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“You told me that you didn’t mind sharing me with the sea, but I don’t imagine this is what you meant.” I stared at her stone. “If you have an objection, now would be an excellent time to make it.”

I waited to hear the echo of my wife’s voice, but there was nothing beside the roses stirring in the salt wind. I was preparing to stand when a gust blew a white feather past my face, and I noticed a small purple flower growing between the roots of Emmaline’s white roses.

Sea lavender. It grew wild along the cliffs, not in this carefully tended garden. Somehow, a seed had crossed the walls and taken root, and the roses hadn’t choked it. Their stems had left just enough space for the tiny bloom.

I grinned. “I suppose that will do.”

Chapter 45

Insouciante

CORA

For the first time in what felt like forever, the world seemed a little brighter. The Devouring’s spell was extinguished, Les Jardins de Minuit were being searched, and my relics had been quiet since I sealed them away.

And Yves? Yves loved me. He really loved me. As imperfect and prickly and outspoken as I was. He was going to figure out a way for us to be together.

I had every intention of leaving the relics in Yves’s room, but it occurred to me that a lead case was only as good as the room it was left in. Yves would be in meetings all day, and Severin had a key to every door in this castle, and I wouldn’t be able to think about anything else if I couldn’t be sure they were safe.

Therefore, I checked the ward twice before bringing the case with me into Adrien’s first practical lesson in dark magick.

The sight of the little vampire with his missing tooth waiting for me made my heart swell even more. The little vampire had his sleeves pushed up and several sticks of spell chalk clutched in his fist.

I was so excited to share this part of who I was with him, but magick wasn’t just sticks of chalk and lines of salt. Room seventy-three was a perfect reminder of the power behind magick, if warding spells, and I had to ensure he understood that.

“Before we begin, you need to agree to a few rules,” I said. “First, once we’ve begun drawing the ward, you cannot touch the salt, blow out the candles, or speak any spells written inside my grimoire.”

He nodded.

“Second,” I said, producing the lead box. “This box is not to be opened under any circumstances.”

Adrien’s green eyes sparkled as he looked at the box. “What’s inside it?”

I crouched so we were eye to eye. “This box contains three very powerful demonic relics and two medallions that belonged to a society of Dark Witches that have caused trouble here in Old Town.”

“You put them in lead to keep them contained,” he said.

“Exactly.”

“Don’t you need their power to charge the circle?” he asked.

I set my hand on my heart. “No, I have plenty of magick right here.”

Magick that I had to fight a demon tooth and nail for.

Adrien considered this, then nodded.

“When creating a ward, you must draw it properly,” I continued. “And because you are so good at noticing things other people don’t, I need you to check my work against the grimoire.”

“I can do that!” he said enthusiastically.

“But if I tell you to do something, you have to do it immediately. You can ask me why once we’re safe. And once I begin drawing the salt circle, stay outside it,” I told Adrien. “You can walk around the edge to check my work, but do not cross the lines of salt.”

“Miss Ravenwood, this is the best day of my life. I get to help with a magick spell. I wouldn’t do anything to mess it up. I swear.”

He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed. I couldn’t believe it. Adrien was hugging me. I wrapped my arms around him, holding him against me. Tears pricked in my eyes. “This is the best day of my life, too,” I told him. “And you couldn’t mess anything up if you tried.”

We released each other at the same time, both of us standing stiffly as we stared at each other.