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I shake my head. “I’ll never get used to that word.”
She grins. “Me either. But I love it. Our little Valerie is all grown up andmarried.”
She pinches me in the ribs repeatedly until I swat her hands away.
“You are such a child.”
“All set!” Kirby plops on the grass in front of us, then extends her arms for us to join hands. I give Monroe a warning look not to try anything else, and she presses her lips into a thin line to keep from laughing.
As we lace our fingers together, a soft current of power passes through my palms at the connection.
“Now close your eyes,” instructs Kirby. “And think of something happy. Maybe something that hasn’t happened yet. Just something good.”
My mind goes blank for a moment, but then I think about a conversation I’d had with Reid earlier. I’ve moved into the royal accommodations at the estate with him, but he’s assured me it won’t be a permanent solution. That he wants to find a place of our own. We won’t be able to leave the estate full-time with his duties, especially with how hectic this transition’s been, but a real home to escape to from time to time sounds plenty good enough for me.
I try to picture it in my mind, somewhere quiet and with a beautiful view. But simple, unlike the estate. Nothing gaudy or luxurious. Just something that feels likeus.
“Good,” Kirby murmurs. “Now hold on to it. Hold on to that feeling.”
She switches over to soft chants in Latin, and the warmth between our palms grows until all I can see behind my eyelids is softly glowing white light, and something about it feels like home.
EPILOGUE
When I wake,the bed beside me is empty. My hand searches through the sheets for a moment, but Reid’s side is cold. I pry my eyes open. Judging by the faint outline of the curtains, the sun is still up. The music downstairs filters in next, and I wrap a robe around myself as my bare feet hit the floor. Despite how many nights we’ve spent here, I keep expecting the floor to be cold with how the weather’s been, forgetting that it’s heated. I let out a content sigh as I shuffle through the master bedroom and head for the stairs.
The days we get to spend in this home make all the difference. It feels like an escape from it all, like we’re in the middle of nowhere and not forty minutes outside of New York. When the weather’s right, you can see the city from our spot on top of the hill, as well as the lake beneath us. But other than that, it’s just trees and peace and quiet.
More than half of our time is spent at the estate, and maybe that’s what makes the time wedoget here feel so special.
The music grows louder as I descend the stairs, a soft jazz record on the player, but there’s no sign of Reid. Not in the front room with the fireplace, or the music room—I freeze when I catch sight of him in the kitchen.
He’s staring out the glass doors that lead to the deck, the sun setting in the distance and painting the sky vibrant shades of pink, orange, and violet.
The windows here offer a much better view than at the estate. Not just because of our positioning on the hill, but instead of the old UV-blocking technology the estates use, weborrowedsome of Westcott’s technology from his compounds, the kind they used in the nets that let vampires out in the field during the day. It doesn’t darken the windows nearly as much.
I wrap my arms around Reid’s waist from behind and rest my head on the center of his back.
He layers his hands over mine and lightly traces his thumb on the inside of my wrist. “Sorry if I woke you.”
“What are you doing up so early? Couldn’t sleep?”
“No, I just…” He trails off, and a long stretch of silence follows. Then so quietly I almost can’t hear him, he says, “I never realized sunsets looked like this. It’s so…bright.”
My heart twists at the reverence in his words. The wonder. It had been the whole reason I’d wanted to alter the windows here in the first place. After twenty-six years in darkness and a longing to see the sun he never dared to voice, I thought it was well overdue.
I keep one hand on his waist as I come to stand at his side. “Have you been sneaking down here every night all alone?”
A faint blush touches his cheeks as he ducks his head. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Reid,” I sigh, and the shyness in his smile is adorable. “Wake me.” I cup his face with my hands and give him a little shake. “Wake me.”
His eyes soften as he tucks a lock of hair behind my ear, his gaze slowly tracing over my face.
“What is it?”
He shakes his head, his smile growing into the kind that makes my chest ache to look at. “I’ve never gotten to see you in the sunlight. You’re always beautiful, but seeing you like this is my favorite.”
Now it’s my turn to blush. I tuck myself against him, my back pressed to his chest, and he winds his arms around me as we watch the sunset together, the clouds in the sky making it all the more beautiful. He presses a kiss to the side of my neck, then leaves his chin resting on my shoulder.
