Page 148 of Guarded Knight

“Sounds like you both need one,” he says. “Shitty pay. Nonexistent, actually. But we’ve got a health plan. And if you need a place… you can crash at mine.”

“In the house?” She’s so surprised her curls bounce with her. “On the ranch?” Her sigh is palpable.

“Yeah. Unless you want to hear these two through the walls.”

A nurse pokes her head in. “Sorry, guys. Visiting hours are over.”

Freya grabs her bag but lingers a beat longer. “Love you, girl. So much.”

I wrap my tubed-up arm around her and squeeze. “Back at you. Good job, honey trap.”

She looks at me one last time as though she’s never been happier to see me. “See you tomorrow.”

I sink into the pillows as Gabriel tucks the blanket around me, his body already folding into the space beside mine.

“Being in the hospital always reminds me of death,” I murmur.

He nods like he knows. He does. He said goodbye to his mom in a room just like this.

“But this time,” I say, “I’ve had an epiphany.”

He offers a crooked smile. “Uh-oh…”

“I realize it doesn’t matter how much time we get.” I squeeze his hand. “What matters is that before it’s all over… we get to be in love.”

EPILOGUE

ONE MONTH LATER

It’s a book club night,but I know something’s off the second G and I step through the door at Pages and Perks.

For one, there are kids here at the book club because Luis has changed it up. It’s a YA pick this month. Luis told me itwas going to be fantasy with romance snuck in, like blended vegetables for the boys. Just as well because Xander and the girls are in town, so it seemed like a fun thing to do with them.

The whole place smells like coffee, paperbacks, and just-baked sugar cookies. I breathe it in like it’s medicine. Even with the chaos, it feels like coming home in every sense of the word.

Kat and Santi’s boys, Theo and Owen, are already diving headfirst into the refreshments like wolves raised without table manners, while Poppy and Daisy, who are in town for the weekend, whisper in a corner, clutching designer tote bags.

They’ve grown up too quickly since moving to DC. I wish I could bring them back to small-town living, where nobody cares how many countries you’ve visited or how many languages you speak, only that you show up and support your friend’s book club and eat at least three cookies.

It’s only been one month since I last saw them, since they were pretending the horses were unicorns in the Mendez pasture. Since before I was abducted and realized that Gabriel and I are more force to be reckoned with than I ever imagined.

Since I decided I would stay here for good.

I’ve been on the books at Shadow Justice as a business development manager, but really, I take calls if they come in, and in my spare time I’ve been putting together the bones of a new charity for women with breast cancer, in honor of Gabriel’s mom.

Freya decided to stay, too, but her token role at Shadow Justice isn’t the same as mine. My bestie has a bloodhound’s nose, and I think Anton got more than he bargained for with the number of questions she asks on a daily basis. And lately, the two of themhave been heading off tochase leads. I think it’s honest work, but it could be a euphemism.

It’s December, and snow falls in fat flakes outside the big picture window, making me all the more prepared for the Young Adult romantasy on tap this afternoon.

When I found out the book wasThe Tide Between Realms,I scarfed down the chance for a reread. I’m Hollie Mack’s biggest fan. Self-proclaimed. I’m even wearing a crown barrette and my serpent sword t-shirt.

Everyone is here: Xander, Luis’ “friend” Julia, the Mendez boys, Penelope…

It might be over Daisy’s and Poppy’s heads, but Xander insisted they’d come to support Luis, and at a bare minimum, the girls would get plenty of cookies.

Gabriel hands me a drink, because he always makes sure I have one. Old habits die hard, but I see his doting less as protection or coddling and more as acts of service.

And boy does this man know how to service.