Page 93 of Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World
Wordlessly, he held it out again, and this time I picked it up. The hilt shivered against my hand and I gripped it, hard, until it quieted.
“The Conclave is going to be very upset when they discover I’ve given that to you.” He sighed. “Corrine tried to take it from me before she left. More will come, eventually.”
“I’m not worried.” Setting the knife carefully on the bench, I reached out and slipped my hand into his. “We really messed things up between us, didn’t we?”
He nodded. “Mistakes definitely were made. On both sides.”
I ran my thumb across his knuckles. He had such beautiful hands. “Eric.” He watched me silently. “I think you’re amazing. You’re strong and caring and sweet. Yes, you were sent here to kill me before I could free an Abomination, but now, sitting here, I’m so glad we found each other.”
His fingers tightened on mine. “Me too.”
Taking a deep breath, I said simply, “I love you.”
He smiled at me, eyes bright with tears, but his only response was to squeeze my hand again.
“More than anything, I want us to spend the rest of our lives together.” I paused, then gathered my courage and pushed on. “But I’m not leaving Dark Enterprises. For the first time in my life, I have achance to chart my own course rather than wait for other people to do it for me. And if the past few weeks have taught me anything, it’s that I don’t need help getting to the top after all. I’m a straight-up badass, and I’m going to take what I want.”
His smile faded, just a little, but he said nothing.
“This is who I am, Eric. I’m not interested in redemption. I don’t need to be saved. I’m going toownthis world someday, and when I do, I hope you’ll be at my side.” I looked away, unable to meet his gaze any longer. “If you can’t do that, though, I’ll understand.”
He was quiet for a long time. “Well, nobody’s perfect,” he said at last.
I blinked at him.
“I think I understand why you need this,” he went on. “And while I can’t condone what Dark Enterprises does, I also can’t hold you responsible for the actions of an entire company.” He laughed suddenly. “This certainly isn’t where I thought I’d end up when I first saw you. You were just another misguided, dangerous person who had to be stopped. But I know you now. You’re more complicated than that. And I’m okay with complicated.”
“So…you want to stay?” I asked uncertainly. “With me?”
“I’m willing to give it a try,” he murmured, before leaning closer and kissing me.
When I got back tothe apartment, I closed the door and leaned back against it. Amira and Lex were sitting together on the sofa, and as the door clicked shut they both turned to stare at me, arms crossed along the back.
“We’ve been waitingforever,” Amira said.
“How did it go?” Lex asked.
“I still want to have his babies,” I sighed.
Amira’s eyebrows went up. “So it went well?” she hazarded.
“You’re back together?” Lex added with an expression of disbelief.
I peeled myself off the door. “We’re going to see what happens. The Conclave might decide to murder both of us, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Lex eyed me, then exchanged a look with Amira.
Those two had been inseparable since we’d defeated The-One-Who-Hungers. “Our minds connected during that ritual,” she’d told me when I asked her about it. “I was intrigued before that, but knowing them in such a profound and intimate way—” Her eyes went all misty. “I think they might be my soul mate.”
Facing down an ancient horror had left its mark on all three of us, in different ways. Amira had learned of worlds and realities she’d never imagined before, and her curiosity was voracious. She wanted to know everything, and I think that was what Lex adored about her the most. The two of them spent a lot of time with their heads together, talking esoteric nonsense, and it was sort of sweet in a weird way. For their part, Lex had found a little tribe of fellow misfits willing to put up with their crap, which seemed to be the closest thing to family they’d had in a long time. And as for me, I’d learned a lot about myself. I knew what I wanted, and I was prepared to go after it.
There was just the small matter of the death sentence almost certainly hanging over my head—again.
Thirty-Four
At precisely nine a.m. onWednesday morning, two days after saving the world, I walked into Ms.Crenshaw’s office in the gorgeous dark gray chalk stripe suit I’d borrowed from Eric’s closet. He was surprisingly handy with a needle and thread, and had altered it in a few places to fit me. Beneath that I wore a pale blue oxford shirt and a dark blue tie, both picked out by Amira, and with Lex’s expert help I’d used a touch of pomade to tame my unruly hair. I looked amazing, and I knew it.
“Colin,” my boss said, apparently unsurprised to see me. She was seated behind her desk, the floor-to-ceiling windows behind her looking out across a bleak and desolate moor. In front of her sat a nervous-looking man in chinos and a cheap blazer.
