Page 173 of Broken Veil
“Class at ten today?”
She nodded and poured herself a mug of coffee, adding some milk and grabbing a piece of shortbread that Mary had mailed them from Murrayshall House.
“You working on that gate for the Rothman Mansion?”
“I am.”
In the months since they’d returned to the Shadowlands, Duncan had started making friends with various restorers in Northern California, one of whom was more than happy to send work to an experienced blacksmith accustomed to working on historic buildings.
Duncan had quickly found an appropriate space in town for welding and ironwork projects, then dug into solitary projects with no need to run an entire metal shop.
He said it was like taking a vacation.
And Carys? She was doing exactly what she loved.
“Did I tell you my Celtic mythology class was full?”
“Full?” His eyebrows went up. “No joke?”
“No joke.” She sipped her coffee. “Apparently there’s some singer who’s super popular that makes a lot of mythological references, so it’s trending.”
“Do you think viral videos of a dragon flying over England had anything to do with that?”
“Maybe.” She pinched her fingers together. “Just a little bit.”
Despite various attempts at debunking, there were still videos of Cadell flying in the Brightlands that even experts couldn’t explain. And while #wheresmacha was trending on social media for a few weeks, the attention of the world had moved on.
Still, seeing as there was no way all those videos of a dragon were going to be contained, it was probably better that Carys and Cadell avoid the Shadowlands in the UK for a few months and gave everyone a chance to calm down.
“Everyone wants to believe in fairy tales,” Carys said. “There’s a deep and intrinsic need for the other within the human psyche.”
“Theywantto believe.” Duncan smiled and walked over to her, sliding his arm around her waist and drawing Carys up for a kiss. “What about you, Professor Morgan?” He kissed her right cheek, then her left. “Doyoubelieve in fairy tales?”
“No need.” She lifted to her toes and pressed her lips against Duncan’s. “Because this is it. You and me. My friends and my family. My home here.”
“And there.” Duncan smiled.
“This is the fairy tale for me.” Carys felt the contentment deep in her chest. “And it’s real.”
The End
(For now.)
