She pulled back, eyes glassy, red-rimmed. “I told you I loved you.”
“You did.” He cupped her cheek, thumb brushing the tear beneath her eye. “I felt it. In every damn pulse of magic you poured into me.”
She kissed him. It was deep. Certain. Like she was pouring every ounce of belief, of truth, into that moment.
“You’re mine,” she whispered against his lips.
“And you’re mine.” His voice shook. “Mate.”
The word hummed between them like the echo of thunder across a mountain.
A promise. A bond. And this time, not one cast by a curse or a prince’s scheme. But by choice. By fire.
And by love.
32
LILLITH
The battle was over.
Thaloryn was gone, dust scattered in the wake of magic older than names, and Celestial Pines had held. Bruised, battered—but not broken.
Lillith barely remembered the walk back to the cottage.
Her legs had moved on their own, like her soul was already pulling toward home. Dominic’s fingers had brushed hers the entire way, never letting go. His grip was warm. Steady. Real. She hadn’t looked back once.
And now… they were here.
The cottage stood as it always had—nestled between ivy-cloaked trees, moonlight tangled in the mossy shingles, the smell of cedar and rosewood curling out of the stone chimney. The hearth inside still burned with slow embers. Familiar. Inviting.
Home.
Lillith stood just inside the threshold, watching as Dominic moved through the front room, barefoot and shirtless, bandages half-wrapped around his side where the last of his wounds werestill knitting closed. She hated the bruises. Hated the reminder that she’d nearly lost him—again.
He glanced at her over his shoulder. “You okay?”
She nodded slowly. “Yeah. I just…” She stepped closer, her fingers brushing the wall as if to ground herself. “I keep waiting to feel different. Like the curse is gone, the bond broken, and now we’re just… normal.”
Dominic set the mug he was drying on the counter and turned to face her fully. “You think this feels normal?”
“No.” She exhaled a soft laugh. “Not even close.”
He stepped toward her. “Then what does it feel like?”
“Like we survived something that should’ve ruined us. Like fate handed us a tangle and we made a home out of it.” Her eyes searched his face. “You still want this? Now that you’re not forced to be near me every second?”
He stilled. And then—very slowly—he walked the rest of the way to her, cupped her jaw in his calloused hand, and said, “I was never forced, Lil. Not really. The bond didn’t make me love you.”
Her heart seemed to stop in her throat.
Dominic leaned in, brow brushing hers. “I want all of it. Your weird tea collection, your runes scattered across every surface, the way you hoard books like they’re dragon treasure. I want the sigh you make when you read something beautiful. The way you hum when you cook and don’t even know it. I want the you without curses and kingdoms and war.”
Her throat tightened. “Then stay.”
He blinked.
She took his hand in hers. “Move in. Live here. With me. Not because of the tether. Because of us.”
