Page 71 of Shadow Fall: Part Two

I bit the tip of my tongue, but spoke the words she had me recite several times a week. They got easier each time, slicing through me like fish hooks less and less. And I was starting, very slowly, to accept them.

“My name is Wynvail.”

“Hi, Wynvail, I’m Haley,” she said sweetly, making me snort.

“I have an amazing family and a mate who loves me.”

“So fucking much,” she breathed, her eyes on me as we walked through the cesspit.

“I have people who’ll care if I’m hurt and miss me if I die.”

“So don’t, problem solved.”

I smiled, her humour making it easier to get the final words out.

“I’m not a monster or an abomination.” And her newest addition: “And I deserve forgiveness.”

She paused, reaching onto her tiptoes to kiss me. She was taller than most women in our lives, but our height difference still made me smile. I took mercy on her and tipped my head, meeting her halfway for a quick, burning kiss that made me wish we were anywhere but here. But we came for a purpose, and I wasn’t leaving until we’d achieved it.

“I’m proud of you,” she murmured, drawing a lump to my throat. I could handle saying I wasn’t a monster, but that? It reached right into the vulnerable places inside me like sunlight.

“I’m the one with a goddess mate; I should be saying that to you.”

“I’m not a goddess,” she scoffed, squeezing my hand as we resumed walking, the tunnel dark and close and disgusting around us. Quiet—still. It was unsettling as fuck, and so was the way our voices echoed.

“Just a Fury then,” I murmured.

She scowled. “I’m ignoring that. No grand fates, no events picked out by destiny. Nope, I’m done. I can exact my Fury duties by keeping you all safe from your own stupidity. No double Harvey and Kai will start getting into bar fights as soon as we leave the palace.”

I grinned. We were moving soon, but not into the safe house we’d lived in temporarily. No, this was somewhere permanent. Somewhere fully ours, where we could be safe for the rest of our lives. But Haley and Verena were organising it with Tali, and none of them would spill a word of it to the rest of us.

“And I can use my scary Fury powers to scare off any of Verena’s potential boyfriends. Until we find one that’s good enough for her, of course.”

“Of course,” I agreed, straining my ears, sure I’d heard something in the distance. I reached deeper into my magic just in case. I wasn’t taking chances with my mate four and a half months pregnant.

“Have you seen that guard she’s got a crush on.”

“No,” I answered quickly. “He’s too old for her anyway. Verena shouldn’t be showing an interest in boys until she’s at least eighteen.”

Haley snorted. “Yeahhh, thirteen year old girls are notorious for not noticing boys. Well, unless they prefer girls. Either way, good luck stopping her. I was a nightmare as a teenager.”

“I can well imagine,” I drawled.

“Hey!”

I narrowed my eyes on the corridor, sure I’d heard something this time. Something like paper rasping over stone.

“And don’t think I didn’t notice how quickly you said no,” she huffed. “Did you leave the kid alive at least?”

“He’s in one piece,” I agreed, squeezing her hand before I let go. “I hear something. Draw your other dagger and stay behind me.”

She groaned deep in her throat but did as I said. “I hate being a fucking damsel.”

“But you’re such a pretty damsel.”

“Stop buttering me up by calling me pretty. That shit doesn’t work with me.”

It absolutely did.

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