Page 104 of Zero Happily Ever Afters

“I love it. But I am gonna miss yanking you by those long locks.” Milo winked. “Now, to this serious conversation. I know it’s coming. So—and this is the first time you’ll hear me say this so savor it—just spit it out.”

I ground my teeth to stifle a small bubbling laughter.Damn clairvoyants.

Milo playfully batted his lashes, teasing and always knowing what was on my mind, with or without his magic. Our connection in itself was magical, bonded and linked on a level I’d never fully comprehend. That said, I wanted to spend our lives together figuring it out.

It didn’t seem like this was a conversation to avoid, so I dipped my toe into the topic. “You really did a thing today, huh?”

“The merger between Cerberus and Gemini was part of this long game plan.” Milo scrunched his face, fighting back aggravation for how much improvisation had popped up since fate had deviated so far off the careful paths he’d arranged.

“I know. Sort of glimpsed that much during the reveal.”

“Oh, man. I was so upset.” Milo made his angry face, his overdramatized angry face where one poke in his stomach would result in a giggle fit because only one of us wore a scowl well in this relationship. “I had all these plans of having a statue of an Orthrus—which is basically a two-headed Cerberus—which would’ve been amazing. Sort of like an homage or a tribute or something. Gemini and Cerberus overlapping because, you know.”

“Gemini is the twin sign, and Cerberus is the demon dog.” I nodded. “And this Orthrus is the demon dog but twinning?”

“Twinning!” Milo laughed loudly, obnoxiously, then stopped immediately and shot me an overly serious face. “But they said I couldn’t use it because of trademarking. Apparently, some guild inMilwaukeeuses the Orthrus demon as their emblem, and we can’t because of copyright and blah, blah, blah.”

I always found it strange how the Midwest used so many demon names for their guilds. Of all the things they could’ve picked.

“I think what you created, what you’re creating, is amazing.” I paused, contemplating. “It’s gonna open so many new doors in the industry. It’s the big picture guilds and academies never grasped.”

“It’s also a big picture that folks can scribble all over and ruin if we’re not careful,” Milo said. “But that’s a problem for the future, one I’ll redirect if need be. Thankfully, Gemini has some awesome educators. Seriously, Chanelle’s a boss ass bitch, the way she sat down with the Cerberus board and just… Wow.”

“Gemini is in great hands, which is why I think I’m okay walking away.”

“What?” Milo’s quickened heartbeat rang so loudly it thrummed alongside his worried thoughts.

“I’m leaving Gemini—leaving teaching—for a while. I’ll take a sabbatical or something.” I took my time with the words, biting back my own feelings while tiptoeing around Milo’s. He’d seen this possibility, clearly alluding to it when mentioning the serious conversation we needed to have, but I doubted he believed it’d actually cement into reality. I honestly couldn’t believe I’d emailed the headmaster with my request, a request to leave. “It’s just the right thing to do for right now.”

“There are lots of right choices, Dorian. Some are more extreme than others.” He glanced at my chopped-off hair.

I huffed. “Subtle as ever, Evergreen.”

“I do like it. I just want you to know it’s a big choice, a permanent choice, a guiding decision.”

“Yeah, but think of how much I’ll save on shampoo.”

Milo rolled his eyes. I knew he meant leaving education, but maybe I’d stolen some of Milo’s great avoidance through sass technique.

“I’m losing my homeroom coven to their third year anyway. They’re going to be prioritizing their internships. Teachers don’t get to follow their students up to graduation anymore.”

“What about your other students? Your history classes? Won’t some of your homeroom coven kids being taking your advanced history?”

“Probably, but Dower will find someone to fill in for the coursework.” I shrugged. “I won’t be any good to my students so long as I’m carrying this weight.”

“Weight?”

“You make it look so easy.” I smiled at Milo, simply awed by everything about him.

“Make what look easy?” His brow crinkled in the cutest way when he didn’t know the answer to something. An expression I rarely saw, with him being a clairvoyant and all.

“Carrying the weight of the world,” I said, soaking in his flustered expression, his soft pride, his lingering guilt for still not having an answer for every problem in existence. “I can’t return to the industry forever, I’m not built for it, but I need to see this case through to the end. I know I have the right magic, the ability and conviction to stop The True Witch and Theodore Whitlock.”

“You mean kill them?” Milo swallowed hard, holding back his concerns, the ethics, the desire he had to do the same.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. In the heat of the moment, it felt right, righteous, but now… “I just know I have to help stop them. What happens when I find them… I’ll cross thatbridge and carry that burden. But I can’t allow them to stay out there, hurting people, plotting against the future, your future, the beautiful and wonderful happiest ever after that ever aftered you are creating.”

I brushed my hands over his face, resting them on his shoulders and squeezing his tight muscles. Careful to be gentle.

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