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Shit.I hadn’t wanted her to see this yet.
I acted cool and shrugged, trying to slide it into my pocket. “Just something I found in my junk box.”
She snickered. “Anything you find in yourtreasure hoard, I want to see. You’ve got a lot of fun things in there.”
I grinned. I loved that was how she saw it. Ever since I was little, I’d collect things and put them into a box. Most thought it was random junk, but it wasn’t. I didn’t have lint or random trash wrappers in the box.
A small acorn? From a hiking trip Astrid and I took a few years back.
A torn, beer-stained ticket? From a concert Aya treated the three of us to in college.
A shiny pebble? I found it when Mom and I first walked the retreat after arriving.
Every item had meaning to me, and I treasured them all.
But this wasn’t from that box. This necklace was even more special than any item in that box.
Astrid made grabby-hands. “Well, let me see it.”
I stepped away, keeping it out of reach. “Go back to training.”
She hopped down, reaching for it. “Please?”
The shifting of her wings caught the sunlight, and the gold and silver feathers seemed to sparkle, dazzling me. Kirby explained that the silver feathers meant Astrid’s soul resonated with healing the most. Not just magic healing, as apparently all Valkyries were capable of that, but restoring the mind, body, and soul.
Kirby said they were drawn to those who were out of balance and were the Valkyries most common on the battlefields comforting the dying and collecting the most souls to carry—the heaviest burden of a Valkyrie’s purpose. It fit Astrid’s character to a T.
But the gold meant it also resonated with protection, and at any cost, which made sense with how self-sacrificing Astrid could be sometimes.
“Ha!” Astrid shouted in triumph.
I blinked and found her with the pendant cradled in her hands. “Cielo…”
“Wow, this is so pretty.” Her loving gaze on the necklace made my chest swell. It was the exact reaction I’d hoped for. She turned it in her hands. “It looks really old.”
It was. And why I had stored it away until the right moment to give it away. And that moment was soon, but not right now, no matter how lovingly she gazed at it.
Astrid was too engrossed to care about my desire to have the necklace back, even after I said her name. I huffed, and then smirked when a devious idea came to me.
Walking up behind her, I reached around and grasped her hands—no easy task with her wings, but I managed. I bent closer, my lips brushing her ear, and spoke in my special low tone. “Mi amor, give it back.”
She stiffened, and I grinned. Plucking the necklace from her hands, I spoke again before stepping back. “Gracias, hermosa.”
Her breath hitched and then a moment later, after I’d gotten several steps away, she shook herself and whirled around.
“Not fair!” she complained, her cheeks pink.
I smirked. “All’s fair in love and war, Cielo.”
I’d always known that voice did something to her. At the very least it’d always gotten her attention, but now, after the confession I’d made, and the lack of barrier between us that used to be there, even if we hadn’t had the chance to sit down and talk about where we stood, I could see just what it did to her.
I could endlessly ask how long this unspoken attraction had been between us, but I knew, deep down I knew, it’d been a similar length of time. But because of my damned childhood declaration, we both tried to pretend it wasn’t there.Maybe if we’d come to realize how foolish we were sooner, we wouldn’t be in this awkward predicament we found ourselves now.
I slipped back into the house to allow her to get back to training, and clear my head. This limbo between us wasn’t easy, but I also didn’t want to pressure her. She had a lot going on, and I couldn’t imagine the difficulties navigating around my and Tyr’s declarations to her.
I wished I could point to all the reasons why the answer should be easy—that answer being me—but I knew I couldn’t. I wasn’t in her position.
Pausing in the kitchen, my fingers drummed on the island counter and I looked down at the pendant in my hand.Am I making this more difficult for all of us than needed?I wasn’t going to give her up unless she told me to, that much I was sure. But I feared she might avoid this forever if the pressure was too much.And I know the exact answer she’ll have to give both of us if it comes to that…
