Mia left their new guest with Eve and Lazarus. The demi was still pretty shaken up after his retrieval earlier that day. And by the sounds of it, getting to him in time had been a close call. Lazarus and Gunner had more than a few cuts and scrapes to prove it.

There was a lot going on, inside the compound and out, but despite it all, the last few months had been the happiest in Mia’s life.

And now it was going to get even better.

Brent was opening a new club in Roxburgh and Chaya had volunteered to move to the new location. Mia would finally be with her sister again. She hated being apart from Chaya. Texts and phone calls just didn’t cut it. And with their father here as well, they’d all be in the same place. They’d be like a family again.

She picked up the pace, in a hurry to get to Zenon and tell him her good news. Her mate had been a little cagey this morning, the look on his face one she had trouble working out. He’d been extremely affectionate as well, even more than normal, which meant he’d barely let her out the door, and there’d been this…energy buzzing around him, an excitement that was infectious.

He was up to something. She just had no idea what.

When she walked into their apartment she heard murmured voices coming from the living room, Zenon and someone else. She shut the door, walked in, and pulled up short.

Zenon was laying on a fold out table and a guy she’d never seen before, his entire body covered in tattoos, was bend over, a tattoo gun in his hand, working on her mate’s stomach.

Zenon turned to her, a sheepish look in his face. “You’re back early.”

Mia crossed her arms. “What’s going on?”

The guy working on Zenon straightened. “All done.”

Mia had become more in sync with her powers lately, with who she was, and as a result the blinders had well and truly come off. She instantly recognized the male in their apartment as a Hell hound. He wiped down Zenon’s stomach then quickly packed up.

Mia stayed where she was as the guy gave Zenon a fist bump then after dipping his chin to her, walked out.

She was desperate to go and see what he’d had done, but he was holding his shirt in front of him, right over the spot his slave markings had been.

“Does that surly brother of yours know you had a Hell hound in the compound?” she said instead of asking what she desperately wanted to know.

Zenon gave her a little grin that made her knees weak. She would never get enough of it, of seeing him like this, of seeing him happy.

“Yeah, as a matter of fact. Roman’s going to Chaos next,” he said.

She bit her lip and motioned to him. “So are you going to show me?”

He stood. “Come here, princess.”

When she was close, he curled his big hand around the side of her throat, sliding his thumb under her chin and tilted her head back. Then he leaned in and kissed her, soft and slow. “You made this possible, Mia. You,” he said against her lips. “I can’t even think about a life without you in it and not feel like the grounds collapsing beneath my feet.”

He stepped back and Mia’s gaze dropped to his stomach, to the right side where his slave tattoos had been, where he’d carried Helena’s mark since he was fourteen years old. Mia’s hand flew to her mouth and tears immediately filled her eyes.

“I’m free,” he said. “Because of you, I’m free from her, free from the hell she made my life. No one owns me, not anymore, Mia. I decide who I give my body and my heart to, and I chose you. I’d choose you a million times over.”

Mia dropped her hand, let it hover over the beautiful new ink on his skin. The memory of the first time she saw him, the first time she touched him, flashed through her mind and more tears streamed down her face.

“You put my name on your body,” she whispered. “And it’s…it’s…” She struggled to find the right words. Her name was written in vivid blue, and it was surrounded by light, a stylized sun shining from behind it and there were several red roses in full bloom, making sure every last bit of what lay beneath was covered.

“The blue is for your eyes,” Zenon said, voice hoarse. “The sun, for the way you make me feel, for how you pulled me from the dark and bathed me in your light and warmth, and the roses, they’re our future, full and rich and bright.”

More tears streaked down Mia’s face. She couldn’t take her eyes off it.

Zenon slid his fingers under her chin, bringing her eyes back to him. “You really like it?”

“Like it?” she whispered. “I love it. It’s beautiful. It’s…perfect.”

He kissed her again then, and she felt him smile against her lips, felt the joy inside him wash through her. She slid her hand up the side of his neck, running her fingers over the rough scars there, over his strong jaw, teasing the corner of his mouth, touching that grin with the tip of her thumb.

Finally, he lifted his head and looked down at her.

“I want one, too,” she said. “I want your name on my skin.”

He stilled. “Princess,” he rasped, with so much feeling in the word it was all he had to say.

“And for the record,” she said. “I’d choose you a million times over as well.”

Her mate’s smile widened, reaching the corners of his eyes, and it was breathtaking.