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I got what he was saying, but it wasn’t the same. “Maybe.” I rested my forehead on his chest.
“So, let’s dream for a little bit.” He pulled away from me, leaving one arm around my shoulders to keep me close, and he looked around the land. “I want to do something with this land. Something good should come from all of this and from the money that I can’t touch for myself. I wouldn’t…” He was quiet while he thought.
I stayed there, resting my head on his shoulder, waiting and ready to hear what he said next. But if he needed time to think, I was okay enough to give him that. I wanted him to have the freedom to dream, especially if he was turning this nightmare of a place into something good.
“Hmm.” His voice rumbled into me.
“What?”
“I want to tear this place down—every building and structure and fill the p
it with cement.”
I laughed and he stopped talking. “I had that same thought about ten minutes ago.”
“It’s a good one.” He squeezed my shoulder. “And then I think I want to do something nice. Something the opposite of what my pack did. I want to build a sanctuary.”
Wow. I really liked that idea. “A sanctuary for who?”
“For anyone that doesn’t fit in. For bitten and lone wolves. For fey who want to be gone from the court. For witches that want protection from their coven. It seems like it could undo, just a little, the evil that was done on this land.”
I looked around, trying to envision this place as something other than it was. “You’d have to get the land cleansed.”
“Oh, no shit.” He laughed and stepped away from me, turning in a circle as he looked at the land. “Claudia and Tessa and maybe Samantha, if she’ll agree to come out here. I want them to come here and clear it. Get rid of all the evil. And then I want to take the pack money I inherited and build something good here. Teach art to people that are struggling. Maybe grow some food here. Raise some cattle? I don’t know. But it’s a lot of land and a lot of money. I spent years running from this place and swearing I’d never touch even a cent, but what good does that do? Being homeless didn’t fix me, and ignoring it didn’t fix me either. You know?” Chris was staring off in the distance at the buildings, but all I could do was stare at him.
I was blown away. I hadn’t expected him to ever want to come back here. But to come back and rebuild? It was amazing.
“What?” Chris said, and his cheeks pinked, just a tiny bit, but it was there and adorable.
“Is it dumb?” He shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at the ground. “I mean, I can’t use that money for me, but for this… Seems like that would… It’s dumb.”
“No.” I grabbed his belt loops just like he’d done to me, pulling him against me. “It’s not dumb. Not even a little bit.”
Chris’ breath was shaky. “And depending on what the town is like, maybe we can grow it. Build some businesses there. I think—”
I pressed my lips to his. I wanted this dream—his dream. It was a good one. Turning something bad into something good? God, if that wasn’t just so Christopher Matthews, I didn’t know what was.
I wasn’t sure if we could make it happen soon or not, but if we survived all of this, if we got through it, having a quiet life here, building a safe haven, that was something I could really get behind. Neither of us had ever had a home, and this dream of building a home not just for us, but for any supernatural that had been rejected? It was a huge, beautiful dream and I wanted to help make that happen for him.
I pulled away from him. “Have you always thought of this?”
He shook his head. “No. After you pulled me from the pit, for the longest time, I was searching. For a hot second, I thought the reason I’d gone through all of that was so that I could help Tessa.”
I punched his stomach, and he laughed.
“The hot second passed, and I wasn’t sure what the point of all of it was. But then I was fighting demons and everything and it didn’t matter. I was back to surviving and making sure that innocent people lived.” He blew out a breath. “But I was looking out here, and the idea… I could turn this land to something good. A sanctuary. I like that. It feels right.”
“Do you want to go look inside the buildings? See if there’s something salvageable?”
He shook his head. “No. Even if there was, I don’t want what was here tainting what could be. We don’t need to do anything now, but long term, I think this could be good.”
“It could be amazing. We could teach people to fight so that they can defend themselves. There are so many fey that would love this—not just me—and…” I smiled at him. “Sometimes you surprise me. Under all the flirting is an amazing heart.” He opened his mouth and I knew—I knew—he was about to ruin it with a joke. It would be something funny and I’d laugh, and he’d successfully diminish how good he was. So I put my hand over his mouth, stopping him. “Let’s go see if there’s anything open in town. Get that wolf his steak.”
“I’d be happy with chicken nuggets at this point.”
“I know I’m a vegetarian and a little biased, but I saw a video of how those are made.” I couldn’t help but make a face. “I hope we can do better than that for you. Which way?”
He pointed to a little path beside the farmhouse that led into the woods. “It’s about an hour walk down that path. Less than that if we ran.” He grinned at me. “But I’m not in a rush. I just like hanging out with you.”
