He took my hand, and I felt the familiar void swallow us. When we arrived at our destination, I had to blink a few times to be sure what I was seeing was real. I turned slowly, taking in the sight of the pale yellow kitchen as my ears picked up the faint clang of a buoy out on the ocean. I ran to the window over the sink and stared at the snow-covered waterfront and the wide bay I’d thought about so many times since I’d left here all those months ago.

“I overheard you talking to your uncle, and I thought you might like to visit this place for a little while.”

A golf ball sized lump lodged in my throat. “Thank you.” I drank in the view outside the window for a few minutes before I turned away to walk through the apartment. Except for a few things that Tristan had collected for Nate like his computer and clothes, the downstairs looked just like we had left it. I stood in the doorway to Nate’s office, remembering him sitting behind his desk working on his books.

My legs carried me up the stairs as if they had a will of their own, and I looked around the empty loft that used to be my bedroom. The floor creaked as I walked around the open space, my footsteps echoing in the silence.

I sat on the old couch and sank back into the cushions. “Roland loved this old thing. When he used to sleep over, he never wanted to get up in the morning.”

“You are very close to the werewolf,” Eldeorin said from where he stood at the top of the stairs.

“He’s my best friend. I love him.” I stared at the floor as it hit me that I’d never actually told Roland how much I cared about him. I knew that he knew I cared, but I still should have said the words. If I’d learned anything in my eighteen years it was that happiness was fragile, and those you loved could be taken from you in a heartbeat. With everything we’d been through in the last six months and all the turmoil in our world now, I should have said something to him. Like I should have told Remy before it was too late, and Nate before I almost lost him. Like I should say something to Nikolas.

“You look sad. I thought coming here would make you happy.”

“I’m not sad. I’m thinking about how lucky I am to have so many people I care about.” I looked at Eldeorin. “Can I ask you something? Have you ever been in love?”

“Many times.” His eyes sparkled with laughter. “Though not the kind of love you have for your warrior.”

“Do faeries ever fall in love and settle down with one person?”

“Not often, but it does happen. I have not met one person in my thousand years who enticed me to ‘settle down’, as you put it.”

“I can’t imagine living alone that long.”

He laughed. “You should know by now, Cousin, that I am rarely alone.”

I shook my head. I’d heard more about his “relationships” than I ever cared to know. Faeries loved freely and frequently, and they also liked to share stories. So much for not kissing and telling. That concept did not exist in their world.

Eldeorin walked to the center of the loft and looked around. “This is a very drab room. You liked living here?”

I smiled, imagining how the place looked to a faerie who was used to every comfort. “In the summer you can open the windows and get a cool breeze right off the ocean. And in the winter when there’s a good storm, the whole building creaks and you can hear the wind howling down the chimney.”

“Sounds absolutely dreadful.”

“Not to me.”

I headed downstairs again. Everywhere I looked brought up old memories, and I absorbed them all like a plant drinking in the sunlight. God only knew when – if ever – I’d see this place again, and I wanted to make the most of my time here.

I was in the front hallway when I heard faint scratching, and I looked around to see where it could be coming from. It didn’t take long to figure out it was coming from the door. I started to ask Eldeorin what it could be when I heard a plaintive mewling.

“Oscar?” I looked at Eldeorin, who nodded that it was safe, and then I ran to open the door. A skinny gray tabby slipped inside and immediately began to rub against my legs. I locked the door again and bent to scoop the cat into my arms. “Oh, Oscar, I missed you.”

He’d lost weight, which was to be expected, but otherwise he looked and felt healthy. His ears and paws were cold, and he rubbed his head against my chin as his motorboat purr filled the room.

I hugged him protectively. “I can’t leave him here.”

Eldeorin let out a resigned sigh. “Demons and werewolves and now stray felines. My house will never be the same after this.”

“I thought faeries were supposed to be in tune with nature and animals.”

“I adore animals as long as they stay in nature.”

I stroked Oscar’s neck as I walked around the apartment. “Not me. I want a house full of them someday.”

Eldeorin made a face. “Then I pray you’ll wait until you have your own house.”

“Are you sure? Hellhounds make awfully good guard dogs.”

His horrified expression made me laugh.

“Kidding.”

The gleam that entered his eyes told me I was probably going to pay for my fun. I just hoped it wasn’t another incubus.

“Are you ready to leave, Cousin?”

I wasn’t, but I knew we couldn’t stay much longer. “Can I have a few more minutes?”

“As you wish.”

Setting Oscar on the floor, I wandered around the apartment one last time with him trailing close behind me as if he was afraid I’d leave him again. In the living room, I sat in the armchair near the cold fireplace and thought about the night I’d sat here with Nikolas. That was the first time I’d seen a side of him other than the warrior, and looking back it was easy to see how it had been a turning point in our relationship. I wondered how I would have behaved that night if I’d had any inkling where things would go between the two of us. When I’d offered him a truce, I’d had no idea that he would claim my heart as well.