Warmth flooded my cheeks. I gestured Talon forward and he moved to my side. “This is Talon.”
Talon held out a hand to my mother and when she placed her smaller one in his, he bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to her knuckles.
“It is a pleasure to meet the woman who raised such a stubborn woman,” he teased.
My mother’s eyes widened before she let out a short laugh. “She is a handful, isn’t she?”
“She is a delight,” Talon corrected, dropping her hand to look at me. “She is very loved here.”
My father stepped forward and held out his hand. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
Talon shook his hand firmly. “I will continue to do so until my last breath.”
“We cannot stay long,” my father said, glancing at the darkening sky. “The journey back is a long one.”
The thought tightened my chest, but my mother reached for my hands. “At the end of each season, we will visit. We will bring food. You will bring stories. And we will sit here, between our worlds, rather than choosing one over the other.”
Tears slipped free again. “I would like that very much.”
“Good,” my mother said firmly. “Now, let us eat!”
My father laid a checkered rug across the stone of the bridge while Lyra and Theron handed out plates.
We sat together at the midpoint of the border, sharing bread and honey cakes as though nothing had changed—and yet, everything had. Vesuva coiled contentedly near my feet, her heads observing my family with cautious curiosity before settling into stillness.
When it was finally time for them to leave, we stood at the center of the bridge.
“End of the season,” my mother reminded me, hugging me one last time.
“I will be here,” I promised.
Lyra grinned at me. “Do not miss me too much, sister.”
I rolled my eyes with a huff. “I will try my very best not to.”
They walked back toward Haelen, turning to wave until the night finally swallowed them. I stood at the gate long after they vanished, Talon’s hand settled securely at my waist. I leaned into him, watching the river carry starlight across its surface.
“Thank you for being here with me,” I murmured, nuzzling into the cool fabric of his tunic.
Talon’s fingers brushed my cheek before he pressed a soft kiss to my hair. “I would be anywhere for you, little flame.”
46
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
The tunnels beneath Umbral were not meant for courting.
They were carved for defense and escape, winding veins of obsidian that threaded beneath the city in layered spirals. Lanterns were sparse down here, and shadows pooled thick between them, whispering across the walls as Talon guided me forward.
“Where are we going?” I asked for the third time, trying not to trip over the uneven stone beneath my boots.
“If I told you,” he replied calmly, “it would ruin the surprise.”
“A hint?”
“No. You would attempt to guess.”
“I am very good at guessing,” I confirmed.