Page 134 of Down Comes the Night

Look,it whispered.There.

Near the edge of the platform, she saw him.

It took her the space of a blink to recognize him. He wore a scarf around his chin and a wide-brimmed hat to conceal his features. But she would recognize that preoccupied expression anywhere. Above him, dripping icicles hung from the roof, each a shard of frozen sunlight. Her whole world shuddered and cracked like winter in thaw.

Wren forgot how to move. How to breathe.

Then, he glanced up and met her eyes.

His face, from what little she could see of it, drained of color. Then it warmed, pinkened. The last fragments of the magical bond between them went taut, and Wren obeyed its pull without hesitation.

She dropped her suitcases and closed the gap between them in two bounds—and as she crashed into him, she flung her arms around his neck. Hal grunted at the impact, but as soon as he wrapped his arms around her waist, she felt her feet leave the platform. She let out a breathless, helpless laugh as the toes of her boots scraped the pavement.

How had she ever hesitated to surrender to this? How could she ever have denied this heady, sun-bright feeling? She melted into the scratchy fabric of his jacket and his warm springtime smell.

“You were going to leave without me.” Her voice was muffled in his chest. “I should shove you onto the tracks for even considering it.”

“You’re coming with me?” He sounded so soft, so struck, Wren couldn’t help grinning.

When he set her down again, she slid her hands down to his elbows. “You sound so shocked. I assumed my new position was your idea. Did you honestly expect I would turn you down?”

“I hoped you wouldn’t.” Hal twisted a lock of her hair around his finger. Then, with mock formality, he said, “It will be my honor to present you to the magisterium, Lady Southerland.”

Wren wrinkled her nose at the sound of the title. “What if they all hate me?”

“You won me over. I could think of no one more suited to the job.”

“You really think so?”

“Of course I do,” he said quietly. “I need you.”

If she let herself imagine it, excitement bubbled up within her. He wanted her there with him. In Vesria, she could be usefulandloved. She wanted to curl herself up in this feeling. This, here and now—this felt like belonging. It felt like hope. Theirs was already a world where a Danubian and a Vesrian could be something other than enemies.

Somewhere in the distance, the whistle of a train tore through the air. Everything but Hal slipped away. There was nothing but his scarf in her hands as she unwound it from his neck. Nothing but the heat of his face against her trembling palms.

She lost herself in the darkness of his eyes. They were filled with wonder.

“I should have said this so much sooner. I love you, too.”

His breath hitched. “You do?”

“Of course I do. Do you need to hear it again to believe it?”

“Maybe,” he whispered.

“I love you, Hal Cavendish, and I’m not letting you go.”

Hal rested his forehead against hers. His smile was shy and full andhappy.“I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything.” Wren stood on her toes and tangled her fingers into the hair at the nape his neck.

Their train rolled into the platform. Steam poured from the smokestack and pooled at their feet like still, moon-white water. Although passengers hurried by them and the conductor shouted over the huff and sigh of the engine, Hal cradled her face like they had all the time in the world.

He bent down and kissed her.

It was as fierce as a promise, more binding than a treaty.