Chapter 6
Cassidy
Married.
An absolutely insane word, and one I never thought about applied to me. Married.
I’m getting married today. I don’t have a dress or flowers or a ring. Not that any of that stuff matters; I’m not deluded into thinking this is some grand romantic event. This is Finn doing me a favor for some reason, nothing more.
I knock on the door to his apartment at exactly ten, right when we agreed to meet. He opens it immediately like he did yesterday, no doubt his huge strides big enough to cross his living room in a step or two.
I’ve spotted Finn wandering around his yard in ripped jeans without a shirt dozens of times, and he looks damn good like that.
But today he looks put-together with his pressed slacks and button-down shirt.
The juxtaposition between that and his huge, leathery wings is kind of jarring, but not in a bad way.
“You look good,” I tell him. That’s not weird, right? We’re about to be married, and even if it’s only on paper, I should still be able to tell the man that he looks good, right?
“Thank you. You too,” he murmurs, eyes raking over me.
I squirm a bit. I pulled this dress out of the back of my closet.
It’s baby blue and hits mid thigh, not exactly the wedding dress little girls dream of, but it’ll do for today.
I hope, anyway. I don’t want him to think that I don’t take this seriously. “Do you still want to do this?”
“Do you?” I ask, worried that he’s changed his mind overnight. Not that I’d blame him; this is a big commitment for not a lot in return for him.
“Yeah, Cassidy. I do.” I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Should I drive? I don’t think you have a car.”
“I won’t fit in your car,” he reminds me, big wings flexing behind his back to make the point. “I fly places.”
“Oh.” I take in his wings. I’ve seen him fly before. I wonder what that’s like; I’ve always been a little jealous of people who can fly. It’s what happens when your baby sister turns into an owl and you’re stuck on the ground, I guess. “I could meet you there?”
He hesitates. “Will our ruse be as convincing if we don’t arrive together?”
“Probably not.” If we’re selling this as us hopelessly in love, then we’d definitely arrive together. Hopelessly in love people never want to be out of each other’s sight, right?
“I can fly you, too,” he tells me, holding his arms out. “I’d never drop you, I swear.” I wasn’t worried about that; everything about Finn says steady and in control.
I step closer. “How do I…?”
“Like this.” He bends to scoop me into his arms, then helps me wrap my arms around his neck. My fingers brush his wing. It is leathery, but much softer than I expected.
I feel ridiculous, like I'm small and inconsequential in his grasp. Then, still at the top of the stairs, he takes off, lifting straight into the sky.
“Oh, damn.” My voice is practically stolen from me, my heart pounding as I look around.
“Alright?”
“Look at it!” I gasp, leaning over so I can take in the entire town sprawled out below us. I can see everything from here.
He chuckles, the vibrations rattling through my whole body, but he doesn’t say anything as I take in the view from up here.
We land way too quickly for my liking. I wanted to take in the view from the sky forever. G had told me how freeing flying could be, and I’d accepted that I’d never really know. But here I am, sliding to my unsteady feet and fixing my dress after my first flight.
“I can take you flying for a longer flight and show you around some other time—if you want.”
Would he? I expected him to be tired of me and ignore me after this. Why does he keep giving me more and more when there isn’t anything real in return for him? But I’d like to live in a world where I can go flying again. “I’d love that.”
But for now, we came here for a reason. I take his giant hand in mine and lead him inside, and he follows me easily.
Town hall is a squat little building. It looks more like a converted house than a government building, small and informal like everything in Hearthstone.
Mr. Davies is sitting behind his desk, like I expected. It’s a giant, old-fashioned thing, perfect for the man who must have died over a century ago. “Cassidy, and… Finley?” He looks surprised to see the two of us together, eyebrow quirked as he takes us in. “What can I do for you today?”
I freeze up. We didn’t practice our story, and I don’t know what to say that’s not we’re corrupting a legal proceeding so I can keep my house.
Thankfully, Finn evidently has a plan. He drops my hand and wraps an arm around my shoulders like it’s the most natural thing in the world. “We’re getting married,” he tells Mr. Davies succinctly, looking at me instead of him.
“I… married?” he asks, eyes wide. Finn tightens his arm around me in response.
“Mhm. We were going to wait a while longer, but your threat about Cassidy’s house pushed our timeline up.”
He actually sounds irritated. I try not to look over at him—I don’t want to give it away that I’ve never heard this story before—but it’s hard.
“I didn’t even know you two were seeing each other,” Mr. Davies says, eyes ping-ponging between the two of us.
“We kept it quiet.” I tell him.
“Why?” Mr. Davies truly looks baffled now, eyebrows pushing higher and higher. I think we might have broken him, and I don’t care if it’s wrong, but I take some pleasure in that.
“Georgia. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it in front of Georgia.
” That’s a normal enough answer. And I had once told myself that I wouldn’t date while Georgia still needed me.
At the time, I hadn’t wanted to bring strangers around her, but it had become a pretty hard-and-fast rule in my life.
No dating while Georgia was still around.
Finn’s arm around my shoulder squeezes slightly. “Exactly. We didn’t want to upset Georgia, but she’s grown now, so now, we’re getting married.”
Mr. Davies needs a minute to process, staring at us. Finn takes the time to push the strap of my dress up from where it’s slipping, the kind gesture making me go all warm and soft inside.
He’s acting, I remind myself. He’s playing the role of a doting husband-to-be, and I need to get my shit together before I get too comfortable with it.
I hold the hand he has draped around my shoulder, playing with his fingers, doing my part to sell this story.
“Well, this might work,” Mr. Davies mumbles. “If you two get married and move in together, then Hugh can have the house and—”
“Nope,” Finn interrupts his musings.
“What?”
“We’re living in Cassidy’s house. Obviously. I live in a one bedroom apartment, Davies. It’s over where I work. I don’t even own it. We’re keeping the house.”
Mr. Davies looks like he’s short-circuiting with that information, face a mess of ever-changing expressions as his translucent form flickers. I’d feel bad for him if he hadn’t threatened to kick me out of my house.
I clear my throat, leaning closer into Finn, hoping I look like an adoring bride and not someone nervous enough to start shaking if he wasn’t holding me. “Can we get married now?”