Chapter 10 #3
The heat of the late morning Texas sun baked into the soft Bermuda grass as Garrett and Sydney walked side by side down the dirt path.
They moved slowly, eventually reaching the wide meadow where he had collapsed the day before.
The ducks paddled peacefully across the glittering pond, and the fragrance of sweet acacia filled the clean air.
There was no one else around. The universe had finally narrowed down to just the two of them.
Garrett stopped near the shade of a massive magnolia tree. He turned to face her, his lavender eyes catching the light, completely unclouded by the horrors of the Underworld.
"I kept trying to remember your face, Sydney," he admitted softly, his gravelly voice dropping into a low, intimate register.
He looked down at his hands, his fingers curling slightly as he recalled the cold void of the prison.
He paused, his jaw working before a faint, self-deprecating smile touched his lips.
"But my soul remembered your shoes first."
Sydney let out a bright, breathless laugh, her blue eyes crinkling at the corners. "You are completely ridiculous, Dragon Man."
Then—she stepped into his space.
Reaching up, her small hands gently framed his warm, clean jawline, and she kissed him.
It didn't happen because a Prophecy from the original Dragons demanded compliance.
It didn't happen because the Aodhan and Drakara’s bond forced their bodies together.
He just knew that she kissed him simply because she wanted to.
It was a slow, incredibly gentle press of lips against lips—a quiet, healing exchange that carried no frantic passion or desperate need.
No blinding white fireworks were illuminating the sky, and no cosmic explosions shook the earth.
There was only a vast, beautiful, staggering peace. It was the simple reality of two souls finally resting in the sunlight.
When they slowly parted, the phantom weight of The Abyss felt a million miles away. Garrett leaned down, placing a tender, chaste press of his lips to her forehead, holding her close against his chest as the dry Texas wind swirled around them. He closed his eyes and whispered, "Worth the wait."
The path eventually led them back to the exact patch of soft Bermuda grass where the vertical rip in reality had been forced open. Ginnie’s Magical anchor point was completely gone now, leaving behind only a faint, phantom scent of ozone that the hot desert wind was quickly scrubbing away.
Garrett stopped right on the edge of the invisible threshold line. His large frame stood tall as his lavender eyes swept out over the vast, sunbaked Texas landscape. His jaw hardened with a familiar, disciplined resolve.
He didn't live in a fantasy world. His memories were still piecing themselves together, and his Dragonfire was still recovering its full strength.
He knew exactly what lay beyond the borders of this quiet homestead.
Leviathan had slipped through their fingers into the shifting mists of the Underworld.
The First Darkness was already awake, a primordial hunger pacing behind a temporary seal, and the warning the Demon Lord had snarled before retreating still vibrated in his bones.
The nightmare wasn't over. This was just a brief pause before the true storm broke over their heads.
Garrett turned his head to look down at his beautiful Mate standing beside him, his fingers tightening securely around hers. "We'll finish it," he promised, his gravelly voice flat and unyielding.
Sydney looked up at him, her blue eyes reflecting the bright, fierce intensity of the sun. She gave a single, firm nod of her head. "Together."
It was the same vow they had spoken in the bedroom, but here under the open sky, facing the certainty of an incoming war, the word carried the weight of an iron-clad covenant.
Then, Garrett’s expression softened. The hard, protective mask of the soldier slipped away, and his lips curved upward.
He smiled… a real one.
It wasn't a tight smirk to mask his pain, or a wry twitch born of bitter defiance. It was a completely genuine, unburdened smile that he knew reached all the way to his lavender eyes.
The Demon Lord could keep his secrets. The Void could keep its hunger. They were standing in the Light. Their souls were aligned, and they were finally ready for whatever was coming next.
For all the time he was imprisoned, darkness had been the only thing Garrett believed remained. Now sunlight warmed his face. A gentle breeze carried the scent of wildflowers across the Texas meadow. Beside him stood the woman the Universe had made for him. She had crossed Realms to bring him home.
The memories would come. Or they wouldn't.
The scars would fade. Or they wouldn't.
The future remained uncertain. Leviathan still walked somewhere beyond the horizon. The Void was stirring. But for the first time in longer than Garrett could remember...
Hope no longer felt fragile.
It felt inevitable.
Because Fate had never promised an easy road, only that it would never be walked alone.
Until we meet again…
You can travel the universe…
You can see the Wonders of the World…
But there is no place like home, and that is always where the heart is.
XOXO, Sydney