“Des, can you think of any fae that can do what the Thief can?”

It’s an old question, one the two of us have run around a dozen times already. So I’m not surprised when Des shakes his head. Whatever the shadows tell Des, they won’t tell him this. There are some secrets not even they will give up.

Unfortunately, those are the secrets worth knowing.

The day passes idly enough. Des and I have a proper breakfast, then lounge and bask in each other, and the hours flit by.

By midday, I’m swimming in the ocean beneath Des’s house—I even manage to drag the King of Night into those chilly waves. And, far from shore, I show him that sirens don’t just like killing men in the water.

We enjoy fucking them too.

At some point we head back over to my house. Des fixes the busted faucet in my spare bathroom, and I give him a very personal thank you. We cook, we chat, we enjoy each other.

It’s simple and lovely and quintessential—and yet.

Neither Des nor I get to have this life—not while the Thief and Galleghar are terrorizing the world—and no amount of bargaining can change that. At some point, our little vacation here on earth will end, and then we’ll have to go back to the Otherworld and deal with all the problems we left behind.

I spin my engagement ring round and round my finger. And then, abruptly, I stop spinning it as a thought comes to me.

There is one thing I’d like to do before our time here is up.

My gaze moves to Des’s. “Take me to Venice.”

It’s been eight years since I’ve been to this place. Eight shockingly long years. And yet, walking next to the canals, you’d think it was only yesterday that I convinced Des to take me on one of his bargains.

Even now my heart skips a beat, remembering that first time I watched him work. His world was supposed to frighten me, but it had the opposite effect. I got a taste for his secrets, his favors, his magic. That was the first night I peered into his world.

So it feels only right to come back here now.

Next to me, Des studies my face. I still haven’t told him my reasons for coming here.

“Secrets, cherub, are my thing, not yours,” he says. But his eyes are bright, like he very much enjoys whatever little trick I have up my sleeve.

It’s a good trick too.

“Give me an hour alone.”

Des raises his eyebrows. “What mischief are you going to get into without my company?”

Awww, is someone feeling excluded? Too bad.

“The kind you’re not privy to.”

Des narrows his eyes.

“Go find something to do for an hour,” I say. “I know how to reach you.”

“Hmmm,” he says, assessing me. His eyes rise, taking in the glittering lights of Venice. It’s late here, but the city is still alive with music, voices, laughter. The place is under its own sort of spell. “I’m supposed to just … entertain myself in the meantime? Here?” Without you? He doesn’t say this last bit, but I hear it nonetheless. And it warms me to my toes.

“I’m sure this is not the first night you’ve found yourself with time to kill.”

He takes a lock of my hair and twists it around his finger. “Fine, Callie. I’ll find something to do—” he says this like he’s going to look for trouble, “—while I wait.”

I part my lips to respond, when Des disappears into thin air. The lock of hair he’d been twisting now flutters back down to my shoulder.

My heart pounds a little louder.

I’ve got an hour. Best make it count.

I know what I want the moment my eyes land on it. I’m even surer once I run my fingers over it.

Right now I hold the great secret I’m trying to keep from Des—

His wedding band.

I angle the ring back and forth under the light of the jewelry shop. Tiny pieces of crushed mother of pearl catch the light. Their iridescent color isn’t as flashy as I’m used to; it looks closer to moonstone than anything else, but it isn’t the moon I want Des to be reminded of. It’s the sea.

My mate gave me a piece of his night sky. I’m giving him a piece of my ocean. The siren practically purrs at the thought.

I run my finger over the band again, my heart beating fast. I never thought I was the sentimental type, but here we are.

“I’ll take this one,” I tell the jeweler.

I buy the wedding band and leave the shop. I haven’t even taken ten steps when I stop and pull the ring out of the small velvet case it’s nestled in. I roll it between my fingers as I stare down at it.

There’s one last thing I want.

I’ve rarely tried to tap into Des’s magic, but then, I’ve had no reason to. Now I do.

I close my eyes and tug on the connection I share with the Bargainer. Down our bond I feel the pulse of his magic. I draw on it until I feel it slip through my veins. With a little push, I send it down my fingers and into the ring itself.

When I open my eyes, I catch sight of the engraved words Des’s magic bought me; they twist around the inside of ring.

Until darkness dies, be mine always.

A combination of his vow to me and mine to him.

God, I’m really owning this whole business of being sappy.

Before I can study my work in any more detail, a familiar presence is looming in front of me.

I glance up at the Bargainer, startled to see him.

“You weren’t supposed to come until I called,” I protest.

The question falls on deaf ears. The Bargainer’s eyes latch onto the wedding band, and he’s looking at it like he’s Gollum and I’m holding the One Ring to rule them all.

Aw, fuck.

This wasn’t supposed to happen quite this way.

“You drew on my magic,” Des says absently. “I was worried. What is that?”

My heart hammers at his question.

I bite my lip, but it doesn’t stop the words from spilling out.

“It’s your ring.” I take a deep breath. “Marry me, Des. Tonight. Right now.”

He stares at the ring for several more seconds. Slowly, his moonlit eyes rise to mine, the silvery threads of them luminescent.

His hand closes around the ring, his other hand wrapping around my wrist like a manacle—as though I and my offer might slip through his fingers if he doesn’t hold on tightly enough.

He looks … very fae. Very, very fae. His features seem to have sharpened, and the look on his face is rapacious.

“Are you serious, Callie?” The words are careful and clipped, like he’s holding back a great deal of hope.

I nod, not daring to speak. The last of my courage slipped out with my words.

His hold on my wrist tightens, and then his wings manifest.

Chapter 27

I can’t get over the sight of him in all his glory—right in the middle of Venice, no less.

He looks at me like he’s dying, like this is agony, but then he smiles, and the sight is staggering.

His free hand threads its way into my hair, and then he’s pulling me forward and his mouth is suddenly hard against mine.

He kisses me like a man possessed, his lips laying claim to mine. I can taste his magic on his tongue, like the night itself has a flavor.

Even after the kiss ends, the Bargainer keeps me close, his hand clasped behind my neck, his forehead pressed to mine.

“I would love nothing more, Callie, than to marry the shit out of you.” He tilts my head so he can whisper into my ear. “You cannot know …” I feel him shake his head against me as words fail him. He holds me close, his talon-tipped wings curving protectively around us.