Page 195 of Rebellious Royals

"Kind works," he assured me.

I nodded and kept going. "Winter's evil, Summer's filled with assholes, there's supposed to be two courts, and jevadu are evil. I mean, all of that is bullshit, so why can't we point it out? Make it clear the lies they've been fed may have been true in the past, but this is a new world, a new chance, and we are one people."

"I'm down with trying, but don't hold your breath, Rain." He moved the food around in its box. "But Torian and Keir hooked up."

"They're now an official thing," I pointed out. "Boyfriends, even."

"And you're good with that?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yep. I think Torian needs someone, and I think Keir is a damned good choice. It also explains why they got under each other's skin before."

"And when they start fucking?" Hawke asked. "You still going to be ok with this?"

"Shit..." I drawled. "Hawke, I'm a foster kid. Easy or convenient were the best options I had. This? Yeah, it's different, but you know what? A long-term, serious relationship is different. If that 'serious' is open and accepting? If my girlfriend will talk to me about my boyfriend, and he talks to me about his, and my friends are all cool with it? Yeah, I'd have to be an idiot to think that's not..." I chuckled. "I dunno, like something out of a faerie tale."

"Once upon a time," he said, looking over at me with a smile, "there was a monster and a maid. She became the hero his people needed, and he?"

"He became the guy brave enough to change the world," I finished for him. "And no one called him a monster anymore after that, so they all lived happily ever after."

Hawke reached up to slide his finger down my cheek. "I'd like happily ever after. I'll take 'didn't have to be alone.'"

I leaned into his touch. "Me too. I kinda think that's how we got this far, so let's make sure it carries us past this bump too."

When his autumn eyes met mine, I didn't look away. I didn't need to. Even knowing what Hawke could do, I had no reason at all to fear him. He might be a monster, but to me, he was a hero too. The one who'd just saved hundreds, and I was pretty sure he hadn't realized that yet.

Chapter Sixty-One

RAIN

It wasn't a surprise when our afternoon classes were cancelled. What shocked me was that none of the court made it back up to my room until a few hours had passed. When they trickled in, all of them looked tired, but in the mentally and emotionally exhausted sort of way.

"Bad?" I asked.

Aspen nodded, but she didn't say anything until she'd reached me and leaned in for a kiss. It didn't even bother her that Hawke was sitting right beside me. She simply nudged him out of the way. Keir saw that and chuckled, making his way over to flop down on my bed, but when he crooked a finger at Torian, inviting him to get close? Yeah, that was cute.

"Keir..." Torian tried.

"Don't care," Keir said. "Rain's good with it."

"Yep," I said, pulling Aspen down into the padded chair with me.

It was a tight fit, but I was ok with being pressed up close beside her. When she giggled and tossed her legs over my lap, I liked it even more. Seeing us, Wilder made a little noise and headed over to claim the loveseat with Hawke. Surprisingly, Hawke didn't even try to be subtle. He pulled Wilder's back upagainst his chest, the pair of them crushed almost sideways so they could make it work.

"I don't think we got them all," Torian said.

"Probably not," Hawke agreed. "There were the ones with the doors, the ones who came at Rain, and a few more placed around the room to make sure Celeste got her hands on a hostage."

"She's dead," Wilder said gently. "Hawke, we all made it clear you were acting for the court."

"My orders," Torian said.

"But you didn't tell me to kill her," Hawke said, his words just a little too flat.

"I didn't need to," Torian said. "You knew what had to be done, and you did it."

"I didn't fucking mean to kill her!" he snapped.

And as one, all of us reached for him. It didn't matter if we had to lean, twist, or get up to do it. All I knew was he needed someone to be with him, and I had a feeling my friends all felt the same.