Page 109 of Rogue's Paradise (Covenant of Thorns 3)

“Don’t talk that way.” He sounded harsh, almost mean.

“I just want you to know that I didn’t have to. The rest of this might be fated or manipulated or whatever, but that part is real for me.”

“I know why you’re telling me that now, my Gwynn. Because you think this is the end of our story. I refuse to accept that.”

My megalomaniac.

The birthing team had assembled in the bedroom already, with Starling finishing up preparing the bed as Nancy provided instructions. I’d successfully won the argument for having at leastthishuman in my tower. Rogue set me on the bed with infinite gentleness, leaning me against the piled-up pillows. I kept my grip on his hair as he started to pull away.

“Don’t go,” I told him.

He searched my face, for once deeply uncertain. “It might not be a good idea for me to be in the room.”

“If you’re somewhere else and…take it in your head to come here, does anyone have the power to stop you?”

His mouth twisted in a self-deprecating smile. “You, if anyone.”

And Titania, of course, but that went without saying, since we knew where she fell out on this.

“Then you might as well stay, since this is where I’ll be. I need you to stay.”

He caressed my left cheek, tracing the twining path of silver. “I really have loved you, too, my Gwynn. I never expected to feel anything for you. It’s made everything different.”

“Maybe true love will win the day after all,” I quipped, amused at myself and yet also, for the first time, maybe kind of believing that.

“If you’re staying then, milord Rogue,” Nancy inserted, her tone making it clear she didn’t approve in the least—and who could blame her?—“then you must needs stay out of the way. You can sit over there.”

“No. I need to be in physical contact with him.” I wasn’t sure why I decided that, but this was my party now. I could be unreasonable if I wanted to. “Rogue can sit behind me.”

“Boots off then, milord.” Nancy huffed about it, but didn’t argue further. Rogue settled himself behind me and I leaned gratefully against him, drawing on his strength as another contraction grabbed me in its merciless fist. Nancy held my hands and my gaze, supporting me though it. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” she said to me, as if Rogue weren’t right there. To his credit, he didn’t snarl at her.

“Nope,” I replied cheerfully. “Winging it, as usual.”

“Gwynn’s best guess is more reliable than certainty from anyone else I’ve met,” Athena added, coming back from her station by the glass wall, spinning her dagger thoughtfully. A new one. Pure silver, by the looks of it. She gave me a little nod and smiled sweetly at Rogue, her pansy face radiantly lovely, her sharp gaze full of menace. “And I’ll stop you, if I have to.”

“And I.” Starling set down a stack of towels. “Do you recall, Lord Rogue, that you owe me a boon?”

“Owes the both of us,” Athena corrected.

Darling Hercules came bounding into the room, leaping onto the bed, offering chagrin for being late, as he’d found a lovely spot in the sun to sleep in that he’d been loath to leave. He settled against me—my many muscle aches subsiding immediately—and fixed Rogue with a green gimlet stare, adding his demand.

“How could I forget?” Rogue answered them all in a dry tone, sliding his hands down my arms in a soothing caress. “Do you all intend to redeem them now?”

They exchanged looks and turned back to him. “Yes,” Starling said, in her firmest tone. “The same for both—oh, yes, Darling Hercules—all of us, to triple the power.”

“We want you to promise you’ll do nothing to harm Gwynn.” Athena spun her dagger meaningfully. Darling Hercules set a paw on Rogue’s bare foot and flexed his claws.

“He can’t promise that—” I started to say.

“Agreed,” Rogue said at the same time.

Dammit. He knew as well as I did that his promise wouldn’t hinder Titania if she took control of him and then he’d be forsworn as well, doubly in her power. Or sextupled, if the promise to all of them counted three times.

“Don’t fret, my lady Gwynn.” Rogue cupped my jaw, turning my head so I looked up at him. He kissed me, long and with great care. “Perhaps it will help.”

I made a wish then. One that Marquise and Scourge would have punished me for, with its vagueness. The kind that all the tales warned against—bargains with the devil that turned back to bite you, the monkey’s paw that fulfilled the letter of the wish, but in the most dreadful way possible.

I knew better.Be careful what you wish for.

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