Chapter 5
Five
FLYNN
We’re going to land in a few minutes, and I’m very glad I got us business class tickets because Talulla was finally able to drift off and actually sleep. The entire trip. And fuck, I’m so happy.
No nightmares.
That alone feels like a small miracle.
If I’m being completely honest, I wish it were because she’s finally free—free from her family, free from the weight of expectation and bloodlines and duty—but I have the slight suspicion it’s because Cassandra gave her a little help. As in potion help.
Which, in this case, I’m fine with.
I don’t need to be noble about it. I just need her safe. I just need her alive. Peaceful.
Mostly because, this time, I know there’s no deranged professor lurking in the shadows, waiting to possibly fuck her or, well, kill her. No immediate threat. No visible one, at least.
That doesn’t mean I’ve relaxed.
I never do. The note made me more worried than I’d like to admit. But I’m not going to let it ruin this perfect moment.
I feel Talulla shift in my embrace, a small movement, instinctive. I tighten my hold without thinking, muscle memory kicking in long before reason does. She doesn’t wake—just exhales, nestles closer.
I keep her there.
Let her feel me. Let her know I’m still here.
That I always will be.
Even if she wants to leave me.
Even if one day she decides I’m not worthy of her anymore.
Even if she realizes what I am and recoils.
I’m never letting her go.
Not really.
I’ll protect her even if I have to become her enemy once more. Even if one day, she looks at me the way she was trained to look at monsters. I’ll wear that hatred with a big smile on my face if it keeps her breathing.
Talulla yawns, soft and unguarded, then lifts those impossibly blue eyes to me. “Morning, fangs.”
The sound of her voice pulls something loose in my chest.
“Morning,” I say, closing the distance immediately, kissing her before the world can intrude. “We’re almost at Heathrow.”
“Nice.”
“Had a good sleep?”
She nods. “I did. I almost wished the flight was longer. Staying like this makes it easier to sleep.”
“In this cramped seat?”
“It’s closer to you, fangs. Kinda like being like this.”
The words shouldn’t matter as much as they do. But they do. Every small admission from her feels earned. Like a gift she doesn’t realize the value of.
I tilt my head slightly. “I can cancel the order for the king-size bed you wanted so much and just get us a twin.”
Her eyes widen for half a second. “Don’t you dare.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Are we going to your apartment right away?”
That—
That right there does something dangerous to me.
Because I was going to. I was going to take her straight there, let her settle, let her feel safe.
But that’s the problem.
It’s my apartment.
A place I bought before her.
Before love.
Before purpose.
Before I had something to lose.
And I won’t build our life on remnants of the man I was before her.
“We’re going to stay at a hotel for a couple of days.”
“What? But you bought literally a house worth of things already.”
“We’re going to have our own place, Talulla. My old apartment is not enough.”
“Are you serious?”
I nod. “Extremely.”
“Flynn, we don’t need a new house when you already own one.”
“Do you want me to sell it? I can sell the old one if it makes you feel better.”
“I don’t want you to sell it. I just…”
I tilt my head, trying to read her mind and failing miserably. “What is it, little hunter?”
“I feel like you’re adapting your life to mine, and I don’t want you to have regrets.”
That makes me snort before I can stop myself.
Regrets.
“Regrets? Darling, it’s an old apartment that means nothing to me. I want you, us, to have our dream house.”
That’s the truth. Brutal and simple. Everything before her feels like a draft I never intended to publish.
“Okay, but how can I know how to pitch in if you don’t even let me know what you have in mind?”
“Pitch in?”
“Yeah, you know, help pay the bills and stuff.”
“You aren’t even working yet.”
“But I will in a month and a half.” I love how specific she gets when she’s trying to prove a point.
“You’re not pitching in.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Talulla, I don’t need you to.”
“So, what you’re saying is that I can’t see your old apartment, and this new house you’re looking for is still going to be yours because you’re going to pay for it.”
“I’m finding it really hard to understand what’s wrong with me paying for our house.”
“Flynn, I need to contribute.”
She needs independence the way some people need oxygen. I know this. I respect it. But I also know how to compromise without giving ground.
“Okay, then, buy whatever you want and put it in the house,” I say, already reaching for my wallet. “With this card though.”
“You’re absolutely unbelievable. No, I’m not using your card.”
I turn it and show her the name. “Actually, this right here says it’s your card.”
“What the fuck?”
“I was gonna wait until we landed, but you’re apparently really adamant on having this conversation midair.”
“You got me a credit card.”
“You’re the co-signer on my account, so yes, you also get a credit card with it.”
“I didn’t sign anything.”
That makes me smirk. “Never stopped me before.”
“Flynn, why didn’t you tell me before?”
“You’re making it sound as if it’s a big deal when it really isn’t.”
“It is a big deal.”
“Talulla, you are the one I want to spend my life with. It’s pretty damn clear, is it not?”
“Yes, but—”
“And I absolutely do not need all the money I make while selling artwork.”
“But—”
“You’re my partner, and I adore the fact that you want to work and have your own independence, but you’re still getting this card and you are still entitled to use every cent of our bank account.”
“But—”
“You will work, have your own bank account, and you can do whatever you want with your money.”
“How’s that fair?”
“Everything I have is yours, Talulla.”
“Flynn—”
“Every. Single. Thing.”
“You’re absolutely insane.”
“I’m yours, that’s what I am.”
The words land between us like a vow. Heavy. Permanent.
She goes quiet, lips parted, eyes searching my face like she’s looking for the catch.
There isn’t one.
It’s almost adorable—how she still doesn’t understand the depth of her hold on me. She could ask me to burn the world down, and I’d ask which brand of matches she prefers.
Maybe it’s good she still gets surprised. But I can see it—the hesitation, the instinctive flinch at being given too much.
Trauma doesn’t disappear just because love shows up.
And I know something is up with her.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please get back to your seats and buckle up. We’re preparing to land.”
I fasten my seat belt and help Talulla with hers. She’s still staring at me like I’ve rearranged the laws of physics.
“The weather today in London is twenty-two degrees Celsius, and the sun is shining.”
“Well, that’s something that doesn’t happen often,” I say, trying to lighten the mood. “You okay over there?”
She nods quickly.
Then the descent starts.
She turns toward the window, and without thinking, her hand finds mine. She grips it hard. Anchoring herself.
She understands.
She feels it too—just doesn’t know how to say it yet.
And that’s fine.
She can take decades if she needs to.
I remain hers anyway.
I watch her excitement bloom as she points at Buckingham Palace, her smile growing wider with every second. “I can’t believe we’re here,” she says softly.
I lean closer, my voice low and certain.
“Welcome to London, little hunter.”
And I swear—
No city has ever felt more like home than it does with her in it.