Page 132 of Fallen Court

And in that moment, I knew it could have been. I knew that I’d been holding myself back. I knew I had been waiting to lose everything again. But I also knew that whatever pain lay before us was nothing compared to this—to the bond that fate had gifted us. Because I had been meant to find Lachlan Gage, to find my family, to find my home.

“What is it?” he asked, concern knitting his forehead.

But I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t explain it. There weren’t words. All I could do was show him.

Reaching down, I grasped my ring, unsurprised to find it loose. It had been waiting, too. Waiting for me to be ready. With a gentle tug, I slipped it off. Fear jolted through me as I held it out to him, my heart hammering in my chest.

We both stared at it in stunned silence, hardly daring to breathe as we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened.

No magical rush.

No otherworldly sensation.

Nothing.

My gaze found the floor, shame dashing the clarity I’d felt a moment before.

“Are you disappointed?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. “That I’m not fae?”

Not fated to live forever. Not part of his world. Just two lost souls that had somehow found each other on their own.

His gaze snapped to mine, eyes blazing. “Disappointed?” The word was choked. “Never. I wanted you to be fae because I couldn’t bear the thought of a world without you in it.”

“But the Terra Court,” I croaked, tears streaming down my cheeks. “And the spell and…I was supposed to help you get what you wanted. To help you resurrect the court.”

He cupped both sides of my face, his thumbs brushing away my tears. “I want you. That’s it. You. For who you are. I will always want you.”

“I thought when I took off the ring…” My throat tightened, words bottling inside it.

“You don’t need that ring,” he said, pulling away abruptly. Then, to my utter shock, he dropped to one knee before me, his hand clasping mine. He grinned up at me. “I didn’t have time to plan this, either, but I am prepared.”

All I could manage was a single sob as he reached into his pocket and produced a velvet ring box.

“My life started the day I met you, and I want to spend the rest of it with you.” He popped open the lid, revealing something sparkly. I blinked back tears just enough to make out a stunning diamond solitaire. Simple. Elegant. Freaking huge.

I swiped at my eyes, still blinking furiously. “I can’t wear that. I’ll hurt someone.”

“I’m not buying one any smaller,” he warned me, taking it out of the box. “Marry me.”

Not a question. We were past that point. But I nodded anyway and held out my finger, new tears springing to my eyes as he slipped it on—for a moment, the future stretching before us bright and beautiful and full of hope.

Chapter Thirty-One

Cate

A new day pulled me from a deep and satisfied sleep, my body pleasantly sore in all the right places. I stretched, my hand coasting over a smooth, muscled back, and my new ring sparkled as the sunlight streaming through the windows caught the diamond.

“Like it?” Lach asked in a gruff voice, one eye peeking open from where his face was still half buried in his pillow.

I shimmied closer, tucking my body against his. “I still think it’s ridiculously big.”

“Like you said, it can double as a weapon.” He shifted, his low chuckle turning into a yawn as he took my hand and studied the engagement ring. “Ten bucks says that Ciara will think I should have gotten you a bigger one. I can, if you want.”