Page 126 of Heartsong
Frey rumbled. “I understand. It was your home, a place you built yourself.”
“Yeah. I know it’s just stuff, but I worked hard to build that life.”
“Your effort isn’t diminished by starting anew. I know it’s scary, but beginning again can be done. And I’ll be with you through it all.”
Anna’s heart ached for him; he’d already lost so much. Her apartment was all he’d really known of the modern world, and having to lose his family, his home, his life twice over even before stepping foot in her apartment would’ve broken weaker souls.
She hadn’t had any plans to move out of her apartment; the rent was doable, the location was excellent, and everything she’d worked for was contained in that little space. Maybe one day she’d move to a bigger place, but she hadn’t truly ever considered it before Frey.
She hadn’t thought of a lot of things before Frey.
He’d changed her life in so many ways, overwhelmingly for the better. She wanted a life with him, and if that meant starting fresh, in a place that worked for both of them, Anna knew she could do it. He was worth it.
“We can always find a place of our own if it gets weird being here,” she said, to herself as much as Frey.
“Of course,fy nghân.You are resourceful, you’ll find us the perfect place.”
Anna laughed. “I mean, I’ll do my best. I doubt I’ll be able to beat out here, though. Tiburon is pretty darn nice, and it’s really close to the coast. You should be able to fly without being seen.”
“I like that. I like the possibility of having a position as well. I want to spoil you.”
She blushed from her toes to her ears. Months with this guy and he still had her blushing like a tea kettle.
“You already do.” Flipping to her other side, she pressed a kiss to his chin. “You’re so good to me. I don’t…”
Frey rumbled in warning, and he lifted her face with a knuckle under her chin. “You deserve everything and more, my Anna. It is my duty and my honor to provide, cherish, andspoilyou, for I’ve asked much of you already and will ask more.”
“You want to do the ritual.”
“Yes. I want to be bound to you. I want the day.”
Anna pulled in a long, fortifying breath. None of that was a surprise, of course. She’d felt how he went still under her when Gavren had first explained the ritual and how it’d bound him to Carys, freeing him of his prison. She wanted that for Frey, she did, but the idea sounded more permanent than marriage and even more serious than soulmates or heartsongs. It wasn’t just promises and good intentions.
“You’re unsure,” Frey said, his voice carefully neutral.
“Yes and no.” She couldn’t help grinning when he made a face at her non-answer. “I’m just scared of big things, I guess. I never…I couldn’t have imagined I’d find anyone like you.”
“I should think not,” he said with a grin, “since you humans have forgotten about my kind.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “You know what I mean.”
“I know.” He swooped in, capturing her lips in a slow, delicious kiss that made her breathing and heart rate pick up speed.
“I love you, my Anna. Not just as a heartsong but Anna. I am grateful every day that it’s your touch that woke me, that it’s to you I’m bound—ritual or no.”
“I love you, too. More than I ever thought possible.” Running her fingertips along his face, she pushed some of his thick mane behind the point of his ear.
God, she really did love him, so much it hurt. But then, growth usually came with some growing pains, and Frey had expanded her heart, her life. She’d had her reasons to avoid anything serious with him, but those reasons had long since gone silent. Did it mean she wasn’t scared? Hell no. This was so big, and there was still the very real threat of Andrew Glendower out there. Who knew what his plans were or when he might reappear. And now she’d been pulled into a world of magick and fae and gargoyles—definitely not for the faint of heart.
And Anna wasn’t. She wasn’t faint of heart.
Because Frey was her heart.
He was surly, moody, flirty, and just as stubborn as her. Sure, it sometimes made her want to throttle him or throw her hands up in a huff, but she also loved it. He was too stubborn to give up on her.
Every day he showed her what it meant for her to be his heartsong. He took care of her, took care of Captain. Hecared. When she was brave enough to let him in, let him care, it was…amazing. It took practice, and even now, laying with him in the soft darkness, part of her was reluctant to agree to the ritual.
That part deserved acknowledgement; it was borne of disappointments and struggles. Those would always be part of her. She wasn’t always proud of the things she’d done, but she’d survived, and she was damn proud of that. It helped her believe, a little more every day, that she was someone who could be loved. Who deserved to be loved.
