olve. "you won't be safe if i leave."

she cupped his now healed face in her hands. "no one ever is, seth. no matter how hard we try. no matter how much we plan and prepare. there will always be an enemy at the door and a storm trying to knock us down. life's not about security. it's about picking up the pieces after it's all over and carrying on. we can choose to be cowards who fear letting someone inside us, and do that alone. or we can choose to be brave and let someone stand by our side and help us. i'm not a coward. i never have been. and there is nowhere else i plan to be, except beside you. forever. be it on earth, or here in this hellhole if that's what it takes. i will always be with you."

in that moment, he realized he didn't need his swallow to fly him away from pain.

all he needed was her.

and she was right. it took much more courage to lay his heart open to someone else than it did to keep it guarded. to let someone else in to that place deep inside where only they could do you harm.

only lydia could destroy him.

and yet only she gave him life ... at least one worth living.

solin curled his lip at him. "believe me, i'm not happy about her decision any more than you are, but we are family, and families stay together. so if you don't want to go ... george will hate you forever. he's extremely fond of his room in greece and won't be happy about giving up the view. but he'll get used to it. eventually."

seth couldn't believe what he was hearing. they were willing to stay here to protect him?

were they out of their minds?

"what about verlyn?" seth asked. noir would only set him loose again to find him. and now that lydia was pregnant, she would be in more danger than ever.

lydia smiled. "don't worry. we have a place to take you where you'll be safe from his reach until all of your powers return."

"how can you be so sure?"

it was ma'at's turn to laugh. "it was what i was working on when you were taken from my temple. i promise you, you'll be safe there. it's the one place neither noir nor azura, nor any of their servants can reach you."

still, he wasn't convinced.

until he looked into lydia's eyes. "i won't leave you here alone, seth." she kissed the cartouche she wore, then pulled it off over her head to hang it around his neck.

at first, he thought it was the one he'd left with her, knowing it would keep her safe once she came out of the spell he'd placed on her to make her appear dead. but as he looked at it, he realized it was different.

she smiled at him. "it's 'i love you' in ancient egyptian ... just so you know. now, please, come home with me."

he stared at the raised, golden hieroglyphs that spelled out words he hadn't known.

not until lydia.

his throat went dry.

home. he'd never had one of those before either. he wasn't even sure what the word meant.

but when he looked into her eyes, he saw the one thing he couldn't deny.

the only woman he'd die for. so if he was willing to die for her, the least he could do was live for her, too.

"take me home, lydia."