“Now you’re mine forever,” she told him.
As Poseidon disappeared, they could all hear his final words booming through the dawn air.
“But it’s a dry heat,” Daniel said, and Serai started to laugh, almost collapsing with relief and joy and love.
As Daniel kissed her, right there in front of the departing sea god and everyone else, she heard their laughter, too, and she smiled against his lips. She couldn’t think of anything more miraculous than being reborn to the sound of laughter.
“I will love you forever, and never leave you,” she said, when Daniel finally let her speak.
“Damn straight,” he growled, and she laughed.
“Is that man-speak for
“You know it.”
“Here we go again,” Ven called out, still laughing. “This is going to be one wild ride.”
Serai held out her hand, carefully cradling the stone, and looked at Conlan and the woman who must be his wife. “I believe this belongs to you.”
Conlan reverently took the amethyst and dropped it into a velvet pouch tucked into his belt. “Thank you,” he said, bowing deeply. “You may have saved Atlantis.”
“You saved your sisters,” Riley said, stepping closer and smiling at Serai. “You saved Guen, Helena, and Merlina. They are awake and perfectly healthy, asking a million questions.”
“
“And now on to the next step,” Conlan said. “We have to find the final jewel from the trident. Poseidon’s Pride.”
Daniel smiled down at Serai. “I happen to know two people who have plans for a world tour, if you need volunteers.”
“This is going to be the best year of my
She blushed but then pointed to the portal. “Shall I show you Atlantis before we get started?”
He grinned. “Hot bath?”
“And food.”
“An actual bed?”
“I don’t know, Daniel, I’m kind of developing a fondness for camping,” she said to tease him, and he swept her into his arms and headed for the portal, so they could begin the rest of their lives.
Together. Finally, after an eternity, together.
Nothing could ever be better than that.
When the portal deposited them, after its usual swirling, twirling ride, in Atlantis, they were still locked in an embrace that would last them a thousand lifetimes. Serai finally looked around when she heard a discreet throat clearing. Her face flamed a hot red until she realized these were different guards than the ones she’d knocked out with her magic when she’d escaped.
She’d need to make some apologies.
“I hear there is cake, Lady Serai, and that the other maidens are waiting for you on the palace terrace,” one of the guards said, a twinkle in his eye.
“I’m very fond of cake,” she told Daniel.
“I have very fond ideas of what to do with you and a bowl of cake frosting, and a huge, soft bed,” Daniel whispered in her ear, quite wickedly.
She laughed and held his hand as they ran all the way to the palace.
Chapter 41
Daniel strode through the mansion that the royal family had given to him and Serai, nodding to anyone he passed but not stopping to talk. He held his surprise for Serai in his hands, finally, and wasn’t about to let anything deter him from reaching her.
She was sitting in her private garden, of course, among the flowers and in the fresh air. She still couldn’t bear to be trapped indoors for long.
“Are we packed? Ready to go find the final gem?”
She glanced up at him, startled at first, and then she smiled with so much love and welcome that he was amazed and humbled all over again that this woman was his. He figured he’d get past that feeling in a few hundred years or so.
“Ready to go as soon as we have a lead,” she said, rising to come toward him, her arms held out for a hug.
“Ah, but I can’t hug you. My hands are full,” he said, teasing. “A present that has waited eleven thousand years to find you.”
She tilted her head, still smiling. “I love presents.”
“And cake, or so I hear.”
She blushed as they both remembered the fascinating uses they’d made of frosting just the night before.
“For you, my lady. My princess. My love,” he said, and the power of the emotion surging through him left him unable to say anything else, so he simply held out his hands and presented his gifts.
She lifted the shimmering silver and orichalcum pendant on its delicate chain and gasped. “Oh, Daniel, this is so incredibly lovely. Did you design this yourself?”
“Yes, when I first met you. It took me this long to be able to fashion it for you, but as with everything else about us, time has only enhanced and polished the possibilities we first recognized so long ago,” he said, fastening the pendant around her neck.
She turned and threw her arms around him. “I love it. I love you.”
He kissed her for so long that he nearly forgot the second gift, hidden in his pocket.
Nearly. But not even her sweet, honeyed kisses could make him forget this.
He stepped back, removed the ring he’d finished crafting only an hour ago from his pocket, and knelt before her.
The tears began to stream down her face before he could even speak.
“Yes, Daniel. Oh, yes, of course I’ll marry you,” she said, and she threw herself into his arms so exuberantly she knocked them both over.
He laughed and slid the ring on her finger. “Make an honest man out of me, my one true love.”
She stared at the ring and its intricate but elegant design and gasped. “It’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.”
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, inside and out. You will marry me, then?”
She flashed a wicked smile at him. “How could I not? I’ve seen how good you are with cake.”
Daniel rolled over until she was underneath him and he captured her mouth in a searing kiss. “What do you say we retire to our rooms and affirm life for a while?”
She vanished, transforming into mist for long enough to escape him, and then she was back, standing next to him and grinning. “Race you!”
He caught her before she made it halfway to the house and carried her the rest of the way to the bedroom. On days like this, he still caught himself wondering if he’d made it to heaven after all.
