Page 349 of Black Reign

“I married a woman who thinks shoes are optional.”

“They are.”

“Noted.”

The dog follows us.

Xavier notices.

“No.”

The dog keeps walking.

“You're arguing with an animal.”

“He's trespassing.”

“He attended our wedding.”

“He ate half my bread.”

“Your wife gave it to him.”

Xavier looks at me.

That expression again.

I smile.

“You really like that word.”

“I haven't decided.”

“You have.”

He doesn't answer.

He doesn't need to.

We walk farther into the field.

The cottage becomes smaller behind us until its windows are only squares of amber against the darkness.

There are no city lights here.

No yachts.

No Blackwell towers.

No cameras I can see, although I have stopped believing that means anything when Xavier is involved.

Above us, the sky opens.

Thousands of stars.

I stop walking.

For a moment, I am not twenty-something and married.