It was early afternoon the following day when May finally surfaced from the bedroom she was sharing with Em. Though her girlfriend was too shattered to get out of bed, May was starving. Quietly, she sneaked out of the room and down the stairs. Her plan was to grab something from the kitchen, it didn't matter what, and abscond back upstairs with it. She knew Em would stubbornly refuse to eat, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to have something on hand just in case she changed her mind.
The kitchen was mercifully empty when May arrived. She hurried around the room, filling glasses of water and hunting through the pantry and refrigerator for something to eat. She was contemplating making a couple sandwiches when she caught the low murmur of conversation from the next room.
"Do you think they'll be okay if we leave them here alone?" Rue asked in a hushed voice.
"I don't think we have another option," Connor replied.
"Yeah," Priva said. "It's not like we can just ask them to wait in the car while we go meet with the Loyals."
"I'm sure they'd be fine if we cracked the windows and left them some water."
"Not funny, Jeremy."
May poked her head into the living room. "I'm sorry, did I just hear you say you're going to meet with the Loyals?
All four members of WIND jolted with surprise. Tea sloshed over the rim of Rue's mug. "May, you can't sneak up on people like that!"
"Don't worry," Jeremy said. "It's just one of our regular check-ins. Gotta keep up appearances and shit like that."
May cocked her head to one side. "Don't you usually do that by phone?"
Jeremy grimaced and looked to Connor for support. Rue sipped her tea while Priva suddenly became quite fascinated by the fibres of the carpet she was sitting on.
Connor cleared his throat. "We used to be allowed to check in by phone. But ever since the, uh..." his eyes flicked upwards, as if he could see through the ceiling to the next floor where Em was still curled up and miserable. "The incident with Marina they prefer to see us in person."
"Yeah, it's like they don't trust us or something," Jeremy quipped, forcing a smile to lighten the mood.
May pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. The day Connor's older sister sold them out to the Loyals had changed everything; it was the catalyst for the entire faux break-up scheme and all the heartache that came after it. She couldn't imagine how Connor must have felt to be betrayed by his own family like that.
"I'm sorry," she said, feeling a touch ashamed even though she knew nothing about that day was her fault. "Does this mean you're going to the university?"
Connor shook his head. "No, nothing like that. We usually meet an agent somewhere public—a park or restaurant—in the next town over."
"Right." May glanced around. "Where's Dom and Lety?"
Emandi had left in the early morning hours once Welkin's funeral pyre was nothing more than a mound of smoldering ash. May didn't remember the others saying anything about leaving too.
"They're the ones going to the university, actually," Jeremy said. He stood from the sofa and stretched up tall. "They're going undercover to scope out the lay of the land for us."
"Undercover?"
"Yeah, as a dog and a tree. Pretty convenient cover, don't you think?"
May ran a hand through her hair. She looked at Rue. "So, that's what you meant when you said we'd be left alone.
"We won't be long," Rue insisted. "A few hours, tops."
"Just stay inside and keep the doors locked," Connor said, also getting to his feet. "All you two need to do right now is rest."
As uneasy as May felt at the idea of her and Em being left in the middle of nowhere alone, she couldn't deny that all she wanted to do was go back up to bed. "When do you leave?"
Connor glanced up at the clock on the fireplace mantle. "We should probably head out now, actually."
The others murmured in agreement. May followed them to the door and watched as they filed out, ready to deadbolt the lock as soon as they were through it. Jeremy brought up the end of the group, and paused beside May while Priva stooped to pull on her boots.
"How's she doing?" he asked.
May gave a half-hearted shrug. "About as good as you might expect. Which is to say, not good at all."
Jeremy sighed. "Shit like this never gets any easier."
They hovered in silence for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts. May considered Jeremy out of the corner of her eye — he, she realized, probably understood Em's pain better than she did. After all, he knew all too well how it felt to lose someone so beloved in such a cruel and thoughtless way.
"And what about you? How are you holding up?"
His question took May by surprise, shaking her from her reverie.
"I'm honestly not sure yet," she said. "I think I might still be in shock."
