though the sorrow. “Isn’t it?”
He blew out a breath and shook his head. “Come on, Quinn. You know I’ve been more than that for a very long time.”
She took a step closer, her entire being lighter, even the uncomfortable power inside flipping joyfully. “I know, but—”
“Do you think I spent as much time with any other goddess as I spent with you?”
“I don’t know.”
He took a deep breath. “My parents didn’t want to retire. My mother insisted they could have it all. They took turns protecting, or left us with our grandmother, and came back to tell us all stories about the noble goddesses who were able to do such amazing things because we let our parents help them. And then they got hurt.”
Quinn swallowed and nodded, confused about what was happening. Nick stared at the cobblestones at their feet, hiding his expression from her.
“My dad could have continued. But my mom was just…so broken.” He straightened and focused his gaze over Quinn’s shoulder now, remembered anguish filling his eyes. “He decided to stay with her, with us. It killed him, so my mother told him to go, but that was worse. So they stopped, and as we grew up and my brothers chased other dreams, it was clear I was going to have to carry on that legacy.”
“It sounds—” She paused to clear her throat. “That was a big burden for a little kid.”
He shook his head. “Not for a second. Until I met you.” Now his green eyes burned into hers. “I swore I’d never do that to someone. Let them do that to me.”
Tears spilled over Quinn’s lashes. She tightened her hands on her elbows to hold herself together. The more agitated her emotions got, the more the power in her swirled and flipped, making her nauseous. “I get it.”
“No, you don’t. Come here.” He raised his arm, wrapping it around her back as she stepped still closer. All the anguish was gone. “I love you, Quinn. I always have, but I wasn’t going to trap you, or be trapped.”
“I wouldn’t have done that to you,” she said fiercely, anger that he thought she would drying up the tears. “I never would have pinned you down, taken you away from the Protectorate.”
“I know. I know. Shh.” He stroked his thumb across her cheekbone, though no more tears had fallen. “It took the leech, the threat against you, to understand what I was doing. I didn’t want you to live that way, but you were anyway. It hurt us both just as much.” His brows dipped low. “I thought Sam would give you what you needed. But—”
Quinn sighed. “You are such an idiot.” So was she, of course, but she wasn’t going to say it out loud.
“But?” A smile flickered at the corners of his mouth, the rest of his features relaxing.
“But I love you.”
“Good.” He breached the inches between their mouths and kissed her with promise. “Partners?”
“What about your job?”
“We’ll work it out.” He tightened his arms around her. “Partners?”
“Partners.” She buried her face in his neck as he held her tightly to him and sighed when he let go.
“I hope you don’t mind driving back to Ohio.” He pulled open the passenger door for her.
“Of course not.” She slid into the car and watched him round the hood and climb in beside her. “You’ll have to fly sometimes.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He put the key in the ignition. “If you say so.” He started the car with a roar and hit the on button for the radio. As he pulled out of the valet circle, the opening strains of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” pounded through the speakers. He turned right onto the main road and headed home.
Acknowledgements
First and most importantly, thank you to my Mini Boot Squad, for all the magic you have brought me since we started back in June 2006. M1, M2, Bix, and Smith, you help me make everything better and, in sharing my journey, enhanced the joy. I don’t want to be a writer without you.
Additional thanks to Lisa Mondello, Ava Quinn, and Jody Wallace for helping me in ways I can never repay. And even greater thanks to Tracy Madison, for reading chapter one over and over (and then the rest of the book!), nursing me through my neuroses, and gushing like a fangirl at appropriate moments. You are a complete gem.
Liz Pelletier has the honor of being the first publisher to ever offer me a contract by phone. Thank you, Liz, for staying up to 3:30 a.m. to read Under the Moon and giving me the opportunity to be part of an amazing company like Entangled Publishing. Thanks, too, for assigning me to Kerri-Leigh Grady. Starting work with a new editor is frightening, but KL, you’ve made this one of the best experiences of my career. Thank you for your insights, your confidence, and your support. You rock.
To Eric Kripke, for helming a television show that sparked my imagination and helped me remember both the new feeling of being in love and the despair of choices too hard to make, so that I could pour them into this book. And finally, to Jason Manns, whose music I discovered when this book was first born, so many years ago. I will always think of honeyed clouds and motorcycles when I listen to you sing.
About the Author
Natalie J. Damschroder writes high-stakes romantic adventure, sometimes with a paranormal bent. Since 2000, she’s published 10 novels, 7 novellas, and 14 short stories, many of them exploring magical abilities, but all with a romantic core. She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her perfect partner of a husband and two daughters who are so amazing, they’ve been dubbed “anti-teenagers.” Learn more about her at her website, www.nataliedamschroder.com, follow her on Twitter @NJDamschroder, or friend her on Facebook at /nataliedamschroder.