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I didn’t want to leave here.

I debated on staying, extending the rental through finishing the manuscript, but even that wouldn’t be long enough. I couldn’t afford to buy Kilmorran and it was tied up in a trust with the rest of the Wolfe family. He knew me too well now. He knew the scrunch of my nose and the hesitation before I spoke.

“You can’t, grá,” he said softly, sadly. “Your life isn’t here.”

But it could be, I wanted to say.

Even as I thought it, I knew he was right.

The rope around my ribs tying me to New York began to stretch and yank, reminding me that there were things that needed tending to back home.

When I asked how I was ever meant to say goodbye to him, he pulled me close.

“Don’t worry about that yet. I am here with you now. Right here.”

And I’d held him extra tight after that, wishing it was enough.

Two days before Samhain, the air began to shift around the castle. There was a restless, unnerving hum in the air. Wolfe felt it too, pacing with more agitation than usual by the fireplace.

“I can feel it,” he said, rolling his shoulders back. “It’s so close.”

“How long does it last?” I asked, hoping I sounded more casual than I felt.

“Tomorrow the veil begins to thin. As the day goes, I’ll grow stronger until I’m able to cross tomorrow night. Usually, the energy stays around for a day or two afterward.”

Two days. Maybe three if I was lucky.

I nodded, chewing on my lower lip.

“All right.”

He paused his pacing, choosing to sit on the coffee table in front of me. I thumbed the part in the book I was at and gave him my attention.

“I was thinking…”

“Yes?”

“I think we should go to the cliffs.”

It was the only thing left from my list I hadn’t done. I’d been pushing it off and pushing it off, blaming it on the weather and being locked into my work, but the truth was I was still scared of what would happen when I went—that it wouldn’t feel the way I’d hoped it would.

“When?”

“The first. I’ll still be strong enough to go and walk around. People will be able to see me. I want to see it with you.” He dropped a hand over my own, my new Claddagh ring declaring to all the world my heart was taken. “If you’d like.”

I beamed at him, feeling like I was free falling into the unknown.

“I’d love that.”

“Good. I…” He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. God, was he nervous? “I need you to know that there are no expectations. I know—I know things aren’t normal between us and just because I’m here doesn’t mean we need to—”

“Wolfe,” I said, laughing with disbelief, “are you out of your mind?”

He frowned at me. “I’m trying to tell you that just because I’ll be able to cross tomorrow night doesn’t mean you need to—that we need to—I would never assume…”

“So articulate for a lord,” I teased.

His frown turned into a glower. “I am trying to be a gentleman.”