“Laurel Elestren, Queen of Thayaria, Mate of My Aether-Heart,” he murmurs reverently, still kneeling in front of me. “You’re the furthest thing from an abomination I could ever imagine. Both of my hearts ache to hear you say such things about yourself. Our actions define our character, Laurel, and for three hundred years you’ve done everything you can to protect your people, even painting yourself a villain to the rest of the world to keep curious minds from trying to enter the mist for fear of you. You make hard choices every single day that protect your soul from corruption, unlike my father, who is the real abomination. Your magic does not define you, and it certainly doesn’t make me desire you any less. Fuck, Laurel, your power is sexy as hell.” Tears flow down my cheeks again, though I’m not sure they ever stopped. I drop to my knees, matching his pose. Taking his face in my hands, I bring my lips to his, softly, trying to convey so much with that one kiss. It’s wet from my tears, slow and soothing. When we pull away, he wipes my cheeks delicately and smooths down my hair, then laughs. “I have to tell you, witchling, your secret wasn’t all that secret. I’d already guessed it,” he teases with a wink, and I smack him across the chest. “Maybe not the full extent, but I knew you could control magic without a conduit.” I give him a shy smile and he pulls me into him, holding me close before coaxing me to sit on the ground, legs tucked underneath me. The hum of cicadas returns. Owls hoot, and the mist clears. I laugh loudly, and soon Thorne joins me.

“Why are we laughing?” I ask, and he shrugs, the moment so similar to the first time we admitted secrets to one another that it sends goosebumps up my arms.

“Because we’re deranged, both of us.” That makes me laugh even harder. Thorne suddenly goes serious. “Since we’re trading secrets, I have one more to tell you.” I wait for him to continue, nervous about what he’ll reveal. “I haven’t told you this, but it’s only because you’ve been so secretive and defensive about your magic. I swear. I wasn’t trying to hide anything of myself from you.” Thorne takes a deep breath. “I think my father is an actual blood mage. That’s the secret I believe my mother discovered about him, and how he killed her so easily. When I came here, I had my own plans… I wanted to get close to you to discover how blood magic worked, to uncover a way to stop my father. That was my real motivation for wanting to become allies. And I—I thought I could seduce the information out of you.” He gives me a sheepish look, though there’s fear and anticipation in his eyes.