Page 142 of Unveil

“So if it’s King Fury land, where do they all live?”

“King lives at the top of the hill. My Grandma Fancy’s in a little mother-in-law suite off the back of that. You can’t see it from here, but out on the land, you can’t miss it. It’s Southern gothic meets European castle. Dash’s is almost its spitting image, with a tower and everything.”

“Dash has a house here too?”

He nods. “We each built our own. I built mine the summer before your eighteenth birthday. It’s more like a mountain cabin, as you can see. I… had a feeling that my future wife would like it.” I bite my lip as he juts his chin toward the picture window. “Especially with the view.”

I sit up on my elbow, and my jaw drops. We’re at least on a second story, so I can see far and wide. Cows graze a green slope down to a shimmering lake that’s nestled between two “hills,” really mountains compared to flat New Orleans. The water mirrors the yellow, red, and green autumn trees hugging the edge.

“It’s like the cabin,” I whisper, then wince at the last memory I have of it. “The best parts anyway.”

Earlier when I talked about our time together, I only had Orion in mind. Now with the view in front of me, more images come unbidden. I swallow and focus on the present.

“It’s gorgeous. You should be proud.”

“You should be too. It’s yours,” he says softly, raw vulnerability shining in the myriad of colors in his eyes. “If you want it.”

“If I want it?”

He holds his breath, then exhales. “You can leave. I won’t keep you here. But fuck, do I want you to stay.”

I gasp. “You’d let me leave?”

He nods. “Under the caveat that I’m still protecting you until my dying breath. But if I’m not the one you want at your side, I’ll do it from the shadows again. If you want to finally get your way…” He smiles ruefully. “Then I’ll grant you what you wished for in that tunnel. I’ll let you fly away.”

“I thought you said my wish would never come true?” My chest pounds. “You know, because I told you what it was?”

Wow. Smooth again, Luna.

Why the hell did I say that?

But he’s right. That’s all I wanted going through that tunnel. Freedom.

I gnaw at my lip, gaze drifting from the mountains protecting the glittering lake to the man who’s waited years to do the same with me.

He’s carried me, sheltered me, nearly died for me too many times. He’s made me laugh when I wanted to stab him with a tranq, shown me beauty in the quiet when my mind was too busy, and dove off cliffs and into fire for me.

And I’d do the same for him.

I’m his reckless little bird, after all.

My heart teeters over the edge, ready to take the leap.

“What if I don’t want that?” His face starts to fall, so I rush on. “What if I don’t want you in the shadows anymore. What if… what if I love you?”

His lips part, sucking in a breath. Then a soft smile brightens his face.

“You’re finally meeting me halfway, huh?”

It’s suddenly that first night in the cabin again.

“I hate you, you know that?”

“You might. But you’ll love me soon enough.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because all you have to do is meet me halfway.”