Drake’s fists ached from all of the carnage he had wrought. He could feel the pain coming, the same as it did whenever he overexerted himself and used too much of his shadow. The unconscious troll king was being pulled by a cadre of his gang that could still move under their power. The rest of the beaten and battered trolls were being dragged and sledded out of town and into the river by the terrified citizens turned angry mob.

None of that mattered, though. The only thing on Drake’s mind was finding Gigi. The troll king had callously thrown her aside into the rubble before the fight. Drake hadn’t seen where she had landed in the chaos. Drake rushed to the shattered stones and began to search frantically. He used the shadows to pull and throw the pieces of the masonry that littered the ground. It was behind a collapsed roof where he found her broken and lame form. Fear that she was dead exploded through his chest.

Dread stole his breath away. Seeing the woman who meant more to him than breathing so beaten crushed his heart. He darted to her side, put his fingers on her wrist, and waited for several agonizing seconds before he felt a faint pulse. She’s alive! Barely, but Gigi was still among the living. Drake gently scooped up her limp body.

“Ariana! I need help!” he cried, looking around.

The witch appeared behind him. “What else is new,” she retorted. Then she saw Gigi in his arms. “Ah, I see.”

“Can you help her?”

“No, I don’t do...healing, but you can help her. I can cast a spell to numb the pain, which makes her very…inebriated, but beggars can’t be choosers,” she said, shrugging.

“Do whatever you can,” he pleaded.

As Ariana whispered into the ether, Gigi groaned and slumped deeper into Drake’s arms. “Take care of her,” she said. “I won’t forget what you did here tonight, and I suspect neither will the people of this village. Thank you, Drake, truly. Consider us even after tonight.”

His heart stuttered a moment. That was what Drake was afraid of. He had been trying to lay low for the last two months, but now he had blown that completely. The captain and Gaius could quickly figure out where he was with the amount of magic he had used. However, as he looked down on the goblin woman’s beautiful, bruised, dirty face, he knew he couldn’t have done anything differently. He held her close to his chest and began to walk toward home.

***

The next few days were difficult ones for Poppy and Drake in particular. Without Gigi, he felt utterly lost. It was remarkable how much he had come to need her in the past couple of months. He had always been sheltered, but with Gigi, it felt like he had a partner and a teacher. Whether to help him with a word he didn’t recognize or play cards with him, most of all, he missed the passion in her eyes and her sweet, fang-filled smile.

Gigi's eyes were closed, and her breathing was shallow. She had been in bed for two days with no real changes. Griselda had helped Drake dress her injuries. When they touched her, she winced even through the fog of sleep.

However, Griselda had an excellent recipe for plaster, and they could set the now wholly broken hand without difficulty. What worried them both was that she still hadn’t regained consciousness. Gigi had been in bed since Drake had brought her home. He had not left her side for more than a few moments.

Instead, he softly reassured her that it would be okay and dripped drops of broth into her mouth. Gigi’s mother buzzed around the room nervously. She chased away her concerned siblings. She got them towels they did not need and gave Drake meals he did not ask for and barely touched. Still, Griselda had been a great comfort to him. He thought he might have been for her, too. They shared a bond of fear over losing someone they loved, in different ways, of course, but the loss and fear were the same.

“Her hand should heal in a few days,” Griselda sighed. Drake didn’t say anything, merely nodding slightly. He held Gigi’s non-bandaged hand, gently stroking it with his thumbs. “Goblin bones mend quickly, Drake, don’t worry,” she said as much to herself as to him.

“This is my fault,” he said finally.

“Is it now? That’s not how I heard it. It sounds like you were quite brave, especially for a human,” she shrugged.

“If I had gone after her, she wouldn’t be like this now,” his voice hitched.

“Yes, if you had directly ignored what she asked you to do.” Drake had gone over the events of the evening with Griselda in a fit of tearful sorrow the night of the attack. Drake was silent and just looked at Gigi’s sleeping form. “Drake, look at me.” He slowly turned with tearful eyes. “You saved my daughter.”

“I only did what I could,” he said hesitantly.

“I haven’t known you for long,” she put her hands on her hips, “but any fool can see how you feel about her.”

“Gigi is special.” I love her was the unspoken part of his sentence.

“Yes, she is,” she paused, considering her words carefully. “Drake, you aren’t who I imagined by her side, but...I’m happy you two found each other.” She gave him a wan smile. “I once asked you how you knew you had changed, how you knew you weren’t still one of the bad men of the world.”

“I said I didn’t know…I hadn’t proved myself yet.”

“Well, Drake, in my eyes, whatever you were before you came here, it’s not who you are anymore. I think we make who we are every day. I know where we start does not have to be where we end. Gigi is tough, but you’ll need to be too.”

Drake nodded solemnly. Her kind words came over him like a blanket, warm and reassuring. “Thank you…anything for her.”

***

Gigi awoke in the dead of night. At first, all she could see was a blurred reality, and she felt a seismic pounding in her head and body. She tried to move her right hand only to find a jolt of agony sear through her. She cried out.

“Gi-gi?!” Drake asked, immediately waking up in the chair beside her. “Are you okay?”

“Where am I?” she croaked.

“You’re home, you’re safe,” he said soothingly. He cupped her good hand and kissed it. “I’m so happy you’re finally awake.” Tears began to roll down his cheek.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“D-rake, wait, don’t cry, I’m okay.”

He shook his head. “Do you remember what happened?”

She pulled herself up to sit, careful of her hurt hand, and rubbed her head. Did she? Her memories were a haze, like trying to see through steamed glass. She rifled through the gauzy visions until one she thought was the newest came to her. Trolls, an entire gang, and that giant one behind her. She remembered the sky, but then it all went black.

