CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

"You saved us, Taylor." I choke out the words, my throat clogged with emotion, the horror and rage of losing to the soul stealer replaced by wonder and thankfulness. My miraculous bride singlehandedly destroyed a sluagh! I squeeze her to me. "You saved both our lives."

"Enough, orc," Storm says. "Let her breathe."

I want to lash out and bat him away, even though I know he speaks true.

It's almost impossible to unlock my arms. I want nothing more than to hold her for the rest of my days. I ease her down to the ground.

As soon as we lose skin contact, she gasps and some of the tension pinching her face eases.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"I think…." She swallows, like her throat's horribly dry. "I think I used too much magic."

I stand and fetch a waterskin, then prop her upright and offer it to her in slow sips.

Once she drinks her fill, she says, "Thanks. That's better. I think I might need to drink a lot of water for a couple of days. I kinda feel like I've gotta sunburn, but on the inside, if that makes any sense."

"It does not." I frown. "What's a sunburn?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess the green protects you from that." She offers me a wry smile. "I just mean I feel like using so much magic kinda burned me inside or something?" Her nose crinkles.

It's so adorable and quintessentially Taylor that relief rushes through me, and I lean forward and press a kiss to it, not even caring what the others think. The fear that filled me when I thought I lost her still echoes through my heart.

I love her.

Not because the goddess bound us, but because of who Taylor is. Her determination and enthusiasm, her trust in me, the way she looks at me as if I matter.

The way she makes me feel as if I matter.

The way she fought for us as valiantly as any warrior, saving my life.

I never want to be without her.

I can't be without her.

"Taylor, I—"

"The violet trifolia!" Her eyes widen with delight. "I found it."

And I love her for this, too—for her loyalty to me and my quest.

Each time I think I know what love is, she proves me wrong. Each day I'm with her, I only love her more. I will spend a lifetime with her, and my love for her will remain vibrant and growing until it fills all of Alarria and all the realms beyond.

"You found it?" Storm asks. "I searched and found nothing."

"Same," Mist says. "I even climbed a few trees."

"It's hidden under the mayapples," Taylor says.

I have Storm stand behind her so I can prop her up against his front legs. Then I press the waterskin into her hand with a firm command. "Drink."

Spade and leather bag in hand, I have her direct me to where she found the plant. It's thankfully un-trampled by our fight with the soul stealer.

Mist edges in beside me, her green eyes keen as she sizes up the tiny plant with its three purple berries. "Okay. I'll find more." Then she moves through the mayapple patch, batting the wide leaves aside in order to search.

I poke the spade into the ground several inches from the plant and continue around until I've circled it. Then I lever out a large chuck of rich dark dirt, gathering up what's hopefully the plant's entire root ball. I set it gently into the bottom of the bag.

"Found one." Mist glances at me from several feet away.

We continue like that until we've scoured the entire mayapple patch, only finding five intact violet trifolia. One plant got stepped on—probably by me—and even though I hope it will recover, the berries are nothing more than a thin purple smear on the ground. I can only hope their seeds were ripe enough to help propagate the plants.

I slip the last intact plant into the bag and stand. I can't believe it—I finally hold the answer to all of my dreams!

"Is that enough, do you think?" Taylor asks.

"I don't know," I admit. "I'm not sure how many berries the antidote requires."

Her bow-shaped lips twist into a moue. "We should get more, just to be safe."

"I agree." I look at Storm and Mist, waving a hand over the patch. "Did either of you find a large group of mayapples like this one?"

"Not that I recall," Mist says. "I took to the trees when I didn't find anything on the ground."

"I saw one," Storm says. "They're notable."

"Good eating?" Mist teases.

"Quite the opposite." He snorts. "They're notable because they're poisonous."

"Maybe that's part of what helps them protect the violet trifolia," Taylor says.

"That's a very smart observation." Pride fills me anew.

"It's the kind of lateral thinking I'm used to using for games." She plants a hand on the ground and tries to stand, but her muscles tremble with fatigue.

I set the bag gently in her lap and lift her, arms under the back and knees. "No walking for you."

She grins up at me. "You'll have to let me walk sometime."

"Maybe," I growl, pulling her closer, loving the feel of her in my arms. "Maybe not."

My bride gives a soft sigh and leans her head against my shoulder. She's truly wrung out by her fight. It had been amazing, the way she cast her power in a continuous push. I can't even imagine the strength it took. She pulverized the sluagh's flock one after the other until she freed all of the victims from the soul stealer's vile clutches. Then she ended the sluagh itself, shredding its essence until it vaporized into nothing.

The second it died, all of the life energy it had stolen flowed back to me. The same should have happened for her as well, but clearly her magical output's deleterious effect was far greater. I will make sure to take good care of her until she recovers.

And then I will spend the rest of my life making sure she never has to use such huge amounts of magic ever again.