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“I let you get hurt.” Reggie thrusts his hand into his pocket with an angry grunt, swollen knuckles catching on the scratchy denim. “I was so busy looking for the one I thought you’d like best that I didn’t even realize how long you’d been in there.” His visibly cracked hand plants a small box on the edge of the bathroom sink with a slam.

“What’s that?” I know it’s jewelry, but I’m confused. Why was he buying me anything?

“It’s your wedding ring.” Reggie opens the box and holds it out to me. “ I want you to wear my ring. Not his. I want to be your husband—even if it’s dangerous, even if I fail. Even if I’m a monster, not a human.” I can see his throat rise and fall with a hard swallow. “Now’s not the time to ask you, but in case you want to know... The offer stands. It’ll stand forever. And if you give me a chance to keep you safe my way, I’ll out-maneuver any agency or bad guy ever. I can’t spoil you like a queen, Teri, but I’ll sure as hell treat you like one.”

Matteo charmed me with compliments and praise, but it was all superficial. It’s funny how you notice those things later. “Oh, Reggie.”

I lean forward to see the ring he holds out. I know it came from the superstore, not some fancy boutique jeweler, but when I see it, I gasp.

It’s so unique. So perfect! The silver and blue shine brightly. It’s clean and simple.

It’s not gaudy.

“A fresh start.” That’s what it is. It’s a new start for both of us. “I want to wear this.”

“It’s yours.” Reggie pops it from the velvet casing and holds it out.

I drop Matteo’s huge diamond into the box in its place. I’ll sell it one day. Maybe to buy Reggie a ring. As he slips the ring onto my newly bare finger, I look at the way my grandfather’s ring perches perfectly on his finger.

Reggie needs a fresh start—but he also needs to belong to someone. He needs family, and that ring shows I want him in mine. He’s always belonged to us... with us. We’ve been tied together by invisible strings all of our existences.

“Well. I’ll leave you to it.” Reggie squeezes my fingers before he tries to step past me and get to the door.

I won’t let him walk away from me. I’m not going to walk away from him, either.

“We’re done running unless we run together.” In the fogging mirror above the sink, I catch a glimpse of both of us. Neither of us looks our best, but the smile on Reggie's face and the way his eyes glisten make him the most beautiful sight in the world.

“Thank you.” Reggie claims my mouth with a gentle kiss.

“Thank you.” I hesitate just for a second, then pull Reggie's ring off and put my new ring back in his hand. The confusion and pain on his face is short-lived, but it breaks my heart all the same.

“When we get where we’re going, let’s do this for real. This is practice, even if it’s not legal without a piece of paper. I, Therese LaFontaine, take you, Reginald Gray, to be my lover, my life partner, and my safe place to hide. I take you as my rescuer. I promise,” I cough and rub my tender throat, “I promise never to run without pulling you with me. I promise to be your safe place, too, even though you might not need one, since you’re the safe haven for so many. I promise that instead of leaving, we’ll fight whatever it is like the badasses we are—even if you’re really all the badass and I just pretend. Oh. And I promise to love you.”

THE WOMAN OF MY DREAMSis saying the most beautiful wedding vows in the world while wearing my white undershirt and nothing else. And just when I think I’m going to die of happiness, she puts her grandfather's ring back on my finger and says, “I wish you’d keep this one. I think my grandfather always considered you family, and he would have been proud to have you legally, truly in the family that you’ve saved a hundred times. I know I am.”

How can I compete with that level of beauty? She didn’t even rehearse!

But words flow. “Therese LaFontaine, I, Reginald Gray, take you to be my wife. I take you in danger and safety, wealth and poverty, through problems and solutions. I promise to love you and never run unless you’re coming with me. I promise to honor how damn smart you are and never treat you like a showpiece—even if you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. You are my soulmate.Mein neshama—my life force. Without you, I could not love—and with you, I will never love another. You have made an empty, dark spot in me a glowing flame. I’ll always keep that love burning bright for you.”

Therese gives me a half-sobbing little hiccup that makes me want to smother her with kisses, but I can’t until she’s healed for a few days. I smile. The next time we make love might be on our actual honeymoon.

Careful of her sore hands, I slide the ring on her finger, lost in my own makeshift vows. They’re from the heart, but they’re nowhere as stunning as Therese’s. “Stay married to me?” I murmur, raising her hands to my lips.

“I will. Love me?”

“I do.”

Chapter Eighteen

“Where’s Kullorsuaq? Near Anchorage?”

“Nope. Greenland. It’s a place that’s pretty much a pain in the butt to get to, but Klaus and Eirwen have a cabin there. Minegold has been playing our social secretary overnight. The coven will be here to fix up the wards, the pastor will be here with a rabbi buddy of his to give us a newmezuzah, and Klaus and Eirwen say that cabin is ours until December—if we want it.”

“Months and months of honeymoon? I’ve had that. I want to come back. Come home, to Pine Ridge. I want to start my new life with you,” I sigh. Reggiedoestreat me like a queen. This morning, I had breakfast in bed. Now, I’m sitting at the kitchen table using his laptop while he carries our things to the car. We’re leaving today, no matter what Powell or his underlings say.

“You sure you don’t want to pack more?” Reggie asks.

I know what he means. I’ve packed all I have with me, because there isn’t much of it. But I’m not taking it all. I’m not running. “We’ll be back soon.”