Page 74 of Kiss of Frost

I couldn’t do both.

I squeezed my eyes shut, hot tears tracking down my cheeks and into my beard. I knew how to let something go. Georgie had just shown me how.

“I love you,” I whispered. When I opened my eyes, Hamish was gone.

The North Wind shivered. I RELEASE YOU FROM YOUR VOW.

My heart skipped a beat.

The wind shot into the air, whipped around the caldera, and disappeared.

Georgie and Callum turned from watching it. The three of us locked eyes.

I opened my arms as they rushed into them, and we crashed together. My nose landed in Georgie’s hair. Callum’s lips brushed my cheek, and I turned my head and kissed him, stroking my tongue against his. After a few breathless seconds, my lips landed on Georgie’s and I tasted her tears. We stayed like that, kissing and holding each other, until Callum lifted his head.

“Um, not to ask a stupid question during an intense moment, but where did the wind go?”

“It’ll be back,” Georgie said. “It’s been locked up for a while. It needed to stretch.”

He gave her a skeptical look. “It told you that?”

“Wind is my thing, Callum. I’ve spent my whole life studying it.”

His lips curved. “Nerd.”

She rolled her eyes.

I smiled and pulled them both into another kiss.

Epilogue

GEORGIE

I emerged from the covenstead of House Blackwood and stopped short at the sight of Callum and Graeme sprawled in the seating area next to the fireplace.

Well, Callum sprawled. Graeme sat at attention, a broadsword resting over his thighs.

I blinked. “You brought swords?”

Callum stood and gave Graeme an exasperated look. “Graeme brought a sword.” He turned to a nearby table and lifted a cardboard carrier stuffed with tall, white paper cups. “I brought coffee.”

“Coffee,” I breathed, rushing forward. I snatched a cup from the carrier, popped the lid off, and inhaled. “Oh… Oh, that’s good.”

Callum looked at Graeme and smirked. “Told you my idea was better.”

“You did,” Graeme said, rising and thrusting his sword into the scabbard strapped around his waist. “Ad nauseam.”

“Bless you.”

Graeme scowled. “Ad nauseam means—”

“I know what it means, sweetheart. I just like to see you flustered.” Callum turned to me, and his expression went from teasing to anxious. “Well, witchling? What’s the verdict?”

I wanted to mess with him, but I couldn’t do that to poor Graeme. Callum could handle it. Graeme might actually storm the covenstead and challenge one of the elders to a duel. I set my coffee on the table and spread my arms. “You’re looking at the leader of House Blackwood.”

Callum whooped, lifted me, and spun me in a circle. When he set me down, Graeme took over, threading his fingers through my hair and slanting his lips across mine. He stroked his tongue deep, channeling all his love and relief into his kiss. When he pulled away at last, tears sparkled in his eyes.

“Oh, my love,” I said softly, wiping them away. They turned to tiny diamonds on my fingers, and I tucked them in the pocket of my barasta.

---