Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
MEADOW
We were awoken suddenly and unpleasantly for the second morning in a row.
Miles’s phone rang out in a shrill, unrelenting tone, and we both jerked awake.
He scrambled to pick it up off the nightstand, groaning loudly when the fact that we’d only slept for a few hours seemed to hit him.
Sammy didn’t shriek out in fear this time, but she grumpily hopped off the foot of the bed, skulking away. I didn’t blame her.
“My phone’s always on silent,” he complained, his voice husky with sleep. He was very cute in the morning, all warm and pink and raspy.
“Mom magic,” I responded once I’d glanced down at the screen to see the name of the caller. My voice was calm, but my stomach suddenly twitched with nerves. I was feeling something unfamiliar. Not having my usual glamour up felt lovely and freeing, but something else was… off.
“Hi, Mom,” Miles answered the phone. I couldn’t hear her, but his short responses were indicative that she was telling him what a good time she’d had at the party.
I could barely focus enough to process his words.
There was an odd sensation concentrated in my chest, a tangible presence that felt hot and cool, light and heavy all at once.
When Miles shifted away from me, just a few inches so he could pick up his glasses off the nightstand and slip them on, I realized the feeling was connected to him, like there was an invisible string tying us together.
I’d been emancipated from the faerie world for so long I’d forgotten all the silly little rules, the finicky little rituals.
It was my fault, really. Miles, or any human, would have had no way of knowing or recognizing what my carelessness had been allowing to happen between us.
And now he was trapped, bonded to me by ancient law, without so much as a casual heads up, let alone asking his permission.
“Dad’s birthday?” I heard him say into the phone. “Yeah, I know it’s in a month. I know when Dad’s birthday is.” After a pause, he went on. “You want me to bring Meadow?”
He glanced over at me, and I could see the uncertainty in his expression, the hesitancy in his voice to agree to her request. Swallowing my guilt and anxiety, I nodded, trying to look encouraging to let him know he could count on me to be there.
As long as he didn’t hate me for shackling him into something he didn’t even know existed.
“Um, yeah, I can bring him.”
They chatted for another minute or so while I pondered exactly how I was going to explain myself. Once he was done, he dropped the phone back onto the table with a loud sigh.
“Sorry. We can try to go back to sleep if you want,” he offered, but his brows furrowed when he turned back to look at me. “Meadow? Are you okay?”
“I… I’m not sure,” I said. “There’s something we need to talk about.”
“Again?” he asked, surprised but not so worried as he’d been before. Maybe he was starting to finally figure out I wasn’t looking for a chance to escape from him as soon as he looked away. “Is it bad?”
“I suppose that depends on your perspective.” Reaching out, I dragged my fingertips over his chest, where his heart was. “Do you feel that?” I asked.
“I feel… something,” he admitted. “Is that bad?”
Again unsure of how to answer that, I slid out from under the blankets and stepped a few paces away from him. My wings fluttered behind me, stretching and flexing. I’d have to get used to having them out again.
Wide-eyed, he glanced down at himself. “Weird, it’s moving with you.”
“The intensity of that part will fade over time,” I explained. “Unless you… want to get rid of it. Then I can help you with that.”
“Get rid of what?” he asked, looking concerned. “I don’t even know what it is.”
“It’s sort of a… link between us,” I said. “Something that binds us. You’ll feel it even in my absence. If we’re apart too long, it can become painful. This kind of bond can be… limiting.” I decided on the word. “And inconvenient.”
I wanted to be sure he understood that I wouldn’t be offended if he was upset, that I would sympathize with him.
“Oh. Oh god.” He looked a bit stricken. Guilt flooded me until he groaned, covering his face with his palms. “Did I accidentally trap you into some magical bond because I’m such a static cling monster? I’m really sorry, Meadow!”
A small huff of a laugh tumbled out before I could stop it. Returning to his side, I peeled his palms away from his face.
“I trapped you into a magical bond because apparently I’m also a static cling monster,” I said, using his ridiculous terminology for effect. “I apologize. I should have realized what was happening, but I’ve been away from my home so long I forgot how these rituals start.”
“So… this happened because you…” He paused, his hands twitching in mine. “Because you like me? A lot?”
“Something like that,” I confirmed, smirking a bit when his warm eyes started sparkling like we were in a cartoon. “More accurately, because we like each other a lot. These things only happen when strong feelings are shared.”
“I didn’t know you felt that way,” he said. “I mean, I know we get along and everything, but…”
“It’s much more than that for me,” I told him. “You shouldn’t have any more reason to doubt that.”
“So, uh… you’re saying that it’s okay?” he asked, still a bit hesitant. In that moment, I realized it would probably take years, or maybe even decades, to truly fully convince him that I wanted to be with him and only him. I also realized in that moment it was a commitment I was thrilled to make.
“If it’s okay with you, it’s okay with me,” I promised. Releasing his hands from my grip, I pulled him to me for a kiss. “But there are things you need to know, to be sure you understand what you’re agreeing to.”
Major things would change, like his lifespan, among others.
“But besides all that, this means we can… be together? Like, for real?”
“Yes.”
“Whatever else there is, I don’t care,” he swore.
He looked so intense in that moment, a shiver ran through my belly.
This incredibly kind, very smart, and very sexy man was the only person I’d ever met, in all my years, that I couldn’t live without.
Everything had happened so fast, but I knew myself well enough to know that what I was feeling was true.
“As long as we’re together, I’m ready for anything. ”
“That’s very good to know,” I said softly, intense emotions I’d never experienced before welling up in my chest. “I hope you won’t change your mind when you discover how messy I can be. Or find out how often I forget to put the cap back on the toothpaste.”
He snorted, shaking his head. “I think I can deal.”
“I also have an incredibly high libido,” I added. “And I have a lot more fun little tricks like the spell I used on you last night.”
He cleared his throat, shifting to adjust the sudden tent poking up through the sheets as he flushed pink. “I already agreed to the bond thing, Meadow. You don’t have to convince me.”
Chuckling, I pushed him back onto the mattress, straddling his hips and planting my palms on his chest.
“Just making sure you know some of the pros and cons,” I purred, slinking down onto him so our faces were aligned.
“Hey, you said the bond is because we accidentally started some ritual, right?”
“Right.”
“What exactly did we do for that to happen?”
“Ah, well, it’s a bit complicated, and much of it is more of an intangible feeling, but it begins with a gift, given selflessly and with no expectation of something in return. The ritual finished when we were intimate without my glamour, meaning I gave you my true self.”
He furrowed his brow, looking a bit confused. “Did we do that? The gift part, I mean.”
“Your coat,” I explained. “You said I could have it.”
His eyes became round and kind of amazed. “Yeah, but, I mean, that wasn’t really a big deal or anything. I just thought you needed it.”
“That’s exactly why it worked,” I mused. “You’re a very selfless person, Miles Hunter. I’m very lucky.”
“I’m lucky,” he corrected me, before turning to look at the coat in question, strewn over the back of a chair across the room. “I think that coat is officially my new favorite thing in the world.”
“Hey,” I complained, frowning, cupping his jaw on both sides to pull his face back to mine. “That should be me.”
“You’re my favorite person,” he clarified, grinning. I nipped at his bottom lip before smashing our mouths together, kissing him for so long I could feel him starting to squirm under me.
“Since you’ve given me such a lofty designation, I’m honor bound to make sure I stay in your good graces.”
“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” he assured me, staring deeply into my eyes. My heart tumbled in my chest, but I wasn’t scared. For the first time in forever, I didn’t feel like a wanderer.
I was home.