My chest squeezed. I thought of him carrying my sister up the gully, even though I could tell he didn’t want to leave me. Or the way his voice had broken when he’d seen the blood on my forehead. The way he’d looked at me in the castle, worry etched into every line of him.
“I didn’t tell you because I was happy,” I admitted in a small voice. “And that feels like borrowed magick for me. Like something that’ll be taken away as soon as I name it.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Her voice went thick. She reached out and found my hand, squeezing hard. “You are allowed happy. You are not on cosmic probation.”
I blinked fast.
“Also,” she added dryly, “for the record? I approve.”
My head snapped up. “You do?”
“Aye.” She laughed. “It pains me to say it, but the man’s a good one. Solid. Loyal.”
“He’s a Taurus,” I explained.
“And he loves you.”
Air evacuated my lungs. “You don’t know that,” I whispered, even as my heart thudded loud enough to hear.
“Liora, I can literally see emotional bonds,” she said flatly. “It’s like a soap opera in my head most days. That man is head over mud-splattered boots for you.”
My eyes burned. “He’s under a truth spell,” I reminded her. “He says what he has to say.”
“Does he?” she asked gently. “Or is that just a convenient excuse so you don’t have to believe someone could choose you freely?”
Well.Ouch.
“Rude,” I croaked.
“Accurate,” she countered.
“I think I love him, Z.”
“Well,duh.”
I laughed, and then sobered, realizing just how much I’d come to care for Torin in such a short time. He was also my person. He and Z were the most important people in my world.
We sat there for a moment, the quiet filling up with all the unsaid things.
“I am sorry,” she said again, softer. “For making you feel judged. For being so busy trying to steer your life from the sidelines that I forgot you’re the one actually living it. You don’t owe me a report of every decision you make. I just… want to be in your corner, L. Not standing over you with a clipboard.”
My throat closed up. “I want you there,” I managed. “You’re my favorite person in the world, even when you’re being a sanctimonious cow.”
Zara snorted a laugh. “Likewise, you chaotic hedgehog.”
I leaned forward and we fumbled our way into a hug, careful of her leg and Mitch’s giant golden head wedged between us like a furry chaperone. Her arms tightened around me, and that familiar Zara scent wrapped around my nervous system like a blanket.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” I whispered into her shoulder, tears finally spilling.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she murmured back.
We pulled apart, both sniffing. Mitch licked a stripe up my cheek with impeccable timing.
“Ugh, thanks, buddy,” I muttered, wiping my face.
“Right,” Zara said, shifting back into business mode like flicking a switch. “We need to sort that truth spell, aye?”
My stomach dipped. “The one I put on Torin.”