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The look he gave me made me warm all over. “No, I guess I don’t.”
My cheeks hurt with how hard I was grinning at Chris, and I felt a little bit like a goof, but I didn’t care.
For the first time in my life I was free and happy and I wondered if everything that ever happened had led me here. To this place. With Chris. And if so, then all the regrets that I had weren’t really regrets. All the terrible things I’d done—that were done to me and by me for my mother—none of it mattered anymore. I didn’t regret a second, even the hardest parts, because now I was here.
“You’ve got a lot running through that head of yours.”
“Can you read my mind?”
“No. Just the emotions.” He brushed a soft kiss against my lips. But I love that you’re happy. That I could do this for you.
I’m more than happy. I’m blissful, and whatever comes next—whoever shows up—I know we can handle it.
Of course we can. Together.
Together.
Chapter Twenty-Three
CHRIS
Samael and the rest of the archons had fully stocked the main house. Clothes. Food. More furniture and guest rooms than I thought we could ever use.
We had everything we could ever want. The rest of the houses—some with one bedroom, some with three—had only essentials. A mattress. A couch and a table with a couple chairs. That was about it. We figured we’d stock them as we had people, and that it would be months before we got around to that.
It took two weeks before Van showed up again. He gave us a warning though. So we were dressed. But Van hadn’t come alone. He had Wilken, Gurhan, and a few other fey—including one of Cosette’s cousins.
The next day some Weres showed up.
The day after that, it was Beth—one of the only witches left from the Texas coven—showed up with Elowen.
And then three days later, River—a guy witch in our supernatural alliance who was super into crystals—came with a couple of friends.
After a couple of weeks of nonstop traffic onto the land, I realized that the archons had only gotten us started. We were going to need a lot more houses. Thankfully, my grandfather had been greedy and we had plenty of land and money to grow.
We’d been here a couple of months now. Cosette was setting up a boutique in town. Her cousin was working on getting a crystal shop next door to it. She’d had experience running a similar shop in a mall in Colorado, so she was helping Cosette a lot. Which was pretty great. And Beth was working on getting a cafe started. We’d hired every contractor in the area, but it was going to take time to get everything built.
Still, it was coming together. Piece by piece.
It was crazy how life could change so quickly sometimes. The archons sped it along, but this—this was good. Really good.
And for the first time in my life, I found myself with a pack that I really loved and believed in. Sure, I was okay at St. Ailbe’s, but I’d still been working on myself. It was safe to say that I was healed, and with that, we’d breathed new life into the land and the town.
The sun was just peeking over the horizon, and I was sitting in a wooden rocking chair on the massive wraparound porch. I was drawing another sketch of Samael and Cosette. I made the charcoal version of Samael have a grin on his face, and the paper caught fire.
“Really? Again?” I muttered to myself, knowing he’d hear me and didn’t care. “She wants one of you smiling with her, damn it. If you won’t come down here and talk to her, I think it should be an easy give.”
But at least he hadn’t burned the whole pad. Just the single sheet of paper.
I started again. This time a picture of just Cosette. The sketch pad in my lap was almost filled—mostly of her.
My mate.
And as if just thinking about her made her appear, there she was, pulling the pad from my hands and setting it on the table beside me before sitting on my lap.
“You’re up early,” I said.
Her blonde hair was a mess of curl tangles, and I couldn’t help but work my fingers through it. She nearly purred when I petted her, squeezing her eyes shut.
