“The outside,” I finished for her even as wind that tasted like pine and frost blasted down through the hole above, tasting of freedom that we’d never have. I extinguished my light, then gently tipped her face up so that she’d see the opening to the starred sky above. But I never took my eyes off her face, because there was nowhere I wanted to be but with her.

She was quiet for a long time, then asked, “Marc, why are we here?”

And I knew she knew. That the scene I’d staged to be as similar as possible to that in Trollus had revealed my intentions, eliminated the need for explanations even as it forced one from my lips. “Pénélope, I love you.”

A tear escaped the corner of her eye, barely visible in the darkness as it trickled down one cheek.

“These past weeks have been a dream, but they’ve also been a nightmare.” I inhaled a sharp breath, then another, but it didn’t feel as though any air was reaching my lungs. “A dream, because I never imagined that you’d ever see me as more than a friend. That you’d…”

“Love you?” she whispered. “Because I do. I always have. I always will.”

I nodded once, because anything more would have broken me.

“But also a nightmare?”

I swallowed hard. “Because it isn’t enough.”

“Marc, I–”

I pressed a finger gently to her lips, knowing that I’d said it wrong. That she’d misunderstood. “Stolen moments aren’t enough. I’m tired of sneaking around when what’s between us is no secret to anyone. I want to go to bed with you every night and wake up in the morning with you by my side. To build a life with you without fear. To raise our…” The sentiment strangled in my throat. “I don’t want anything to stand between us anymore.”

Reaching into my pocket, I extracted the vial that I’d kept on my person since the moment I’d stolen it from the well in the glass gardens. The contents glowed faintly in the darkness, a magic that bound worlds, and which could bind hearts.

Pénélope stared at the Élixir, and then jerked away with such violence that she almost fell off the platform, knocking away my hand as I tried to steady her. “No!”

Stumbling down, she knelt next to the stream of water, face in her hands. “You’re doing this because you think sacrificing yourself is the only way to save my life. But what you don’t understand is that I’d rather die a thousand deaths than drag you down with me.”

My feet felt fixed to the platform. “That’s not true.” And it wasn’t. At least, not entirely.

“Isn’t it?” Her features scrunched up as though she were in pain. “My grasp on life has always been a fragile thing, but now my fate is certain. If you’re bonded to me, your life will be equally in jeopardy. And even if you manage to survive my death, this magic only works once. I won’t risk your life and steal your chance to build one with someone else. I want you to have a family. To be happy.”