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Unhooking the latch, I motioned for her to join me. She shuffled over to my side, nibbling on her bottom lip. The moment I pushed the door open, a breeze swirled around our legs, relieving the stagnant air in the chamber.

Once I had her hand in mine, I led her outside. The view was magnificent, miles and miles above the valley. Most of the ground around us was barren, but multiple hardy plants and flowers thrived. Low to the ground lay clusters of tiny white blossoms and shrubbery with crimson leaves. Large, velvety black butterflies flitted from bud to bud, indulging in the nectar.

To the left and the right, sharply angled slabs of granite and slate jutted into the sky like teeth, some higher still than our own elevation. Straight ahead lie the valley, bisected by a bright blue river.

A dense pine forest bordered the water; the trees’ fluffy branches casting shade over the rushing deluge. She couldn’t see it, but large blue and red fish leapt between the crests, snatching whatever winged insects dared tread too closely.

One of the things that fascinated me about this woman was the fact that my magic wasn’t as effective as it should have been. She’d been able to open the bedroom door despite the fact that I’d warded it. Her breaching my precautions was an impossibility. Or so I’d thought.

The only thing that made sense was that some part of me belonged with her, was owned by her, or recognized her soul. Such a thought was far more fanciful than I’d ever allowed myself to dwell on, but I couldn’t deny what I’d seen with my own eyes. My magic couldn’t work against itself.

Another thing was the torn drawing I’d found on her apartment floor before I let her see me and Kiam in her apartment. That paper was repaired and sitting in my pocket—the perfect match for the view spread out in front of her eyes.

That gaze was as wide as saucers, currently. A pleasant wash of self-satisfaction poured through me, and I tried to respect her speechlessness, let her take it all in without disturbing her. Regardless, an amused snicker left my throat.

“Lukas,” she whispered, as if fearful others would hear her, “I’ve... I’ve... Oh my God, I’m going to sound crazy.”

Her already light skin paled further. “I promise you won’t.”

I could sense she wanted to look at me, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the landscape. “I’ve seen this before. In my head, I mean. I swear to fucking God I painted this right before I met you.”

She took a deep breath. “This,” she said, waving her hand in front of her. “All of this. Next thing you know, a unicorn will gallop by shaking its hair.”

“We have unicorns here.”

That forced her to move. “No fucking way,” she gasped, her voice low. “No fucking way.”

“Yes, Cassia. We do.”

She glanced up at me. “Where are they? I want to see one. If that’s possible. I mean, please if you get the chance.” Her words rushed out of her quicker than the water in the river miles below. “I don’t want to bother you, but it would be so cool to see one.”

She was too cute. I didn’t want to break her heart and tell her a unicorn would likely turn her into a kabob at first sight. “Maybe someday. They are very dangerous and tend to shy away from people. All people.”

“Thank you,” she said, sincerely. She’d taken what I said as a “yes.”

I watched as she lightly jogged to the edge of the clearing and peered down. If I wasn’t capable of great speed, I would have worried about her proximity. She backed up suddenly, reminded of her own mortality and then looked over the edge more carefully.

“How high up are we? I went to the Rockies once—they’re big ass mountains out west. The air is hard to breathe there, because of the elevation. It's not, here. I feel like I could do a triathlon or something.” She giggled, probably thinking about her own lack of athletic ability.

Joining her near the precipice, I answered, “About eight miles. Maybe nine, I don’t recall. The atmosphere is different here, that’s why. The air is saturated with oxygen.”

“It’d be cool to have a house this high up.”

“I do.”

“Really? I’d like to see it sometime.”

I took her hand and pulled her to me, so her waist brushed my hip. “Did you forget we are to be wed? Of course you’ll see it.”

Cassia pushed her hair over her shoulder. “No, I just thought, I guess, with how busy you are...”

There was no acceptable answer to her musing, especially not with the tasks looming over me. “Come, there’s a path. You were hungry so we’ll sit down and eat.”

With her hand in mine, we walked the short path to another clearing, this one bearing soft grass and a couple of short trees. Conveniently, there were rocks shaped like chairs with a flat stone between them. If I had to guess, I would assume they were carved purposefully, but that would have occurred before my time.

Once she sat down, I tugged the artwork from my pocket and handed it to her. She took it, flicking a glance at me before focusing on the paper again. She unfolded it, gasped, and pinned me with her bright gaze.

“I drew this. This is what I meant. But... but I ripped it up?”