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“I am quite aware of what I am asking, Dale. It’s a small piece.”
“But it’s a piece,” I said. “I’m not Lenore, Jo, and Nova, Minos. I need my soul. It is a part of my destiny. We have no idea what would happen if I lost that small piece. Would I be able to enter The Academy anymore? Will I burn when I touch one of my blessed swords? There are too many questions.”
“I know your work is important to you,” Minos assured me.
He did, too.
And, actually, he’d been so incredibly, well, good about it over the past several, very hard months.
I’d been working so much.
When I wasn’t I was stressing about work.
But he never complained.
He just enjoyed every spare moment he could get with me.
I felt like shit denying him this one thing he was asking of me.
But this one thing could change everything.
I loved him.
God, I loved him.
But my work wasn’t just a job, it was who I was, it was my fate, my reason for existing.
“Which is why I went ahead and answered some of the questions I knew you would have,” Minos said, giving me a self-satisfied smile.
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t notice that your sword went missing for half a day?” he asked, shooting me a smile.
“What did you do to my sword?” I asked, stomach dropping.
“I had each of the girls take turns touching it,” he told me. “It didn’t burn them. Neither did the holy water I got Father Severide to give me. You can ask him yourself if you’d like. He stuck around for the experiment.”
“But…”
“According to him, the piece that is missing is so small that the universe mistakes it for simple human folly, a small sliver of evil that can be found in many people.”
“You talked to Father Severide about me?”
“Not directly, no. I told him it was just an experiment. I also consulted Arick,” he went on.
“How long have you been looking into this?” I asked.
“Since you moved in,” he told me, shrugging. “I want forever with you, Dale. I put in the work to make sure we can have that. Without you needing to sacrifice your work.”
“But…”
“I would not ask you to give up The Academy, Dale. I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t sure you could have both.”
I had no reason not to believe him.
I had never known love like the love he felt toward me. It was like it wasn’t possible for him to do something that would hurt me.
I could trust him when he said he had my best interest at heart.
And, the fact of the matter was, I did want forever.
If pressed, and I hoped never to experience that, but if I had to choose, I knew that I would choose Minos.
Even over The Academy.
But I wanted both.
And if he was saying I could have that, then, really, what were my objections?
“Okay,” I agreed, nodding.
“Okay?” he asked, cautiously hopeful.
“Yes. I want forever. With you.”
Minos - 12 months
She’d dragged her feet a bit.
Not that I could blame her.
Shit was always happening left and right with The Academy and just the world as powers started to shift, as new creatures started to come out of the woodworks.
There was just never a convenient time.
But we’d finally settled on the one-year anniversary of the demon attack that, ultimately, brought us together for good.
Dale’s hand was crushing mine as we stood in the woods facing Lenore whose young son was sitting on a blanket a few feet away, amusing himself with extending and retracting his talons over and over.
Much to his Uncle Ace’s chagrin, he also inherited his mother’s ability to make it rain when he was upset about something. Which, ultimately, meant the kid was spoiled fucking rotten, so he never got sad for any length of time.
“It’s okay,” I murmured, my wing closing more tightly around her as I felt the anxiety rush through her system as if it was my own.
I felt none myself.
I knew I’d done my research.
I’d double and triple-checked in the six months since she’d agreed to the ritual.
And I’d never been more sure of anything in my life.
Her gaze slipped from mine toward the side where Gideon stood, chin raised, legs spread wide, taking up space because he was out of his element, surrounded by demons he didn’t want to slay.
He was holding several of their blessed tools.
Not to use against us.
But to reassure Dale with when Lenore was done.
Her gaze once again slid to me.
“I love you,” she said, voice low.
“I love you too,” I told her, pulling her closer.
“Okay,” Lenore declared suddenly, making Dale jump.
“Okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, it’s all done.”
“But…”
“You don’t feel different?” Lenore asked. “I told you that you wouldn’t. You’re still you. But now you’ll be you forever,” Lenore said, nodding over toward Gideon.
He moved forward at that, hitting the button on the hilt he was holding, making the sword extend.
