I realized, this entire time, that he hadn’t faced the wall because he was so mad at me that he couldn’t look at me. He’d done it to spare me from any pain from looking at him.
Fresh, hot tears rolled down my face. “Because before I knew you took her from me, I fell in love with you, and I guess love is stronger than hate.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, and one single tear rolled down his cheek before he wiped it away and turned back around to face the wall. “I’ll send you my answer in the morning.” His voice was full of emotion.
Reaching out, I squeezed his ankle lightly. “I don’t know where we go from here… you and I, but maybe we can just start over. It won’t be perfect, but if we work at it every day, it will be something new, something we create together.”
Without waiting for a reply, I got up and left the room. Love was messy and hard and, at times, ugly, but I was learning that just maybe… love was enough. Because being near Liam again had made me feel at home. He was my family now, and we had to find a way to fix what was broken.
Together.
The next morning, I chugged my second cup of coffee and tapped a nervous rhythm on the dining table. Trissa, Elle, and Kira all sat around the table, staring at me. After leaving the Vegas hotel, Elle and I had gotten drunk on the Vegas Strip and come back here where I rambled to all my roommates about how I still loved Liam and hoped he’d pick me. Shitty thing about being fae was that the alcohol didn’t last long, and soon I was just sober and spilling my guts, which was less fun.
“Think they’ll want to help us again?” I asked, holding my cup.
Trissa set down her coffee. “I hope so, but if not, we will go city to city and put out feelers the old-fashioned way. Your mother and I did it for twenty years.”
I nodded. “But I’m not sure we have that long. There could be a dark attack from the forest at any moment, and with the king turning the crystals dark… I need Liam.”
I couldn’t touch the dark crystals; only he could. Maybe if I brought a jar of the healing water and threw it over the crystal before grabbing it, that would work—
There was a knock at the door.
I jumped up so quickly that my coffee sloshed all over the table. Getting to my feet, I hurried for the door. I’d sent Mara to Vegas early this morning to await word and now…
Pulling the door open, I felt my heart flip over when I saw Liam standing there, leaning against a crutch to help steady himself.
But his family wasn’t behind him, neither were his men. He’d come alone.
Oh, gods, please don’t let this be goodbye.
“Mara said you live here now?” he asked, eyeing the Tree of Life behind me. So much had happened since he’d gone. His eyes lingered on the three crystals.
Of course.
I promised him a crystal, and he’d come for it. I nodded, biting back the tears. “Yeah, I’ll get you the crystal.” I spun to go when his hand snaked out and stopped me. Feeling the warm pressure of his skin on my upper arm sent heat right through my core.
“I’m not here for that.” His voice, his touch, I missed it all so much.
I gulped, turning to face him.
“I…” He dropped his hand. “I don’t think we can ever be the same again.”
My heart fell, and I nodded.
“But…” He added, “I’d like to start fresh again. Be something new, work at it every day… like you said.”
Tears sprang from my eyes, and I stepped forward, tentatively, as he opened his arms to me. Feeling him tuck me into him, hug me and hold me… All of the stress of the past few days melted away. We weren’t perfect, never would be, but he was my soulmate, something my very essence craved to be around. Nothing felt right without him.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Lily,” he muttered into my neck, his breath sending warm shivers down my body.
“Me too.” I held him tightly. “I’m so sorry.”
After we pulled away, he turned and looked over at the bridge my fae were building. “Need a hand with that? I got over sixty guys in Mara’s house, waiting on my word.”
A grin pulled at my lips. “Yes.”
We walked to Mara’s together, not hand in hand but at a few feet apart. Like you would on a first date. This was us starting over, getting to know each other again within the new light that had been shed over us.
“So, Mara says you’re Queen?”
“Temp Queen. Couldn’t keep my powers in after you left,” I admitted.
He was silent. “Indra?”
I shrugged. “Not really sure how to deal with her. I moved her to a house on the river with the other elders, questioned her, and took a piece of her hair. I’m hoping the real Queen can deal with it when she wakes.”
He nodded. “I know where my dad is. And where he is, the crystals will be.”
My eyes widened, and I stopped walking. “How do you know? I couldn’t feel the crystals anywhere.”
He looked at me through dark lashes. “That’s because he’s cloaked them, but he’s too stupid to cloak the sword I let him take.”
A grin pulled at the corner of my lips. “You let him take the Sword of Night? So you could seek that?”
He nodded. “But I didn’t expect that he’d be able to control my mind with it.” His voice turned hollow, and he brushed his fingers over his ribcage where his injury once was.
I gasped. “Oh, Liam…”
He waved me off. “It’ll be fine. I’ll track
