were hundreds of books, some modern, some old, some bound with leather, some with cloth. As she stepped up to read the spines, she smiled to herself. Her solution to being quiet had been movies. His clearly was reading.
And she loved that they had introversion in common.
“This is amazing,” she breathed as she glanced over her shoulder. “I had no idea you . . .”
She let the sentence drift as she took in his somber expression—and his sad eyes. Without having to ask, she knew where he’d gone in his mind, and she thought about what Rochelle had told her by the door, right before things had gotten really crazy.
With so much answered tonight, there was still one very open issue. And it was a big one for the both of them.
But she also knew the solution. Had known it . . . pretty much all along, even though she’d been afraid to admit it.
Crossing over to him, she took Boone’s hand and led him to his own bed. As they sat down together, he stroked his thumb on the inside of her wrist . . . but he would not look her in the eye. And that sadness of his was a heartbreaker.
Helania swallowed hard. “I’m so glad I met you.”
He made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat.
“And I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me in these last couple of . . .” Nights? God, it felt like years. “. . . you know, since I met you. About Isobel. And the case.”
Her words were failing her. Her brain wasn’t working right.
But her heart knew exactly where she stood.
Shifting over in front of him, she got down on one knee and captured both his hands in her own. Staring up into his surprised eyes, she smiled—and suddenly found every syllable she needed.
“Do you remember when I told you I didn’t want you to ask me to mate you?”
He closed his eyes and stiffened. “Yes.”
“I said that I would never be sure whether it was out of duty and obligation.”
“You did.”
“I said that I wanted to be chosen.”
He exhaled and popped his lids. “No offense, but we don’t need to rehash it all. That was a painful conversation I will not forget anytime soon—”
“Well, I’ve decided something.”
He put his hand out to stop her. “We don’t know if you’re pregnant. So there’s nothing to decide. But I want you to know, if you are, then I am—”
“I love you, and I want to know if you’ll be my hellren.”
Boone blinked. Then jerked back in surprise. “What? Wait, what did you—”
Helania smiled. “I’m asking you. See, it’s different this way. No obligation on your part, as we don’t know for sure if I’m pregnant, and I’m doing the choosing. I’m choosing you. I’m telling you that I love you and I want you and—”
That was as far as she got.
“I love you, too,” Boone said in a rush as he came down onto the carpet and kissed her. “Oh, God . . . yes, please, I will mate you. I don’t care if you’re pregnant—” He yanked back. “I mean, I do care. I really want you to be.”
Helania blinked back tears as she took his dagger hand and placed his big palm on her belly. “I really want to be, too.”
“What’s changed?” he breathed.
As she thought about everything the last couple of nights had brought, and then remembered her sure shot as she had protected her sister’s one true love from a madman, she shrugged.
“Like I told you when you asked me if I could stand on my own downstairs”—she stared into his beautiful eyes—“I’ve found my two feet. I don’t need to be Wonder Woman, and I don’t have to always get it right . . . but when you know who you are and that you can take care of yourself, then you’re free to love whoever you want honestly and completely. Whether they’re a male or a female . . . or a young you birthed of your own body.”
Boone’s smile was a sunrise that illuminated not just his face, but clearly his soul, too.
“Well,” he whispered against her mouth. “If that isn’t a blood truth . . . I don’t know what is.”
Two nights later . . .
Boone traveled through the winter air in a scatter of molecules, tracing the trail Helania left for him by virtue of their having fed from each other. As he re-formed, he found himself in a