Page 215 of Keldori By Daybreak

And my deep, guttural need to keep him beside me, because what was the point of all that if I were to lose him again?

His hands tightened around me once more, and this time I initiated the kiss, pressing into him, tangling my fingers in his hair, and relishing the gentle heat of his face against mine.

It was better than our first kiss, probably because we both had more blood this time, and that blood now hammered in my chest and in my ears.

We’d been in each other’s heads for months. I had already started to doubt where Wren ended and Ciarán began, and his arms wrapped around me felt like the most natural thing in both the worlds.

I was safe here. I was loved here.

Not for my title or for the magick that I was capable of, not for what I could provide as a tool, weapon, or ally, but for me.

And as we both yielded to mutual trust, that ever-present bond between us sang.

43. Principles of Banking II

Once again, I waited for the shift. Something would change, either in me or in the universe.

Nothing did.

There were very few boundaries left between Ciarán and me, and giving in to each other and our affections felt more like locking into place than undergoing a great change.

I didn’t feel different. I felt secure.

Ciarán would stay on this side of the Rift with me. I’d felt the decision solidify within his mind. Being apart was simply not an option at this point. Maybe it was co-dependency, but I couldn’t imagine a life without him after all we’d been through, and nor could he.

So with the knowledge that we would not allow the Rift to separate us and a proper mattress beneath me after so many long weeks, I slept soundly and dreamlessly in his embrace on the narrow twin bed.

No matter what came next, in this moment, I was safe in Ciarán’s arms, and he was safe in mine. Together. Whole.

We woke up in the late afternoon to do laundry, check in with the others, eat dinner, and poke at the giant rock, but I returned to the apartment above the bagel shop with Ciarán as night fell since there weren’t enough beds for all of us in Siobhan’s living quarters above the tavern.

I fell asleep in Ciarán’s bed, still exhausted from our travels, but Ciarán wandered the apartment, looking over his family’s things while our laundry rattled in the dryer.

I felt as if I’d just closed my eyes when he leaned over me to shake me awake.

“Wren, your father is back.”

I startled upright, half-expecting to see Maxwell Brenton standing in the room, but Ciarán, in his freshly laundered tunic, nodded at the window.

The clock on Riley’s bedside table read 4:37 AM, and I frowned at the early hour as I staggered to the window.

Through the onslaught of rain and gloom of night, I made out the shape of a research van. A tall man stood in the halo cast by an iron-wrought streetlamp outside Gams’s shop, inspecting the rock.

That asshole couldn’t resist a mysterious boulder after all.

“Stay here,” I growled.

“Wren—”

“It’s fine. I’ll take care of it.” It was still dumping rain, so I threw my wool cloak on over a Keel Watch Harbor crewneck I’d found in Liam’s closet as I whisked through the apartment and down the stairs.

Ciarán followed me to the sidewalk but waited under the eave of the bagel shop entryway as I marched down the stormy street to meet my father.

“Thought twice about the rock then?” I shouted when I got closer. “Since I know it’s not me you’re here for.”

Maxwell turned to face me slowly. The way he rubbed his hands together reminded me of a fly.

“I never got my money. Gas isn’t cheap, and if you’re wanting to go into geophysics, you should already know it doesn’t exactly pay well.”