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I keep waiting for it to arrive. The thing that’s supposed to come after you finally say it. Relief, or victory, or whatever people feel when they put something down for good. Halfway across the grass, I’m still waiting, and all I can feel is Jade’s hand in mine and my heart racing, the way it did when I was nine and the study door opened.

Maybe that’s the part nobody tells you. You can win, and your body doesn’t get the message for a while.

Then Jade looks at me. “Home?”

“Yes.” I squeeze his fingers, looking towards the dark beyond the gardens. “But there’s somewhere I want to go first.”

* * *

The cemetery is quiet at this hour, tucked beyond the estate wall beneath silverleaf trees whispering in the wind, with small ground lights glowing between the stones as we follow the path toward Mom’s grave.

It’s exactly as I left it, though the flowers from last week have begun to wilt. Jade crouches beside me without a word, helping me pull the old stems free before arranging the fresh ones in their place, turning one carefully between his fingers until it sits right. “On Calder, we say the name when we visit the dead. Otherwise, it’s like we’re talking around them instead of to them.” His hand settles over mine. “Elena. Your son brought you flowers.”

Fuck. For years, I thought I came here because I owed her something. Because I lived and she didn’t. Because Dad made those two things feel like the same event. But Jade is kneeling beside me, dirt on his trousers, saying my mother’s name like she was a person instead of the reason I was born guilty. Suddenly, it seems so fucking simple. I bring my mother flowers. That’s all I’ve ever been doing.

Jade looks at the stone for another moment. “Everyone keeps talking about what happened on the ninth like it’s only the day she died.” He turns toward me and takes my hand properly. “But you were born that day too, Ash. She gave you life. I’m sorry she had to die to do it, but I’m not sorry you’re here.” His thumb brushes over my knuckles before he looks back at the stone. “Thank you, Elena, for giving me such a beautiful man.”

Something tightens hard behind my ribs. “You’re thanking my dead mother for me?”

“Someone should.” His mouth curves as he leans closer. “Happy birthday, Halcyon.”

I catch the back of his neck and kiss him, soft and slow beneath the silverleaf trees, with Mom’s flowers fresh beside us.

The kiss lingers as I pull him closer, one arm around his waist, his hands sliding beneath my coat. “You know I could have eliminated you before the Hunt even started? There were hundreds of candidates down there, and then you walked in with that ridiculous fucking pack and stopped under the banner. You read it twice.”

Jade smiles against my mouth. “You remember that?”

“I remember watching you until the crowd swallowed you.” I brush my lips over his again. “I could’ve picked anyone else. I still don’t know why I didn’t. There was just something about you that made me stop and stare.”

“Maybe you knew.” Jade’s arms tighten around my neck. “Before you knew my name, before I found you beneath that tree. Maybe some part of you looked at me and already knew you were going to find me.”

“Knew what?”

“Me.” The first drops of rain catch in his hair as he kisses me again, soft and slow, until his eyes drift past my shoulder and his mouth curves. “Look. There are your guards again.”

I glance toward the gateposts, where two of them stand beneath the lights, pretending very hard not to watch us. “Apparently, they’re committed to the job.”

Jade laughs softly, turning his face into the rain before looking back at me. “Do you know what they say about rain?”

“I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”

“It finds the same places again and again.” His fingers slide into my hair. “Maybe people do too. Maybe that’s all fate is, finding your way back to the person you were always going to choose.”

I stare at him for a second, watching his smile soften as the rain catches in his lashes. “You think I knew?”

“I think you chose me before either of us understood what that meant.”

Maybe I did. Taking both his hands, I bring them between us and kiss each knuckle one by one.

Jade watches me, love softening his face. “Take me home.”

“Hang on. I’ve still got six minutes.”

He curls his fingers around mine and smiles. “Six minutes for what?”

“For my birthday.”

“And what exactly are you planning to do with them?”