“Take it. This is what’s left of him. I’m sorry.”
The dragon huffs. Twin smoke trails rise from her nostrils. I close my eyes.
“Killian?”
My head jerks up at Briar’s voice and my jaw drops as she ducks from beneath the dragon, patting its neck and whispering to it.
“Briar?”
Her wariness shakes me to my core.
The sight of her steals my breath, not only because she’s the most gorgeous woman on earth, but because she’stalking to a dragon like it’s her pet.
Queen of monsters. And now she knows it.
“What are you doing here?” I’m on my feet without noticing I got up. The dragon eyes me, then the armor. Briar gathers it and offers it to her.
“We’re sorry. Truly sorry. Please take it and mourn him. Thank you for sparing my mate.”
The dragon takes my armor in her teeth and lurches past me. Something akin to regret settles in my midsection.
If not for Briar, I’d be a heap of smoking ash right now. I’d deserve it.
“I couldn’t go through with it, Killian,” she says, playing with a strand of her hair and avoiding my eyes. “Even knowing you didn’t want me, despite having nowhere to go, I simply could not marry Alistair.”
Didn’t want her?
“Briar—”
“Let me finish.” She glances at the gates, where the manticore is leaning against the sun-warmed oak, preventing anyone from going in or out. We have time.
We have all the time in the world.
“You were right that I was waiting around for you to save me, when I was perfectly capable of saving myself. I want you to know that I chose you today. I would choose you again tomorrow, and the next day, all the way into?—”
I rush forward and take her into my arms, cutting her off with a kiss.
“I didn’t abandon you. I was coming back for you, and I was prepared to either die or ride off with you. No other outcome.”
“Why did you leave in the first place?”
“Alistair threatened to castrate me if I ever set foot in Belterre Castle again.”
Her eyes flare wide.
“He’s that envious?”
I laugh. It’s a strange sound, rusty with disuse. “That’s your first reaction? I love you, Briar. I should have told you that sooner. I should have done a lot of things?—”
“Shh.” She taps my lips with her forefinger. “You’ve done enough, Killian. You’ve fought your way here to me, and we’re never going to be parted again.”
Behind us, the dragon flaps her wings and leaps into the air. The downdraft flutters Briar’s dress. She leans into me with a sigh, watching the monster disappear into the horizon, then turns to me and says, “Shall we go home?”
Home.
My heart swells with fullness.
Minutes later, I’ve retrieved my exhausted horse and we’re riding double with her behind me and her arms around my waist.
