Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
Hayle
Ilay in the hospital bed beside my Soul Tie.
As soon as she was better, I was going to make her mine in every way that mattered.
I’d never be without her again; she’d be buried deep in my soul and my mind, and I’d know where she was all the time.
I’d know if she was safe and happy, or angry and scared.
It might seem a little like overkill, but seeing her lifeless body had shortened my lifespan by fifty years, and I never wanted to feel that pain again.
She was fine now—the doctors had all said so, despite the fact she’d been asleep for two days.
I’d even had Acacia come over from Hamor to double check their work.
I didn’t trust anyone with her, least of all First Line healers.
It would take time for trust to return between the Lines, although the doctors themselves seemed almost relieved when they addressed Vox as Baron.
It had made Vox incredibly uncomfortable, and I knew deep in my chest that the mantle of Baron would suffocate him. There had to be another way, but all that was a consideration for a time when the woman we loved was not laid up in a hospital bed.
Let that be the purview of the Conclave. We were just Boellium conscripts. The Goddess had asked for too much, and it had almost killed her.
Someone knocked at the door, and I tensed.
Lierick was with his father, talking through how to reintegrate their people back into Ebrus, and stationing the Second Line soldiers around Fortaare to quash any plans for a coup.
Vox was with his guards, swearing them to fealty and ridding the ranks of people who might stab him in the back, with the help of Iker.
I wasn’t sure where Zier was, but he was probably doing something important.
Every single one of them had been dragged away, but no one had left until the doctor assured us that she was okay. I’d told them that I’d wait with her so she wasn’t alone when she woke.
That was the joy of the polycule we’d created; the Twelfth Line had taught me that was the correct name for what we’d created. We could support each other, and Avie. When there were important matters that couldn’t wait, one of us would always be with her.
There was nothing more important to me than Avalon.
The door pushed open slowly, and I was relieved to see it was Avalon’s brothers. Kian came in first, his gaze going straight to her sleeping face. “She’s okay?”
I nodded. “She’s safe.”
Bach moved toward her, his hand reaching out to gently pat the back of her fingers. He breathed a sigh of relief. “We were… well, worried would be an understatement. When Zier sent a message, we rode out as fast as we could.”
“And the Baron of the Ninth Line?” Anything but dead and buried was an unacceptable answer to me.
Bach slid his eyes to Kian. “He’s become suddenly unwell and is confined to his rooms. Kian is interim Baron until he heals.” The pitch of his voice told me he’d make sure Roman Halhed never healed. “But we shouldn’t worry Avalon about that.”
Nodding silently—because the less said about those kinds of plots, the better—I moved off the bed so Kian could get closer. He looked down at her with a tender expression. “She was always so strong. I shouldn’t be surprised that she stood against the most powerful man in Ebrus and won.”
I nodded. “I never had any doubt. She’s fierce and kind, and that’s an unbeatable combination against the kind of tyranny Feodore Vylan perpetuated,” I told them softly, as I stood out of their way in the corner.
“The next steps won’t be any easier, but she’ll make it seem so, for all of us.
” I cleared my throat. “I’m not asking permission, because the only person who can decide is Avie, but I want to ask her to seal our bond and become my wife.
It means she’ll live with me in Hamor, or in Eaglehoth with Zier, or wherever she chooses, but she won’t ever have to return to Rewill unless that’s what she wants. ”
Kian stared at me, his eyes assessing. “You better make her happy, or I’ll murder you in your fucking sleep. I don’t care how powerful you are.”
I grinned at him. “Excellent.”
Bach chuckled, sitting down beside the bed. Kian grilled me about our next steps, throwing in suggestions that told me he’d be a much better Baron than his father ever was. The whole time, we sat there and waited for Avie to wake up.
Finally, the sun set, and they had to leave, promising to return tomorrow.
They both kissed the top of her head as they left, and I had no doubt in my mind that Avalon’s brothers adored her.
