Chapter 36 Corin
CORIN
Corin stood near the town square, watching as two Council enforcers from outside Hollow Oak loaded Jasper Mince into the back of the transport van.
It was black and windowless, with runes etched into its metal sides.
The man who'd poisoned the land, murdered his bees, and nearly killed his mate was barely recognizable now.
Withered. Bent. His eyes milky white and unseeing, burned out by the magic that had been ripped from his grasp.
He didn't struggle. Didn't speak. Just shuffled forward on shaking legs, guided by hands on his elbows, and disappeared into the van's dark interior.
"Where are they taking him?" Chloe asked, her fingers laced through Corin's.
"The Fallout." Emmett stepped up beside them, his stormy blue eyes tracking the van as its doors slammed shut. "Facility in the mountains, about two hundred miles north. Built specifically for supernatural threats too dangerous to execute but too corrupted to release."
"A prison."
"More like containment. The walls are warded six ways to Sunday. No magic in, no magic out. He'll live out whatever years he has left in a cell, blind and powerless." Emmett's jaw tightened. "It's more mercy than he deserves."
The van's engine rumbled to life. Corin watched it pull away, disappearing down the road that led out of Hollow Oak.
"Good riddance," Elias said, appearing at Corin's other side.
His silver-gray eyes held no sympathy for the man who'd tried to destroy their home.
"Council wanted me to tell you that they're closing the investigation.
Jasper acted alone, no accomplices. Paul Whitmore's been cleared of any involvement. "
"Paul's an ass, but he's not a criminal."
"Apparently there's a difference." Elias clapped him on the shoulder. "How does it feel? Knowing it's done?"
Corin looked down at Chloe, at the woman who'd fought a dark druid and won, who bore his mark on her hip and his ring... well. She didn't have the ring yet.
"It feels like a beginning," he said.
The crowd in the square was dispersing now, people returning to their shops and homes, the excitement of Jasper's removal giving way to the mundane rhythms of small-town life. Corin caught Twyla's eye across the square, and she gave him a knowing wink before disappearing into the Griddle & Grind.
"Walk with me?" he asked Chloe.
She raised an eyebrow but nodded. They left the square together, wandering down the path that led toward Moonmirror Lake. The February sun was warm on their faces, the snow finally beginning to melt in earnest, and everywhere Corin looked, he saw signs of spring pushing through.
"You're being mysterious," Chloe said after a few minutes of comfortable silence.
"Am I?"
"You've got that look. The one you get when you're planning something."
He stopped at the shore of the lake, where a wooden bench sat beneath a bare willow tree. In a month, the branches would be trailing green leaves into the water. Now they hung like silver threads, catching the light.
"Sit with me."
She sat, and he settled beside her, their shoulders touching. The mate bond hummed between them, warm and steady. He could feel her curiosity through it, her anticipation.
"I asked Elias to make something for me," he said. "A few days ago, while you were recovering."
"What kind of something?"
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. Her breath caught. "Corin."
"I know we're already mated. Bonded. But humans have their own traditions, and I thought..." He opened the box.
The ring was silver, delicate but strong, with a green stone at its center that caught the light like a forest in summer.
Elias had crafted it from ore pulled from the mountains, the same mountains that sheltered Hollow Oak, and the stone was an emerald Corin had found in the streambed near his orchard years ago.
"I thought you might want this too," he finished.
Chloe stared at the ring, her green eyes bright with tears she refused to let fall. "It's beautiful."
"Is that a yes?"
"That depends." She looked up at him, a smile tugging at her lips. "Are you actually asking?"
He slid off the bench and dropped to one knee in the half-frozen mud. Her laugh was worth every bit of the cold seeping through his jeans.
"Chloe Faelan. You crashed into my life like a storm and turned everything upside down. You made me feel things I'd given up on ever feeling. You fought a dark druid with nothing but stubbornness and druid blood, and you won." He held up the ring. "Will you marry me?"
"Yes." The word came out choked, half-laugh, half-sob. "Yes, of course yes."
He slipped the ring onto her finger, and it fit perfectly. He'd measured her hand while she slept, which was probably creepy, but he didn't care. She was his, and now everyone would know it.
She pulled him up and kissed him, hard and fierce, her hands fisting in his jacket. When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing hard.
"I don't want to wait," she said.
"For what?"
"The wedding. The ceremony. Whatever we're calling it." She looked down at the ring, turning her hand to watch it catch the light. "We've already done the hard part. The bond, the mark. I just want the celebration. I want to stand in front of everyone we love and say out loud that I choose you."
"What about planning? Dresses, flowers, all of that?"
"Freya can handle flowers. Twyla's been planning wedding menus since forever from what I’ve heard. And I don't need a fancy dress." She met his eyes, her expression fierce and certain. "I just need you."
His heart clenched. "When?"
"This weekend."
"This weekend? Chloe, that's four days away."
"I know." She grinned, wild and beautiful.
"Valentine's Day was last week, and we missed it.
We were too busy fighting for our lives.
So let's celebrate it now. Late Valentine's Day, engagement party, wedding, all rolled into one.
" She stood, pulling him up with her. "Come on.
Let's go tell Twyla. She's going to lose her mind. "
They found Twyla behind the counter at the Griddle & Grind, restocking the pastry case with heart-shaped cookies she'd clearly made days ago and never gotten to use.
"Twyla." Chloe held up her left hand, the emerald catching the café's warm light. "We're getting married this weekend."
Twyla dropped a cookie.
"This weekend?" Her wheat-colored hair was escaping its bun, her light brown eyes wide. "As in, four days from now this weekend?"
"Surprise?"
"Surprise." Twyla set down the tray, her expression shifting from shock to calculation to absolute delight in the span of three seconds.
"Four days. Okay. I can work with four days.
Diana owes me a favor, and Freya's been stockpiling flowers since the crisis ended, and the decorations from the Valentine's tea are still in my back room. .."
"We don't need anything fancy," Corin said. "Just something simple."
"Simple." Twyla waved a dismissive hand.
"You saved this town. Both of you. You think I'm going to let you get married in a simple ceremony?
" She was already pulling out her phone, typing furiously.
"Freya. Diana. Maeve, she can handle drinks.
Emmett's wife can do the invitations, she's got beautiful handwriting. .."
"Twyla."
"The orchard," Twyla continued, ignoring him completely. "We'll do it at the orchard. Where the bees are. It's poetic. Romantic. Perfect."
"It's February."
"We'll set up heaters. Blankets. Hot cider." She looked up, her eyes sparkling. "Trust me. By Saturday, you're going to have the most beautiful wedding Hollow Oak has ever seen."
Chloe looked at Corin, her lips twitching. "I think we lost control of this."
"I think we never had control in the first place."
"You're both right, and you're both welcome." Twyla shooed them toward the door. "Go. Tell your families. I've got a wedding to plan."
They stepped out into the afternoon sun, the door swinging shut behind them. Chloe leaned against his side, her hand finding his, the ring warm against his palm.
"She's going to go overboard," Chloe said.
"Absolutely."
"The whole town's going to show up."
"Probably."
"Are you okay with that?"
He thought about it. A few months ago, the idea of being the center of attention would have made him break out in hives.
He preferred the edges, the quiet corners, the work that could be done without anyone watching.
But that was before Chloe. Before he'd learned that stepping into the light wasn't so bad when you had someone to stand beside.
"Yeah," he said. "I'm okay with that."
She smiled up at him, her green eyes bright with love and mischief and the promise of forever.
"Then let's get married."