River says, touching my cheek. “But… if you think this is what you need, we’ll support you. A hundred percent.”
Asch nods. “Anything you think you need to do, Pandora. Whateverweneed to do, we’ll do that too.”
Blaze looks at the card, then meets my gaze with his one eye. “Just as long as you aren’t going to gosofton us.”
I scoff through the tears. “Ugh, no way. I will continue to vanquish my enemies. But maybe with a bit more clarity and less of the dripping walls.”
“Thank you for trusting us,” Asch says. “I hope she can help the hallucinations go away.” He smiles crookedly at me. “She’d better not try to get you to dump our sorry asses, though.”
“I’d dump her before I dump you,” I promise. I wipe at my eyes. “Okay. That was the big panic-inducing surprise. Surprise! I love you. Surprise! I’m gonna get professional help.”
River lifts his hand up and studies his ring. “I think this has all been a very good surprise,” he says, then he leans in to kiss me. “I’m proud of you, Pandora.”
“I love you, Pandora,” Blaze says, leaning forward so he can catch my lips as soon as I break away from River.
Asch is there to kiss me as soon as Blaze is done devouring my mouth, and he murmurs, “I love you. So much.”
I don’t deserve him.
I don’t deserve any of them, not really, but I want them.
And hey, Pandora Pavone gets everything she wants.
EPILOGUE
PANDORA
Echo loves her new enclosure.
I’ve had it installed across an entire wall of the room, and there are so many great spots for her to slither around and hide in. I’m fascinated at how she pokes her head everywhere, and I know I’m going to get hours of entertainment observing her doing more naturalistic behaviors. There’s even room to expand, which I’ll need to do as Echo grows in size.
“It’s secure, right?” Blaze grumbles from the doorway. “She isn’t going to escape?”
Hey, he called her asheinstead ofit! That’s progress.
Both his eyes track Echo’s movements, even though only one of them has vision. The prosthetic he got looks identical to his other eye, and the way it fits in means it moves along even without vision. It’s not always completely natural in its movements, but you’d have to be staring him deep in the eyes to notice.
Which I do on occasion, but a stranger from across the room would never be able to tell.
I step away from the enclosure and head over to him. “Yeah. Ididn’t skimp on anything! The only way Echo escapes is if somebody lets her out.” I give him a quick peck on the cheek. “Thank you for letting me set up an entire reptile room in the house, Blabe.”
Not that he had much of a choice. That was pretty non-negotiable. I wasn’t going to move to New Valence without Echo.
Blaze wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me into the hallway. The house is the one Blaze grew up in. He says it’shistorical, and that’s why it has wooden floors everywhere and the hallways are narrow and there’s no open concept anything. It’s still large, though, and renovated enough that we have the fancy amenities.
I would have put my foot down on a house without indoor plumbing.
“Mom booked the restaurant,” Blaze says. “That’s what I was coming to tell you. She wanted to thank you for the flowers, too.”
Right, the bouquet of dahlias I’d sent her.
I’m trying to be a good future daughter-in-law, but wow do I not know how to deal with parents at all.
