Chapter 26 #2
“I can’t go. You’re scared, and you’ve lost so much.
You’ve had your heart broken, you’ve been lied to, and you’ve been died on.
” Deryn winced at her own choice of words, but Paloma’s hands reached up and covered hers, tears still falling down the sharp cheekbones, now over their joined fingers.
“I’ve been seeing a woman in my dreams since I mastered the craft.
I’ve been waiting for her for so long… And then when I saw you…
I knew you, and all I wanted was for you to know me. To see me.”
Deryn drew a shaky breath and went on.
“I’ve never stayed anywhere. Always a new city every other month. I didn’t even fucking open my own place ever, and I’ve had some pretty sweet offers. L.A., New York, damn, even Paris, but it wasn’t home. And nobody ever asked me to stay.” Deryn laughed and heard how bitter she sounded.
“I thought being asked was important. That it meant something. When I met you those months ago… Goddess, I wanted you to ask me to stay so badly.” She saw Paloma’s eyes grow wide, the tears drying in them.
Still, Deryn traced the swell of the lower lip and finally said what she’d wanted to say since the very beginning of this entire ordeal.
“I really wanted to be asked to stay. For once. I don’t know, call it pride or just the desire to be wanted, since I never really was. But, fuck that. I will ask. I will beg. I will do anything, just don’t make me go. Please, don’t make me go…”
She closed her eyes and lowered her forehead. She didn’t know what she was waiting for, and then she felt soft lips touch her skin—her forehead first, then her eyes, her cheek, her jaw, and finally, her mouth.
The kiss lasted forever, Paloma’s lips soft, sweet, gliding over hers, making her sigh, long fingers finally letting go of her hands and diving into her hair to grip it tight, as if she…
“I don’t want you to go. Stay. For me. And don’t you ever leave me, Deryn Lyn Crowhart, or I will find you again, in another lifetime, in another timeline, and there will be hell to pay.
I mean every word.” Paloma smiled against Deryn’s mouth, the kiss turning sweet and sappy, tender, loving. Speaking of which…
“I love you, Paloma Allende. Madam Mayor. I have loved you for lifetimes before. I will love you for lifetimes ahead. Always.”
Sooty chose this moment to poke her head out and squint up at Paloma. She obviously agreed with the sentiment.
Paloma blinked, her tears still falling, her face lifting to the sky as if she were searching for something… Deryn waited. A heartbeat, then another…
The horn of the approaching ferry sounded among the stormy waves of the ocean, far away yet distinctive, familiar… Like home. Paloma lowered her face. She was smiling.
“As if I needed more signs… I love you, Deryn Lyn Crowhart… Lynnie. Mine.”
Deryn felt her palms burn hot, the Fire inside her answering the call of its name. Of its Mate. She was here. And Deryn was staying.
“We will figure out where you will work… Actually, what did you mean before, about a place?”
Deryn smirked and looked back toward the shore. The workers on the roof all watched them, whistling and cheering.
“You didn’t! Deryn, really?”
“You called me a weather vane when we met months ago. Even if I wasn’t staying, even if we weren’t—” Deryn felt the lump in her throat at the thought and hurried to speak, to move past it.
“I wanted roots. My roots. And I wanted a place. I looked into the records, and the place kept pulling a memory for some reason. Well, Lynnie owned it a hundred and fifty years ago. The family couldn’t hold on to it after she…
” Deryn stumbled over the words. “I wanted roots. And my cat needs a home.”
Deryn nodded toward the small building, where the construction workers were watching them while pretending not to. Sooty meowed in agreement. Paloma laughed, loud and carefree. Deryn slid deeper in love, if that was even a possibility.
“So you’re going to be competition. For me, but mostly for the Tavern. Have you broken the news to Victoria yet?”
Deryn ducked her head sheepishly.
“Wait till she hears that Khalid wants to come work for me.”
Paloma laughed again. “You’re so in trouble.”
Deryn turned and picked her up, twirling her in the air, her joy uncontainable.
“You’ll protect me. You love me!”
“I really do. And you owe me a strawberry. With fondant. And sponge and whatever filling you had in there.”
Deryn gave her a confused look. Paloma bit her lip.
“I refused a perfectly amazing strawberry pastry months ago at the Tavern when I heard you made it. So now you owe me another one.”
Deryn threw her head back and laughed.
“I’ll cover you with strawberries. You’ll have all the cupcakes in the world. Muffins. Tarts. Okay, maybe those can stay away from you.”
Paloma gave her a loud kiss and they giggled, foreheads together, seeing only each other, breathing the same air.
The herons flew above them, the ferry was coming in, Deryn Crowhart had put down her roots, and Paloma Allende had taken the risk that wasn’t a risk at all. When Fire met Fire, they loved each other.
On the ferry, blue eyes on a pale, thin face watched the land approach.
The island, like a fairy-tale painting, rose out of the ocean, and in the foreground, little people went about their day as if in a snow globe.
As the dock grew closer, the figures became clearer.
Two women kissing at the water’s edge. What a sight, Lark thought, blowing the newly cut short hair out of her eyes.
What an omen… She gripped the handrail of the boat as the waves rose high, splashing everything around but never touching her.
In the cold winter air, she was warm. And she felt safe for the very first time in years.
They wouldn’t find her here. What an omen, indeed…