Page 62 of Sweet Dreams

And I had imagined it all wrong.

Maybe there won't be a big-city job in my future. Maybe there would be something else entirely. A life with this male. A life full of love and adventure and magic. Real magic.

That was what I wanted.

I wanted to see everything. Every part of his world I had never even imagined. And I wanted to show him parts of mine too—things I’d never shown anyone else. I wanted that to be my every day.

And, maybe, there would be kids in our future. Maybe they’d be red like him, or pale as a ghost like me. Either way, I knew they’d be loved.

“Are you ready?” Zadi asked quietly, lifting our joined hands to his lips and kissing them.

“I’m ready.”

I looked at Arafel, then Lucia. “Thank you,” I said, my throat closing before I could say anything else. I wasn’t even sure how to put it into words. Thanks for creating the world that let me find him. I hoped they could see it in my eyes or hear it in the thoughts I couldn’t quite voice.

Lucia waved briefly. “Come back soon.”

Arafel nodded to Zaldi, then gave me a quick smile. “Tell your brother I expect that report soon.”

“I will,” Zaldi promised.

Then, we stepped through the portal. Cold air rushed over my skin for a heartbeat, like the first sharp bite of winter through a coat, and then it was gone. We were standing in an empty parking lot beside the Cup 'o Joe Coffee Shop.

I looked up at Zaldi, more than a little shaken. “That was real, right?”

He leaned down and kissed me.

Even now, white-hot electricity burned through my blood as I kissed him back, standing on my tiptoes so I could press into his mouth. When we pulled away, he leaned down just enough to bump his nose against mine.

“Yes, mate,” he murmured. “It was real.”

We turned, looking out over Salus Glen’s quiet main square as the setting sun painted the sky in beautiful hues of pink and blue, streaked with flashes of gold as it dipped below the horizon.

“You know,” I said quietly, biting my lip as I tried to hold back the last of the emotion bubbling up inside me.

“What?” he asked.

“I think we’re going to need a place to live,” I said casually, a small giggle sneaking out.

“You mean you don’t want to live with your grandparents?” he asked.

For a moment, Zaldi’s face went very serious as he studied my expression, clearly trying to decode whether I was joking. Then my composure cracked—followed quickly by his, our laughter echoing through the evening air. We laughed until it hurt, or at least until I could get my next thought out without giggling.

“So, what should we do, then?” I asked.

“We could stay with my brother a little longer,” he offered.

I considered it. Honestly, it was a much better option than staying with my grandparents, where every move we made would be carefully watched and judged by my family. They might mean well, but that didn’t mean it would be any more comfortable.

Suddenly, though, I had an idea.

“Do you trust me?” I asked softly. All I got in response was a raised eyebrow as he laced his fingers with mine again. I stepped off across the parking lot, down the curb, and headed toward the Salus Glen newspaper.

About halfway there, I started talking. “When my grandfather and grandmother first moved to Salus Glen, they were completely obsessed with starting the newspaper. So obsessed, actually, that they didn’t even look for a place to live before they arrived. Luckily, the old owners of the print shop kept a small apartment above the offices. Mostly, they rented it out to passersby or casual guests, and eventually the editor used it as storage. But, when my grandparents moved into town and needed a place for all of us—something comfortable, easy, and close to work—they stayed there.”

I shot him a quick look. “And, honestly? That apartment still exists. It’s right above the newspaper. It’s definitely not big, and I’m sure it’s dusty; I also know for a fact that it’s empty.”

My heart pounded in my chest as I waited for him to answer. I looked up at his face, giving him time to take it all in. As overwhelming as the underworld had been for me, I knew this was a lot for him too.