“It’s not your fault.” I shimmied closer to him, resting my head on his chest. “I know nothing I say right now will erase the landslide of feelings that are piling on top of you, but please trust me when I say you are not to blame, and I’ll happily repeat those words to you until they sink in. You’ve always done your best for me, Cair. Always put your entire soul into every gesture, no matter how small. You love me unconditionally, you give me everything I could ever need or want in this lifetime and the next, and I know you would not have put me in your father’s path if you’d believed, even for a second, that he would do this.” I tilted my head to peer up at him, my expression resolute. “There was nothing you could have done. He fooled us. He tried to tear us apart, but that was his biggest mistake. We’re stronger than that, we’re resilient, and he won’t succeed with whatever bullshit he’s brewing. We’ll make sure of it.”

A single tear tracked down Cair’s cheek. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“Paid your taxes on time?” I joked, delighting in the faint laugh I earned in return. This wasn’t one of those minor inconveniences that could be resolved in an instant; it would take time and persistence, but we would figure it out. We always did. I was half convinced nothing short of an apocalypse could separate us at this point. I mean, death was pretty drastic, and we dealt with my self-conscious thought spirals on the daily, so what else was there to conquer?

Yeah, whatever happened in the days ahead, whatever forces tried to worm their way between us, I was sure we’d overcome it. We had each other, and we had the promises we’d made to stand side by side until the end of time.

That was all we needed.

“I love you to the stars and back,” I said. “And even if you’re having a hard time imagining a happy ending at this very moment, we’ll get through this, just as we have with everything else life has thrown at us. Together.”

He nodded, and swept the stray curls away from my face. “Together.”

I nestled against him once more, tucking my head under his chin and sighing contentedly. The sound petered out into a snort as a thought came to me. “What a pair we make, huh? Reassurance has to be our love language.”

“Hm, indeed. It’s undeniable that we’re perfectly matched.”

He wasn’t wrong, and I couldn’t have been more gratified with that fact.

“But you absolutely should listen to me more,” I muttered as my eyes closed, my tone light. “My instincts have a track record of being pretty spot on.”

There was a breathy huff, and an arm was placed protectively over my stomach. “I will,” he said before burying his nose in my hair. “I swear it.”

Chapter Twelve