“THE TROLLS!” she exclaimed, eyes wide.

“Taken care of,” he said, shaking his head.

“Taken care of?” She tilted her head in confusion. “By who!?” Drake looked away, scratching the back of his neck with his tattooed hand. “YOU?!” She stared at him slack-jawed. Gigi knew he had some magic, but the strength to take on a gang of trolls and live was entirely something else. “How…” Trolls were obnoxious apex predators, yet somehow, this man had shut them down. He had saved her and all of Poppy.

“Well, Ariana helped,” he objected. He wiped the tears from his cheek with the back of his hand, but they were quickly replaced.

“Drake, that's amazing...You are amazing.” She began to tear up, but she wasn’t sure why. A dam of emotions ruptured inside her, and she began to cry as well.

“Why are you crying?” he asked.

“Why are you?” she bawled.

He grinned. “No reason, just happy to see you,” he laughed.

“Well, maybe I’m just happy to see you too, okay?” She wiped her face on the comforter. They sat in a comfortable silence for a moment. “I’m sorry I ran away,” she said softly.

“I’m sorry I didn’t follow you.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “You are cute, I’ll give you that.”

“I’m sorry...about what I said. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’ve just never felt this way about anyone before.”

Her ears twitched. She didn’t know what to say. The truth was, she felt the same. Gigi didn’t know if this was love, but she did know that whatever it was felt warm and nice, unlike any feeling she had ever known.

“Drake, what we have…the truth is I don’t know what it is,” she said with a tired smile.

“What does that mean?” he asked with worry.

“Well, you came crashing into my life. It seems like you only just got here, and at the same time, you were always here. You mean so much to me…” That it scares me.

“I don’t think I understand,” he wilted.

“We are becoming such a big part of each other's lives, but are we making a mistake? Drake, you’re cute and sweet, but love is more than that. It’s sharing a dream. At least, that’s what I think. Like, what do you want out of life? Really want out of it. Also, you can’t say me, that doesn’t count.”

“Aside from you?”

“Yes, aside from me.”

Drake sat and thought for a moment. She studied the seriousness of his face in the gloom of the bedroom. He chewed thoughtfully on the question.

“I want to be a good man. Someone that people are proud to call their friend. A good husband, by putting my wife before myself, and hopefully a good father, by putting our children above everything,” he said finally.

Gigi sat quietly, taking in his answer. It was so simple, so earnest, she knew it was the truth. Gigi also felt like he had already accomplished his first goal. She looked into his blue eyes, and even in the shadows, she could see herself reflected. Were these the eyes she could spend a lifetime looking into? She wasn’t sure. Being a good man was an admirable aspiration, but it could easily produce a life of monotony.

She wanted to be a good person, sure, but she certainly wanted more than that. Gigi was also woefully uncertain whether she wanted even to be a mother. Children being so important to him made her stomach twist. Yet she would be lying to herself if she said she couldn’t see a life with him lurking in those crystal blue eyes. She saw the wintery mornings of the Gift of the Gods spent together drinking warm brandy wine. Well, she would have the wine, or at least he could have hot cider, she supposed.

Perhaps a little goblin wouldn’t be so awful with this man. Is that what she wanted, though? She didn’t know. Undeniably, she could see a peaceful, quiet life with Drake. A large part of her wanted to follow that path. However, lingering desires for the wilds of the world called to her. Drake had already seen the world, though; she hadn’t. She could undoubtedly settle down with him, take over the bakery, lord over her siblings, but it felt like her story would be over before it even began if she did that.

“Is that all you want? Don’t you want... I don’t know, some adventure?”

Drake said nothing for a moment. “I guess I don’t know what the difference is?”

“What do you mean? Being a good person can be dull as dirt.”

Drake smiled and took her hand. “I think it just comes easy to you, is all.”

“What do you mean?”

“Gigi, I’ve met a lot of people before coming here. I can count the number worth knowing on one finger, two counting you. You have a compass inside you that points you the right way, and you can’t help but listen. It’s amazing.”

Gigi melted. Then, she regained herself. “Maybe, but you got to meet those people and find out they were rotten. I want that.”

Drake nodded. “If you want to see how bad the world is, please allow me to be your guide,” he said, standing and saluting her.

She laughed, leaning over to shove him. “I take it back.”

“Take what back?”

Had she not said it out loud? She thought she had. “Maybe you aren’t such a good guy after all.”

His face lit up in the darkness. “You think I’m a good guy?”

In truth, if he saved her life and beat those trolls, Drake would be a hero. She didn’t know how to tell him that, though. “Yeah, I do, the best I’ve ever met.”

She shifted in her bed to make room for him, feeling how sore she still was, as if she had been pelted with stones. However, she soon forgot the pain as she felt Drake’s weight slide next to hers.

“So what are we exactly?” Drake asked as he cuddled in next to her.

“What do you mean?” she asked as she put her good arm around him.

“Well, we aren’t married. We sleep in the same bed, and I...like you a lot and think you...like me a lot.”

She laughed. He had a point. Gigi didn’t know exactly what they were. They weren’t betrothed, but they were hardly strangers. Her mother would probably call her a harlot, but it was not like sharing each other's bodies made them forever tied. Still, she could feel their lives tying together. It created promises that excited her like an oncoming summer.

“We’re just...taking it slow.”

“Hmm, okay, taking it slow.” He smiled.

“Yeah,” she said, putting her head on his chest and closing her eyes, “taking it slow.”

“Gigi?”

“Yeah, Drake?”

“You know, I think you’re the greatest adventure I’ve ever had.”

“Shut up.” She laughed and kissed him.