I wish Vael was here so I could squeeze his hands, but I needed to do this alone.
"I need to apologize. It’s killing me. I had absolutely no idea it would turn out like that,but that is no excuse.There is literally nothing I can do to fix how I tricked you, change what I did,or give you back the safety I stole from you.I am so,so incredibly sorry."
I bury my face in my hands,my tears seeping through my fingers.They’ve all been acting fine around me, normal, but Tati told me I couldn’t heal until I talked about it, that I needed to tell my friends how I felt.
I wait for them to yell.
Instead,a wooden coaster smacks me in the forehead.
"Ow," I gasp,jerking my hands away to see Lily staring at me,an annoyed expression on her face.
"That is for being agrade-A dumbass." Lily reaches across the table,grabbing my hand."Poppy.I am going to bring this up at literally every single holiday,baby shower,Thanksgiving,and whatever the fuck holidays they have here for the rest of yournatural life. You will never,ever live this down.When we are eighty years old and sitting in rocking chairs,I am going to look at you and say,'Hey, remember when you abducted me to an alien planet?'and you are going to buy me a drink."
"A double," Ellison chimes in."The verdict is:you we’re an idiot to do that,but you'reouridiot.And honestly?Look at us.We survived. I'm building a life here with Rex,and…” she blushes. “I’ve never been happier."
"I have a giant alien who is currently building a garden for me because I told him I liked flowers," Lucy whispers sweetly. "I don’t know what I’m going to do with him, yet, butI forgive you.We all do."
"This has nothing to do with me." Selene bites into a piece of meat. “But I think you’re all equally stupid.”
Lily chuckles, raising her glass to that.
“You don’t hate me?” I ask, slightly stunned.
“I mean, don’t fucking do that again,” Lily says. “But no.”
"Thank you," I whisper,lifting my chalice."To us." I let out a laugh, remembering the mantra that got me and Vael through. “Strength in numbers.”
"Strength in numbers,” they chorus,clinking their wooden cups together in a loud,joyous toast.
EPILOGUE
POPPY
The morning sun on Sueva erupts from the horizon line.
It pours over the edges of the valley like liquid gold, painting our wooden porch in lazy strips of light.
I breathe the crisp morning air, at peace.
CLANG.
Raising an eyebrow, I take a sip of my Suevan coffee-alternative and look over the railing.
At the far end of the porch, Vael crouches on his hands and knees, wearing nothing but a pair of loose, Sueva-spun grey trousers that hang dangerously low on his hips. His broad, muscular back is fully exposed to the sun, the scales along his spine glittering like rubies. Half-flared, his wings twitch, concentrating as he holds a heavy metal wrench in his clawed hand.
"Vael," I say, leaning my hip against the wooden railing. "What are you doing to my porch swing?"
He doesn't look up immediately. He delivers another twist of the wrench, a satisfying metallic clank sounding as he secures a bolt.
He stands up, stretching his huge frame, his hair falling across his face in a wild, bedroom-mussed halo. He points a blunt talon at the innocent bench hanging from the rafters. "The instructions provided were insufficient.”
"It's a porch swing," I say, walking over and resting my hand on his bare side. I love how warm he is, like my own personal heater. "It's meant to rock back and forth. It doesn't need to survive a siege."
"It was suspended by links that would shear under any significant load," Vael counters gravely. His long red tail immediately snakes around my ankle, claiming me with its usual possessive warmth. "I replaced the brass with high-tensile cables."
I look up at the heavy cables now holding up my rustic wooden swing. "And what, exactly, is the load capacity of my reading bench now?"
"It can comfortably sustain the impact of three fully armored Draegon officers executing a defensive drop," Vael-Torin states proudly. "Or, more realistically, it will successfully support the mass of one human female, her extensive collection of books, and one retired Draegon warrior who intends to hold her on his lap while she studies." An eyebrow arches. “Although we could test the tensile strength another way.”
