My gut flipped back and forth between sharp bouts of nausea and a spreading, joyous warmth. “I need you, but...you can’t. You’ll get hurt again. I can’t fix those scars, Lia. You’ll just get more, the longer you stay with me.”
“I don’t care about scars.” She pushed me upright and pulled my hand up to her chest, holding it against the black marks. “Those scars on your hand came from the darkness too, right? Now we match.” She gave me a reassuring smile, but it quickly faded to worry. “What about you? Are you okay?”
I furrowed my brow, unable to follow her logic. “Me? I’m...fine. I didn’t get hurt.”
She sighed in relief. “Good. I was worried your scars might have gotten worse.”
“Oh.” I stared at my gloved hand for a moment. “I haven’t really checked that.”
“You...haven’t checked?” she asked, cocking her head to the side. “You’ve been wearing your armor this whole time?” I gave her a small nod in reply. “How long has it been since, uhm, since I...since the fight?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged weakly.
“You don’t know?” she echoed me again. She quickly scanned the room, her eyes settling on the uneaten food before returning to mine. “You haven’t been eating, have you? Or sleeping, if I had to guess.” I stared past her blankly, too emotionally drained to answer. “Lux, why would you do that?”
“I had to make sure you were okay,” I answered. “I wasn’t hungry, or tired.”
She rubbed her eyes and groaned. “Yes, you were.” Her hand moved to my knee and squeezed it, slightly harder than was comfortable. “You can’t keep punishing yourself like this. You’re not responsible for every bad thing that happens in the world. You know that, don’t you?”
I wanted to argue, but I knew she was right, and I lacked the energy to defend my choices. “I know, it’s just…” I started. “I lived for so long by myself that I thought it was the only way I could go on, but I can’t do it anymore. Not without you. When you died, I thought...I thought it would be easier if I just died, too.”
“No!” Lia shouted, grabbing me by the shoulders. “Don’t say that. Don’t think that.” She pulled herself up from beneath the sheets to sit on her knees directly in front of me. “I love you more than anything else in this world. But you told me that someday, you’re going to get sent away again. It makes me sad, and angry, and even keeps me up at night sometimes, but I know I’ll have to deal with it someday.” Tears began to pool in the corners of her eyes as she continued. “There’s no way I can do it if you keep saying things like that. I need to know you’ll be okay after you’re gone.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know if I will. I can’t keep losing over and over again, Lia. After Amaya and Alda, I can’t lose you, too. I can’t.” I tipped my head forward to rest it against hers. “It isn’t fair.”
“I know,” she whispered, holding the side of my face. “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t happen. Until then, we just have to make every second count, right?”
I stared into her amber eyes, eyes I thought I would never see open again. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she answered, pulling me in for a quick kiss.
Our closeness set off fireworks inside my head, and I momentarily forgot everything else but her lips.
“Marry me.”
She pulled back a few inches and stared at me, mouth agape. “What did you say?”
Blood rushed to my face as I realized what I had said, but I was too overwhelmed by my love for her to care. “Marry me,” I repeated. “I had plans to make you a Union offering with Layne, but the monster attack changed that. I was going to make it in our forge, but Elise showed up and pulled us away again.” I cupped her cheek and watched her earnestly. “I can’t wait anymore. If every second counts, I want to spend them married to you.”
Her cheek turned a dark red beneath my hand. “Lux, I…” she paused and let out a soft giggle. “I was going to make you a Union offering, too. Lyn and I talked about it on our trip.”
I laughed along with her, the last of the tension in my body melting away. “So...is that a yes?”
She kissed me again, and I felt her lips smile against mine as she continued to laugh. “Yes,” she answered softly, “I’ll marry you.”
***
18. MADE WHOLE
Elise let out an excited squeal as she scooped Lia into her arms and spun her around the living room. “Oooh, congratulations, Marly!” Lia struggled against the vice-like grip for a moment, but quickly began to laugh and returned the hug. “I came as soon as I heard you were awake, but I wasn’t expecting more good news!” After a few more spins, she set Lia back down on the ground and turned her attention to me. “Congratulations are in order for you too, Lux.”
“Thank you,” I said graciously. “I waited too long, I think, but better late—” My response was cut off by a similar bear hug that popped both of my shoulders. “Oof,” I groaned involuntarily as the breath was knocked from my chest. While I had never seen any indication that Elise was weak, I hadn’t expected her to have the strength to lift my boots off the ground.
“I’m so happy for you two,” she beamed as she let me go and stepped back. “Have you decided when the ceremony will be?”
“As soon as possible,” Lia answered. “I think
