“I leveled a scowl at him. “Is thereanything in our agreement that says I can’tcall you names?”He crouched and added a few touchesto the diagram. A very faint smile curvedhis mouth. “No.”My own mouth twitched. “So,hypothetically, if I were to call you anasshole, there’d be no reprisals?” I askedwith an innocent look. “Hypothetically, ofcourse.”Idris glanced up sharply, then hissedand drew back his hand as the sigil he wasworking on stung him.“Nothing of that sort is covered by theagreement,” was Mzatal’s mild reply.I chuckled under my breath. “I thinkI’ll just call you Boss.”He glanced over at me with a raisedeyebrow. I smiled sweetly in response.Mzatal straightened, turned fully to me,hands behind back and head loweredslightly, and still with the faint hint of asmile. “There could be consequences.”I shrugged, still smiling. “What funwould it be if there weren’t?”Mzatal lifted his head. “Nonewhatsoever,” he said, his face betraying ahint of amusement as he moved to thecenter of the diagram.”

“At least I graduated," he muttered, stabbing the key in and unlocking the door. I sucked in a breath. "I think dying was a little out of my control, thank you very much.""If you say so". He shrugged, but I saw the corner of his mouth turn up into a faint smile.”

“How did you know to turn back?" I said.With his head still down, he said, "I waited for you.""But its a race. Why did you wait for me?"He lifted his head so that his eyes met mine. "I always wait for you." He took a deep breath, my ankle still in his hands. "I'm always waiting for you."In an embarrassingly breathless voice that didn't sound like my own, I said, "Because I'm so slow?"He smiled. "Yes. But not in the way that you think.”

“After a minute, I look up and the boy named Leo is staring at me. I stare back, but he doesn´t look away."Why are you looking at me?" I hiss at him, my cheeks turning hot, filled with shame for the exchange he just heard.He just keeps looking at me for a moment, and then he shrugs. "Because I like your face," he says, but now a corner of his mouth is quirking up in a half smile.”

“You just couldn’t wait to get me naked, could you, Princess?” Loki asked tiredly. I started to pull my hand back, but he put his own hand over it, keeping it in place.“No, I—I was checking for wounds,” I stumbled. I wouldn’t meet his gaze.“I’m sure.” He moved his thumb, almost caressing my hand, until it hit my ring. “What’s that?” He tried to sit up to see it, so I lifted my hand, showing him the emerald-encrusted oval on my finger. “Is that a wedding ring?”“No, engagement.” I lowered my hand, resting it on the bed next to him. “I’m not married yet.”“I’m not too late, then.” He smiled and settled back in the bed.“Too late for what?” I asked.“To stop you, of course.” Still smiling, he closed his eyes.”

“I roll the covers back up over him and take his hand, noticing how well our palms fit together and thinking back to just after the last time he saved me—when he took my hand and told me that we’d always be together.I lower my head to his chest and continue to squeeze his palm. Tears fall onto the bedsheets, dampening the fabric just above his heart. “I’m so sorry,” I tell him, over and over again.A few moments later, there’s a twitching sensation inside my hand. Ben’s fingers glides over my thumb. ‘Sorry for what?” he breaths. His voice is raspy and weak.I lift my head to check his face. His eyelids flutter. The monitor starts beeping faster. And his lips struggle to move.“Don’t try to talk,” I tell him, searching for the nurse’s call buzzer.“Please,” he whispers, his eyes almost fully open now. “Don’t let go.”“I won’t,” I promise, gripping his hand even harder.”