Chapter 0280


    “I think so,” I say, giving a little shrug. “That’s what she called it when mom and Cora talked to her,


    after all. A ‘gift.’ She said all of her grandchildren would be likewise gifted. Do you know where


    yourses from?”


    Slowly he shakes his head. “No idea.”


    “Well, maybe it’s also a gift,” I say, considering it as I stare up into his blue eyes, his dark head


    framed against the night sky. “After all, she clearly knows about you, if she picked you out as my


    mate.”


    “That’s so weird,” he whispers, his eyes going a little distant, “to think that the Goddess…knows


    about me. I’ve always felt so…anonymous and inconsequential my whole life. I never in a million


    years would have thought the Goddess had an eye on me.”


    “Of course she does,” I say, lifting a hand to idly stroke his chest. “You’re like…really good looking,


    Jacks. And she’s a woman after all.”


    “Don’t be creepy,” he murmurs, his eyes focusing on me as he smirks. “That’s your grandmother.”


    I burst outughing, shaking my head at him. “I don’t like you thinking of yourself as


    inconsequential, Jacks,” I say with a sigh, nuzzling closer. “You’re everything.”


    Jackson smiles at me, I think touched, and strokes my face with his thumb. “The city makes me feel


    more inconsequential, I think,” he says, lifting his head to peer around, though we can’t see the city


    around us from this part of the roof. “Though…being around these trees helps.” I nod,


    understanding. Mom was very careful in selecting the cement of our little roof garden – it feels


    very secluded up here – like our own little bit of nature. And I’m well aware that Jacks feels more


    comfortable in natural spaces than surrounded by stone.


    I tilt my head to the side, wondering if I’d subconsciously considered that when I decided to bring


    him up here tonight. There’s a whole Pce’s worth of rooms to hang out in, after all. And I picked


    the roof.


    “Do you hate it? The city?” I ask quietly, genuinely wanting to know. Because, I mean, for better or


    for worse the city is my home, and if I’m going to be a part of this royal family at least part of my


    time will be spent here. If Jackson hates it…well, that will make things difficult, won’t it?


    “I hated it at first,” he murmurs, thoughtful. “It’s better with you here.”


    “Wait,” I say, sitting up a little and peering at him. “It was worse for like…the fifteen minutes you


    waited for me to get off the train? What was so bad about that?”


    “No, Ari,” he says, shaking his head andughing a little. “It was worse for the three months when I


    lived here.”


    “What!?” I squeak, starting back a little and then smacking him on the chest, making himugh


    harder. “Jackson! You lived here!?”


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    “Well, yeah!” he says, stillughing, pleased that he surprised me and made me squeak. He likes


    doing that, I know – I can feel it down the bond. “Did you think I went straight from my weird cult up


    North to the Academy?”


    “Well, yeah!” I say, fascinated now and dying to hear this story.


    “Nah,” he says, smirking and shaking his head. “I would have been…a disaster, if I’d have done


    that, and the men who sent me to the Academy knew that. I would have been so shocked at the


    way people act and talk, so…out of the loop of the culture. They sent me to live in the city for three


    months first, so I could be ulturated, not stand out so much.”


    I hesitate, grimacing a little, putting my hands t on my sweetheart’s chest. “I hate to break it to


    you, Jacks,” I say softly, “but you…still kind of stood out. As aplete and total weirdo.”


    Heughs, grabbing me to him and pulling me tight against his chest, muttering all sorts of dark


    things about how dare I call him a weirdo and how he’s going to make me pay for that nder. But I


    justugh, because his joking threats are nonsense to me, and I climb into hisp and let him wrap


    me up warm against him, so pleased and happy to be here in his arms.


    “I know,” he says with a sigh against my hair, nodding and holding me tight. “I was a disaster at the


    Academy too, which is why you were my only friend, even after I tried to kill you a little bit. But if you


    think I was bad then, you should have seen me when I first arrived in the city.”


    “Tell me,” I whisper, raising a hand to cup his cheek, loving the way the start of his stubble feels


    against my palm.


    And, to my delight, Jackson begins to tell me more of his story.