Page 63 of Luca

Slow as could be, the little beast lifted her head, giving him what could only be described as a scathing once-over, but ultimately, she decided to obey.

Zadok smiled at me as he retreated, but missed his footing as he turned toward the door. Luckily, Flick had anticipated his clumsiness, and reached out one-handed to steady him, a mildly exasperated sigh flaring his nostrils. I couldn’t help but grin to myself at the familiar scene, peering up at Cair from the corner of my eye to find he was already sending me a knowing look.

No DNA test needed.

The door closed, and I let out a slow breath, giving myself a minute to justbe. A yawn disturbed my plan to chat Cair’s ear off, spending an hour rehashing everything he’d been present for. I liked to go over things multiple times to make sure I was on the right page. Mostly I wanted to rebel against the order to go to bed, to prove I could stay awake, but I wasn’t fooling anyone.

But seriously, how can I be dead for twelve hours and still be so tired?

Cair helped me shuffle down the bed until I was once again lying on my back. He tucked me in, making sure I was comfortable before planting a kiss on my cheek and settling in beside me—on top of the covers, but my eyelids were suddenly too heavy for me to query it. He played with my hair, exactly how I liked it, huffing a soft laugh when I nudged his fingers for rougher scritches.

“I love you too,” he said, voice a silky-smooth murmur. I gazed up at him, my brow furrowed in confusion. “It was the last words you said to me before your eyes closed in that meadow, and I didn’t get to say them back.”

Realization dawned, and I smiled. “I know you do.”

“Forgive me. If I had listened to you… If I had?—”

“It’s not your fault.” I shimmied closer to him, resting my head on his chest. “I know nothing I say right now will erase the landslide of feelings that are piling on top of you, but please trust me when I say you are not to blame, and I’ll happily repeat those words to you until they sink in. You’ve always done your best for me, Cair. Always put your entire soul into every gesture, no matter how small. You love me unconditionally, you give me everything I could ever need or want in this lifetime and the next, and I know you would not have put me in your father’s path if you’d believed, even for a second, that he would do this.” I tilted my head to peer up at him, my expression resolute. “There was nothing you could have done. He fooled us. He tried to tear us apart, but that was his biggest mistake. We’re stronger than that, we’re resilient, and he won’t succeed with whatever bullshit he’s brewing. We’ll make sure of it.”

A single tear tracked down Cair’s cheek. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“Paid your taxes on time?” I joked, delighting in the faint laugh I earned in return. This wasn’t one of those minor inconveniences that could be resolved in an instant; it would take time and persistence, but we would figure it out. We always did. I was half convinced nothing short of an apocalypse could separate us at this point. I mean, death was pretty drastic, and we dealt with my self-conscious thought spirals on the daily, so what else was there to conquer?

Yeah, whatever happened in the days ahead, whatever forces tried to worm their way between us, I was sure we’d overcome it. We had each other, and we had the promises we’d made to stand side by side until the end of time.

That was all we needed.

“I love you to the stars and back,” I said. “And even if you’re having a hard time imagining a happy ending at this very moment, we’ll get through this, just as we have with everything else life has thrown at us.Together.”

He nodded, and swept the stray curls away from my face. “Together.”

I nestled against him once more, tucking my head under his chin and sighing contentedly. The sound petered out into a snort as a thought came to me. “What a pair we make, huh? Reassurance has to be our love language.”

“Hm, indeed. It’s undeniable that we’re perfectly matched.”

He wasn’t wrong, and I couldn’t have been more gratified with that fact.

“But you absolutely should listen to me more,” I muttered as my eyes closed, my tone light. “My instincts have a track record of being pretty spot on.”

There was a breathy huff, and an arm was placed protectively over my stomach. “I will,” he said before burying his nose in my hair. “I swear it.”

LUCA

Aweek ago, I had died. I still couldn’t believe it. There wouldn’t be many people who could claim that their life force had left their body for a whole twelve hours, only for their magic to awaken and drag them right back.

Actually, the chances of that were probably below zero.

The rest period had spanned longer than what I’d been promised, but I wasn’t bitter about it—maybe a little. I’d spent those seven days confined to the bed, allowing my body the chance to recuperate as I read up on what it meant to be a mage and even memorizing some spells. It kept my mind somewhat busy, my curiosity preventing a slow descent into madness. Though I supposed I should be grateful I even had the luxury of napping and reading—if I’d been dead a day or so longer, I might have woken up in the middle of a battle.

Cair had admitted to his impulsive war cry after a bit of probing. He’d wanted revenge for what the king had done. The thought had consumed his entire being, and I couldn’t blame him. I would have reacted the same way—still kinda had that itch, I wouldn’t lie—but thankfully, Zadok had possessed enough presence of mind to send what he’d called “mirror crystals” with Cee and Gary. They were enchanted glass shards that could be used to communicate over long distance. He’d prepared for the possibility of anything happening on the road that Cair needed to be updated on. Once I’d woken up, it had been a simple task for him to make contact and instruct them to return. Of course, I was glad we’d avoided complete desolation and senseless bloodshed, that was the number one priority in any circumstance, but all I could think about was how long I’d been in the Otherworld without knowing Fae phones existed.

What the actual hell?

I’d asked Zadok if he had any more lying around, and if he would miss them should they suddenly disappear from his stores. For no reason whatsoever.

He had visited me often, mydad—I wasn’t yet at the stage where it felt right to speak the moniker aloud—but with the way he would keep his distance, almost scared to approach, it never felt like a good time to ask him more about his past. He would bring me scrolls, and go off on tangents about certain spells and their properties, though he’d stopped giving me any materials with detailed performance instructions. That was only after he’d caught me in the middle of trying to light a candle with a chant and a wrist-flick. I’d almost set the bedding on fire. No, Ihadset it on fire, so he’d taken those privileges away before my mate strung him up for being my enabler.“Until you heal,”he’d kept saying; Cair’s words repeated in a different tone. I understood their concerns, I really did, but I was eager to learn and harness this magic that had been latent inside me all of my life. I had been in bed forseven days, stewing in intrigue and boredom.

And getting more and more frustrated with every day that passed.

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