Nodding, Jeremy placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I get that. Anyway, we'll be back soon. Take it easy."
And with that, he slid out the door and pulled it closed behind him. May hesitated a moment, watching the team load into a car she had briefly caught sight of out back. Then, as the vehicle pulled away, kicking up dust as it headed down the long gravel drive, she turned the lock and retreated back into the house.
"Where is everyone going?"
May let out a yelp of fear, nearly collapsing onto the living room floor. Em was standing at the front window watching the car recede. She looked as though she hadn't slept in days — or perhaps like she was still asleep and had simply wandered downstairs unknowingly. May wouldn't blame her for thinking this was all a bad dream.
"They have to meet with the Loyals for their regular check-in."
"Ah, right." Em rubbed her eyes. "Did Dom and Lety go home?"
"No. Apparently they're on their way to Sovereign University to snoop around."
This time, Em didn't respond. Though the car had already pulled out onto the highway and disappeared from view, she still stared out into the world, her expression vacant. May stepped lightly to her side, taking Em's hand in hers.
"What are you thinking about, love?" she asked.
Em glanced down at their intertwined hands. "I'm thinking about us. About you, and how I never ever want to lose you." She lifted May's hand to her mouth and kissed it softly. "You mean everything to me. I'm done taking the people I care about for granted."
"You mean everything to me too, Em," May said, smiling her first genuine smile since that night in the field. She eyed Em with tenderness and realized that, despite every awful thing they were facing, she'd rather be suffering through it at Em's side than be anywhere else without her.
And from that thought came an idea. It was bold and ludicrous. And yet at the same time, it was the only thing that made sense.
It was the only thing that felt right.
Her heart raced. A symphony of butterflies chased each other around her stomach. Gently, she turned Em to face her and pressed a kiss to her lips. She could feel Em smile against her, and in that moment, she knew what she needed to do.
Taking a small step back, May worked Dawn's ring off her finger. She held it up between them and watched as Em's eyes grew impossibly wide.
"May, what are you doing?" Em asked.
"I want to give this to you, Em," May answered. Her voice quaked a little as the butterflies in her stomach crashed their way up into her throat. "But for forever this time."
"But that's your mother's ring."
"It was, but now it's mine to do whatever I want with. And what I want is for you to have it."
"Holy shit," Em whispered. Her hands flew to her chest, clutching at the fabric of her shirt as though she were gripping her own heart. "Are you— Is this—?"
May flushed a violent crimson.
Was she?
Yes.
"When Welkin first told me that I don't have a destiny because I'm a Wish, I was so upset. I thought that meant everything I've gone through had been for nothing. But now I realize that can't possibly be true, because absolutely everything that has happened in my life brought me exactly where I need to be — with you." May smiled sheepishly. "If I get to choose my own destiny, I'd really like it to be one with you in it. So, what do you say? When this is all over, will you marry me?"
The silence that followed her question was only a fraction of a second long, but to May it felt like an eternity. And then, just as she thought she was going to start vomiting butterflies, Em burst into tears.
"I can't believe this!" she sobbed, swooping forward to pull May into a tight embrace. She kissed her hard, and then again and again.
"What can't you believe?" May asked between kisses, feeling more than a little anxious.
"You beat me to it again!" Em said, beaming, her cheeks shining with tears. She held May's head between her hands, her fingers tangled in her hair. "You were the first to say 'I love you' and now this!"
May laughed. "Well, it'll only count if you say yes."
"Of course I'm saying yes!"
Now it was May's turn to cry. She threw her arms around Em's shoulders and kissed her like it was the first time. They clung desperately to one another, unwilling to break.
A sound cut through the air: a loud crack of something hitting the large picture window. The couple screamed, diving for the floor as the window exploded.
And then, from outside, someone spoke.
"Knock, knock, ladies."
May looked fearfully at Em. She was sure she knew that voice from somewhere, but she couldn't place where.
Em gazed back at her with a look of pure terror on her face — she knew exactly who it was.
"Fuck," she hissed. "That's Jeremy's dad."
May's heart plummeted.
Wyndam Aviar, one of the highest ranking Loyal members, had found them at last.