“Just when I thought the floodgates were open already, you say sweet shit like that!” I sobbed, crying even more than I thought was possible.
Quinn laughed, pulling us into another kiss. It was breathless, and more like a series of kisses than just one. Our lips moved with giddy excitement against each other. We often caught our giggles in between our lips, but that added to the depth of the kiss to make this one of my favorite ones of all time. It was like we were sealing in our joy in this moment to make sure it lasted as long as our love for each other. Quinn’s soft, smooth lips on mine over and over again before moving to my tear-streaked cheeks and down to tickle me into more laughter felt like a vow, one I couldn’t wait to hold her to for the rest of our lives.
The rest of our lives…
I was engaged.
I was a fiancée.
I was going to be a wife.
I was going to beQuinn’swife.
I couldn’t be happier.
Quinn’s phone vibrated from where it sat between us in her pullover pocket. She pulled back to check who it was, giving me a sneak peek. It was her Mom.
“I guess she wanted to be the first stop on the engagement announcement tour,” I teased, wiping my face to make myself look presentable for the video call.
Quinn shook her head with a smile. Once I nodded that I was ready, Quinn answered the call. Her mother’s face filled the screen.
I had expected to see her smiling, maybe a little misty-eyed, ahead of seeing the ring. What I hadn’t expected to see was her…
Rattled.
Her usually flawlessly styled hair was mussed, her cheeks flushed, and her blouse wrinkled from her worrying the fabric. Her eyes kept flitting from the phone screen to something off of it. It was like she was checking for something.
Or, someone.
Quinn’s smile dropped instantly. Her whole body went rigid. “Mama? What’s wrong?”
“I’msosorry, baby,” She said, fast and hushed. “Youneededthis trip more than anything. And, on top of it being your birthday… Oh, and I hope I’m not interrupting?—”
“Mama.” Quinn’s tone sliced through the air. “What happened?”
Her mother hesitated. It was just long enough for my stomach to twist into multiple elaborate Girl Scout knots. Then, she met Quinn’s eyes that were copies of her own.
“Your father is here,” she said quietly, “and he wants to see you.”
Eclipse
QUINN
Ihad no idea how many traffic laws, either human or supernatural, I broke to get home.
Fuck, I hated my birthday.
We were moving before the call with Mama ended. Byrd and I wordlessly decided to leave our things and return to pack them up later, afterthiswas handled, to get home as soon as possible. Byrd called Clarkson and picked her up. Then, we teleported back to Byrd’s condo in Blackbell, where Byrd rushed upstairs to grab her keys before meeting me and Clarkson at her Toyota 4Runner. She tossed me the keys, and I drove like the road was a dynamite fuse.
I knew something was going to go left.
I blew through traffic lights and stop signs like they were polite suggestions. The tires screeched as I took the curves too hard, and Byrd’s SUV shifted on two wheels, threatening to turn over with every turn I made. I was pretty sure a cop car flashed behind me at least twice, but I went too fast for even magic to catch me. I would be surprised if I even had a driver’s license tomorrow.
At least one wish came true.
The ride was silent, but our mating bond was so loud with us trading tremors of stress and overwhelming waves of reassurances and strength. Byrd fiddled with her necklace the whole way, while I gripped the steering wheel hard enough to make it creak. Still, we held hands the whole way. Despite the adrenaline buzzing under my skin like I’d swallowed lightning and making me grind my teeth, the sweet, smooth chill of Byrd’s engagement ring eased some of my stress.
She had said yes.
