Page 48 of The Warrior's Salvation

I lead her out, slow steps over uneven stone. Her hand finds my shoulder like it’s done it a hundred times as she spins into my embrace. My arm circles her waist. She exhales once softly.

“You're nervous?” she asks, her eyes searching my expression with intent to understand me.

“No. I just don’t want to mess this up.” That fear still lingers, that I may do something to risk her life or lose her. I’m not sure it will ever go. I’m not sure I want it to. It keeps me on my toes.

She rests her head against me. “Then don’t.” I can almost see her soft smile, and I chuckle again. I love that her attitude is always no-nonsense. She finished her degree and went back to work like nothing even happened, and even now in her final trimester, she's pushing forward, no hesitation.

We sway back and forth, just the rhythm between us. The space closes until there isn’t any.

People watch, but they’re not in the way. It’s like everything fades out—chairs, tables, noise, even the soft flicker of candlelight against the white tent walls.

When I took that job for Draco under my brother's orders, I worried that it was the end of me as a man. It was a punishment to endure for losing my place in this world and in my mind, it became a black mark on my reputation.

But now I see it as the best thing that ever happened to me. Evelyn is the magic I needed to find myself again among the chaos and noise that plagued and tormented my mind. Without her, I'd be lost in a sea of guilt and regret that would eat me alive. With her, I am human again. She saved me, and I saved her. But we'll never be even.

I'll spend the rest of my life doing everything in my power to ensure she has everything she ever dreamed of and making sure her heart is full and her mind is at peace.

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