How could they not? She was perfect, when she wasn’t sneaking out of Hamor Hall and putting herself in mortal danger.
“When you wake up, I’m going to make love to you until you swear you’ll never do something so foolish again. The absolute anguish you put us through…” I trailed off as I slid into the bed beside her. I was exhausted, the kind of tired that had leeched into my bones.
Wrapping her in my arms, I fell asleep with my nose pressed into the pulse of her throat.
“You’ll wake him,” a soft voice murmured.
“Do you feel any pain?” Vox asked quietly, and I felt a soft sigh puff against my cheek.
“I feel perfectly fine.”
Wakefulness hit me like a charging bull.
My eyes snapped open, and I sat up, staring down at the pretty blue irises of my Soul Tie.
“You’re awake. Thank the fucking Goddess, you’re awake.
” Leaning down, I kissed every inch of her face, the worry that had clung to me for days finally disappearing under the sounds of her muffled laughter.
“As I was just telling Vox, I’m fine,” she said between kisses, but she didn’t push me away.
I made an unconvinced noise in my throat, because I still didn’t believe she could be okay. She’d been dead in my arms. I wouldn’t take a single heartbeat for granted ever again.
Zier grumbled out a relieved noise. “Good, because we’re going to talk about your methods, after I spank some good sense into you.
” He moved toward her, running his knuckles over her cheek gently, like he wasn’t sure she’d let him touch her.
“I hated…” He trailed off, clearing his throat.
“Was it real?” The last words were whispered, and I knew I wasn’t meant to hear them, so I looked down at my hands like they were real interesting, pretending I didn’t have above-average hearing.
“It was real. I’m sorry that I had to do that, but on the off chance I’d die…”
I swallowed the growl that rose up in my throat at the very concept.
“I wanted to know what it was like to be held by you just once.”
Ugh. She was so fucking sweet, and the urge to gather her up in my arms and kiss her was difficult to resist. I stared down at my nails. I needed to shower for a long time. Maybe soak in a tub for half a day. There was still blood crusted in the cuticles.
Zier swallowed. “That’s good. If it is okay with you, I’d like to court you in the ways of the Eighth Line.
I don’t think I could just give you up now.
Seeing you there, on the ground in that cavern—” He shook his head.
“I can’t run from the feelings in my chest, and if I have to share you with the other three, then that’s something we can work on. ”
Dropping the pretense that I wasn’t eavesdropping intently, I winked at him. “Welcome to the pack, Daddy Zier.”
Avalon slapped my arm, pushing herself up a little. “Where’s Lierick?”
Vox leaned forward and kissed her reverently. It would take us all a little while to heal from the emotional wounds of the last few months. “I sent him a message when you woke. I can’t imagine he’s far away.”
As if he was drawn by Avalon’s question, the door slammed open, and a wild-eyed Lierick appeared. “You’re awake,” he breathed. A second later, he was there, diving across my body toward Avalon. “It’s my fault.”
Avie’s face screwed up adorably. “You don’t look like a megalomaniac who was stealing the country’s magic.” She glanced at Vox, but his face was impassive. “So how could any of it be your fault?”
“I read the last reset. I couldn’t resist the pull of the magic.
You almost died. I keep failing you over and over, in every lifetime.
” Lierick’s voice was rough. I knew he’d been beating himself up about it.
Every time he’d come in here while she was sleeping, he’d stared at her with such self-loathing, like it was his fault that he’d been corrupted by something so abhorrent to the very foundations of magic, it would have been nearly impossible to resist.
Unless you were Avie.
She pushed him back. “We were all doing what we had to do. It was all part of the plan. Don’t beat yourself up for the machinations of the Goddess, Lierick.
” She lifted up and brushed her lips across his.
“We restored the balance, and our job here is done. You can spend the rest of forever making it up to me, okay?”
Lierick nodded, kissing her back fiercely. “For as long as you’ll let me, I’m yours.”
We all were.