“You sure you’re okay?” I ask as the giants stop trying to hit each other and start smashing the ground again—because apparently, they haven’t figured out that we’re already gone.

Hudson was right. There’s absolutely no way it’s okay to die by these two bumbling assholes.

My mate gives me a cocky grin, because he might be down, but Hudson Vega doesn’t know the meaning of out. Then he says, “Don’t worry, I’m good. I got this, love.”

And there’s something about the way he says it, something about his total willingness to just trust that I know what I’m talking about, that gets me right in the feels. Well, that and the way he called me “love,” the way it rolled right off his tongue and sounded so freaking perfect.

And just like that, I know.

I love Jaxon—a part of me will always love Jaxon. How could I not, when I’m one of the lucky ones? My first love is a really great guy, and we found each other when I was lost and alone and needed him most.

But that girl? The Grace who was wildly in love with him and whom he wildly loved? She’s gone and has been for a while. That girl was scared and lonely and naive. She needed protecting. More, she wanted protecting as much as he wanted to protect her.

But that’s kind of how young love is, isn’t it? It’s idealistic and explosive and perfect…until it’s not anymore. Until it blows up or fades away or you just move on.

I moved on during those three and a half months I don’t remember. I changed, and Jaxon didn’t. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s simply how it is.

And I know that in the end, it’s all going to be okay. That Jaxon and I are going to have a wonderful life together once we manage to get the Crown and our mating bond is restored. He will be fine, his soul no longer in tatters, and we’ll be good for each other. He’ll learn to respect me more as an equal, and I’ll learn to let him take care of the small things that don’t matter so much. He’s an amazing guy, and we’ll be amazing rulers together.

I take a deep breath, then blow it out as slowly as I can manage. Because it’s pointless to be sad. It’s pointless to want something more when I already have so much.

It’s pointless to regret what has to be—especially when what has to be saves someone you love.

But the truth is, I want Hudson. I love Hudson. I think I have from the moment I walked onto that Ludares practice field and saw him reading No Exit. He was pouting because I’d gone to see Jaxon—I didn’t know it at the time, of course—so when he teased me about my undies, I was easy pickings.

But right from the beginning, things have been different with Hudson. He saw every part of me, even the parts I’m not proud of. He took me on my good days and teased me out of my bad moods on my most obnoxious days, and he loved me through it all. He believed in me through it all. He protects me—of course he does—but he does it so differently from Jaxon. He pushes me, believes in me, wants me to be the strongest and best that I can be.

He’s got my back—he’ll always have my back—but he likes me to be powerful, too. He likes me to stand on my own. He likes the kick-ass gargoyle as much as he likes the not quite so kick-ass human.

He’s smart and funny and sarcastic and sweet and strong and kind and hot. He’s everything I could ever ask for in a guy, everything I could ever want, all rolled into one unbelievably sexy package.

And I’ve never told him. Not even when he told me. I just shoved it down, refused to acknowledge it, never even admitted it to myself. And now we’re stuck in this arena, and I can make all the disparaging comments about giants that I want, but we both know if we make one wrong move—if we’re off by one second—then we’re totally screwed. There would be no Crown, no emotional declarations, nothing but pain, death, loss.

And that’s not fair—to either of us. I can’t risk what we have to risk here, can’t go on to the rest of our lives, and not let him know how I feel.

He starts to move past me—to get ready to run—but I grab on to his wrist. Rest my trembling hand against his beautiful, beloved face. And say the only thing worth saying at a time like this. The only thing worth saying to a man like this. “I love you.”

For one second, he looks startled, his blue eyes going wide and wild as they search my face for I don’t know what. But then that damn dimple of his comes out to play as he grins and grins and grins. But all he says is, “I know.”

“Seriously? You’re going to be Han fucking Solo right now?” I ask, even though I have to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing. Because, oh my God, do I love this man.

“Excuse me.” Both brows go up at the insult. “But there’s never a bad time to be Han fucking Solo. Besides—” He grins. “I did know all along. I was just waiting for you to catch up.”

“Yeah, well, I’m all caught up,” I tell him as I lean in and kiss him one more time. “Now, let’s do this thing, shall we? I’m more than ready to get the hell out of this place.”

He reaches for me, but I take off running, yelling and clapping and making as much noise as I possibly can to make sure Big and Bigger follow me.

And it works. Mazur comes running straight for me like he’s on fire and I’m the only hydrant around. I wave, then blow him a little kiss to piss him off. But when I turn around to do the same to Ephes, I realize that we’ve got a problem. Because he is headed straight for Hudson with an intensity that says nothing, and no one, is going to get in his way.

144

In One Ear and

Out the Other

Hudson’s all the way on the other end of the ballroom now, with Ephes hot on his heels. If I try to help him, and Mazur follows me, there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to get them both back in the middle again anytime soon. I’m finding giants are more than a little distractible.

Thankfully, Hudson figures out there’s a problem right away, and while I play ring-around-the-very-big-rosies with Mazur, he fades right back to the center of the arena. Seconds later, Ephes whirls around to chase him.

“You still got this?” I ask, because I know that last fade used up a bunch of energy and now he’s got to do the whole fade again to get back to where he started.

Hudson is breathing hard, really fucking hard—maybe for the first time in his life—but he gives me that ridiculous grin of his that makes me feel way too many things. “My girl just told me she loves me,” he says. “I’ve got enough energy in me right now to fade to Katmere Academy and back. Don’t worry, Grace. I’ve got this.”

Even the idea is absurd. He’s listing to one side, for God’s sake. But I know he’s got it. In my opinion, there’s nothing Hudson can’t do if he puts his mind to it—including this.

So I nod and hold his gaze for a few extra seconds as I say, “I’ve got this, too.”

“Never doubted it. Go on three?”

I nod again. “One, two, three—”

Hudson explodes toward the end of the ballroom, and I let out a shriek loud enough to have people in the stands groaning.

Mazur screams back at a lower octave and swings a fist toward me to shut me up. But I’m already moving, darting between them as fast as I can go, grunting through the pain of my broken ribs and everything else that hurts right now. Ephes bends over and tries to grab me, but I dart between his legs and punch up as hard as I can.

He bellows in rage and tries to grab me again, but he misses.

Mazur’s closing in, though, and he’s always been a better aim than Ephes, so instead of trying to dart around him, I drop to the floor and roll just out of reach.

Ephes has recovered from my sucker punch, though, and he’s out for blood. As I roll by, he slams a foot down on the floor so hard, the wood buckles and I go flying up—right within his reach. But Mazur wants me, too, and he dives for me. The giants collide, and I tuck and roll through a tight alley created by how close their parallel feet are to each other.

Mazur screams at my evasion, and I scream back as I notice one chandelier and then the other swinging free within seconds of each other.

And this is it, right here, the only chance we’ve got—the crowd gasps, screams, and fucking Mazur turns to see what they’re yelling about…

“Hey, you!” I shout at him as loudly as I can, then drop right at his feet—the easiest prey he’s had all night.

And it works. He turns back around and scoops me up and—bam!

The chandeliers meet. The sheer weight of them knocks the two giants together—and then physics takes over. Unstoppable force, immovable object… The narwhal tusks sticking out from the chandeliers slam right into the giants’ heads.

One tusk goes straight in Mazur’s left ear and out his right, while a tusk on the other chandelier drives clear into Ephes’s right eye.

Blood and I don’t even want to know what else sprays all over me, and then his muscles go lax and he drops me. Hudson plucks me out of the air, and we scramble back as the two giants fall to the ground, dead.

The crowd goes wild.

145

Never Bet

Against the Louse