But seriously, how can I be dead for twelve hours and still be so tired?

Cair helped me shuffle down the bed until I was once again lying on my back. He tucked me in, making sure I was comfortable before planting a kiss on my cheek and settling in beside me—on top of the covers, but my eyelids were suddenly too heavy for me to query it. He played with my hair, exactly how I liked it, huffing a soft laugh when I nudged his fingers for rougher scritches.

“I love you too,” he said, voice a silky-smooth murmur. I gazed up at him, my brow furrowed in confusion. “It was the last words you said to me before your eyes closed in that meadow, and I didn’t get to say them back.”

Realization dawned, and I smiled. “I know you do.”

“Forgive me. If I had listened to you… If I had⁠—”

“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.