Page 230 of Inside the Sun

EPILOGUE

10 months later

I’m sitting next to Ragnar on a sandy-grassy dune overlooking a black beach below Batman Mountain in Iceland.

For the past few weeks, he and I have been riding his bike across every corner of this island, my favorite stop on our ten-month journey so far. We've been to continental Europe before, but the wild, raw beauty of Iceland feels like something pulled straight from a fantasy novel, or maybe historical, with Vikings sailing drakkars on the horizon.

Every day, we discover something new. Just the two of us, soaking in endless hills, sheer cliffs, rolling meadows, crashing waves on black sand, and the long tongues of glaciers reaching into the lowlands.

Sometimes we sit in silence, just breathing it all in. Nature heals like nothing else. Well… except for our Bond.

But now, our time in Iceland is slowly coming to an end.

We’ve been staying with Ragnar’s parents, using their new home as our base for exploring. They welcomed me into the family with open arms, practically glowing with elation after finding out about our True Mate status.

Now it’s almost time to head back to the States for my brother Rain’s upcoming wedding. So our adventure on this chilly yet stunning island is wrapping up, and for the first time, I feel it: something inside me is settling. Closing… in the best way.

I lean against Ragnar’s warm, solid shoulder and whisper, "I’m actually looking forward to going back."

Ragnar glances at me. His mismatched eyes are calm and almost three-dimensional, like all those hours watching epic spacious landscapes have filled him with serenity.

"Feels like something’s shifting?"

I nod. "Yeah. The past few months, I was just… running. Both of us were. As far and fast as we could, trying to forget, trying to heal. But maybe… maybe it’s time for a little pause?"

He raises his eyebrows slightly.

"A pause in our journey?"

I smirk a little. "Not permanently. Just… a trial test. A few weeks of staying in one place. See if the road still calls to us… if it tugs us back out again."

Ragnar smiles. Dear Fate, he looks so at peace.

Since we left, he’s been exactly what I hoped he’d be from the moment I saw him: a tree to rest under, strong and steady. His nature—what his brother once called ‘simple’—feels like exactly the kind of grounding I need to balance out my own, somewhat chaotic energy.

"Sun, where you are… there I am."

I pretend to pout. "But I’m not ready to settle down for good! I just… can enjoy some downtime for a while."

I open my mouth to say more, but Ragnar’s gaze shifts past me, toward the shoreline.

I turn.

"What is it?"

"There’s something on the beach," he murmurs.

I squint, and yeah… there’s a pale shape maybe fifty yards down, lying on the dark sand. It looks like it’s slightly moving.

"Wanna check it out?"

"Sure."

We get up and walk hand in hand—our favorite way to move through the world—down the beach toward it.

As we get closer, I realize it’s a bird of prey.

It flinches and tries to flap away as we approach, but something’s wrong. One wing is twisted at a strange angle.

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