Kansas bit his lip, cuddling against Tavyn with a sigh. “Okay. Well, my house is yours for as long as you need it. Although you may fit in better someplace a bit more modern.”
“I was thinking about Venice Beach?”
How did he know about that? “My condo in California? Sure. The keys to the property are in my safe.”
Z nodded gratefully, picking up his bag and turning to go. “Z, wait!” He turned. “Don’t forget to use some illusion or something. You can’t be that golden. I mean, people are all about tanning there so that’s okay, but you…well…shimmer. You’ll never fit in unless you can tone that down.”
“Noted.” Z winked.
Tavyn let go of Kansas, walking over to embrace his old friend. “Safe journey, Zenamulous. Come home soon.”
Z stepped back and bowed deeply. “Thank you, Your Majesty. I hear and obey.”
I know why you’re really going, Kansas thought at him, wondering if he would hear.
“You know one of the reasons, to find out what you are, why you were meant to come here. Why you, on occasion, glow.”
What was the other reason?
“Dorothy.”
Dee? What did he want with Dee?
Kansas almost called out to him, but Tavyn’s firm grip kept him in check as they watched him walk away without a backward glance. He would head to the nearest open area to call the storm. And that storm would take him to another world. It boggled the mind. If he hadn’t lived it, Kansas never would have believed it was possible.
Dee would be fine, he assured himself. She was a witch, after all. And Z wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.
Right?
“Are you sorry?”
Kansas turned to find Tavyn’s brooding gaze on him. “About what?”
“That you aren’t going with him. Aren’t returning to your world.”
He closed the gap between them, placing his hand on Tavyn’s heart. So the king had been a little insecure as well.
“This is my world now. This is where I’ve always belonged.” He patted Tavyn’s chest, then pulled him into a warm embrace.
Kansas looked up over Tavyn’s shoulder. The king had told him that they’d done some extensive remodeling when he’d been young, but the gardens were still connected to the oldest part of the castle. The emerald walls of the building hadn’t dulled with age, though there were cracks that spoke of long ago battles. They sparkled in the sunlight.
He couldn’t help but laugh. “This is my home. And damned if it isn’t Oz.”
Tavyn smiled and guided Kansas back inside. “If your human story is anything like the one you taught Pan, I don’t know how they got so many things wrong.”
Kansas smiled up at the man who held his heart. He’d finally found someone to care for, to make a life with—someone who would love him and take care of him in return. He’d had to go to another world and leave everything he’d known behind to find it, but the trade-off was more than worth it.
“The story got one thing right.” He pulled Tavyn’s head down for a passionate, heartfelt kiss.
“There’s no place like it.”