She held out his notebook.
He took it wonderingly as she continued to talk, her words coming more and more rapidly.
“I found it after the soldiers came and I kept it. I don’t know why because at that point I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again. But then when I uncovered it this morning, I knew… that is…”
She reached out and flipped the pages of the notebook until the last page lay open in his hands. She’d written something there. He bent and read.
I love you, Beast.
I love you, Caliban.
I love you, Apollo.
I love you, Romeo.
I love you, Smith.
I love you, Gardener.
I love you, Aristocrat.
I love you, Lover.
I love you, Husband.
I love you, Friend.
I love you, You.
He inhaled and looked up.
She was twisting her hands together. “For a writer, I’m awfully ineloquent. I don’t know—”
He dropped the notebook and pulled her into his arms, kissing her passionately. He held her sweet face between his palms and caressed her temples with his thumbs as he opened his mouth over hers, inhaling her gasp.
When at last he drew back, he whispered against her lips, “Do you know where we are?”
“Yes,” she murmured, her eyes closed. “At the heart of the maze.” And when she opened her lichen-green eyes he saw all the love he’d ever hoped for shining in her eyes just for him. “At your heart—and mine.”
