Page 125 of Magic Claimed

“I love you,” he said simply. “Whatever happens after this,that fact is the first and the last thing I need to know. Everything else comes second.”

I didn’t stop to think about who might be watching, just turned in his arms, raised on my toes, and kissed him.

And he kissed me back, until the kids started making gagging noises, the adults pelted us with wadded-up napkins, and we broke apart, shaking with laughter.

There was so much healing yet to come, but none of it scared me anymore.

Because I was home, and this was my family.

And no matter where the future took us, not one of us would ever have to walk that road alone.

EPILOGUE

Twenty-three days later…

A lot can happen in a little under four weeks.

Especially when you’ve just thrown your entire world into social and political upheaval.

In fact, so much about our lives had changed, that when I finally chose to respond to the summons from the Shapeshifter Council, it was with a rather different set of fears than the ones I’d first envisioned.

“Absolutely no roaring,” I admonished the dragon standing beside me at the top of the stairs. “You promised.”

His scowl was so adorable, I could have kissed him.

“If they don’t want me to roar at them, then they’d better be reasonable. Nobody in their right mind still thinks you and Blake were allies.”

That much at least was true.

But of the Shapeshifter Council’s two counts against me, that was the one I was least concerned about now. Thanks to thethousands of human witnesses with camera phones at our final battle, it was downright impossible for them to continue claiming that I was actually in league with Blake. Not after he’d tried so very hard to turn me into a crispy midday snack.

It was their other charge that still worried me.

“You’re right,” I agreed, bumping Callum with my shoulder. “I’m definitely not a traitor. But Iamtechnically a criminal. Also a dangerous unknown, with unpredictable powers and far too much influence over their king.”

“I should hope so,” my mate protested. “Those are some of my favorite things about you.”

“Oh really.” I skewered him with a side-eye. “So what you’re saying is, you only chose me because I terrify your enemies.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

I nearly snorted.

Even in moments of stress, my dragon always knew how to make me laugh.

“Seriously though, what are we going to do if they still object to us being together?”

Callum just took my hand in his, laced our fingers together, and dropped a kiss on the top of my head. “You, my love, may do whatever you please. I will tell them where to stuff their objections, and then we will run away to live happily ever after.”

“No, we won’t,” I retorted. “You forget that I know you better than that.”

Callum-ro-Deverin would never run away when there was work to be done.

And no one could deny that we were facing a difficult uphill climb. But thankfully, in the aftermath of the battle,both human and Idrian governments had seen the need for change and begun taking steps in the right direction.

The initial stages were bound to be rocky. But thanks to Faris and his relationship with the city government, Oklahoma City was on the leading edge of these changes, and had become the first in the country to establish an official Idrian advisor to the mayor. Much to our delight, Seamus had accepted the position, but only after numerous reassurances that he could still bartend on evenings and weekends.

Meanwhile, across the country, other state legislatures had already begun debating the inclusion of Idrian representatives and enacting policies to integrate Idrians into law enforcement positions.