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Lifting my face, he presses a kiss to my neck. “I love you.”
My skin buzzes, but I am somewhat poor at this, so all I can whisper is a very, very elegant, “…smash.”
Pollux laughs, caving into me. His body rocks mine as his nails hook in my clothes.
I tilt my blazing face back. “No, sorry. Crap. I messed up. Let me try again. I…to you…also. I think. Probably.”
Pulling back, Pollux fixes me with a fang-filled grin. “Hush,” he murmurs. “You’re perfect.” He kisses my nose. “I can wait for as long as it takes, until telling me is as simple as breathing. Until your humanity erodes, leaving behind nothing but the bare truth of your words.” His thumb, so carefully, skates beneath my eye. “I can wait.”
“Haven’t you waited long enough?” I whisper.
“For you to exist, yes.”
My lips silently echo those words.
Curling around me while my brain is still processing, Pollux rests his head against my shoulder and holds me. “I don’t mind a bit of a chase. It makes catching you more fun.”
I sink my fingers into his hair. “Does it now?”
“Mm.”
“Are you falling asleep now that you’ve given me tachycardia? After all the caffeine you just had?”
He chuckles. Snuggles. And doesn’t reply.
I stuff an entire handful of marshmallows in my mouth. “Beast.”
“I still have that library,” he murmurs.
“You watched the movie.”
“I watched the movie. Willow let me put the streaming service on my phone, and I watched the movie, and I am investing in the rolling ladders. Willow said they were important. And also that she’s going to skin me alive for not telling her I had a library in my house. I believe she was making a joke.”
My eyes roll. Uh. Yeah. She better be, otherwise we’ll be having some words. “Are you eighty-seven percent sure?” I snark.
He makes a low sound, then—disturbingly—says, “Skin grows back.”
Time passes beneath the stars. Half a marshmallow bag disappears as I sip my hot chocolate and feel the comforting weight of Pollux against me.
One week.
In just one week, I’ll move into his house.
I’ll collect quiet moments like this one, where I remember what it feels like to exist.
I’ll learn more about who I am, then what I am, and all that comes with being fae.
In just one week, everything will change.
Chapter 38
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The party before the storm.
I peer at the glittering face of the pocket watch containing my tear juice while Zahra orchestrates the Secret Santa around the Christmas tree swallowing the center of the main classroom. That tree is a glorious mess, if I’m being honest. But that’s what happens when you give kids a bunch of ornaments and don’t micromanage what they do with them.
Lifting my attention, I find Pollux’s smile and get a few warm fuzzies in the center of my chest. “Very pretty.”
