“So, you’ll stay?”
“Yes.” I brushed a strand of hair off her face.
“What about your job?”
“I’m perfectly happy being your twenty-four/seven space heater, baby.” I winked. “Besides, I can still do my job and stick around town. I can keep Pleasant Grove safe.” That was better than any job I’d ever accepted. More important, too. Because keeping Pleasant Grove safe meant keeping Eryne safe. Keeping my mate safe.
She let out a sigh of relief, throwing her arms around my neck and holding me tight. I did the same, wrapping mine around her waist, breathing in her sweet scent and letting it steady me. Appreciating the fact that no matter what happened today, at least I had my mate in my arms.
And she was mine.
“It’s time.” Cait’s voice was ominous, like a prophecy we couldn’t escape from, and we all followed her into the backyard. The sun was setting, and we still had to prep for their spell circle before the moon was in the perfect position over the sky.
“We’ll perform the ceremony in the spot where the barrier is the weakest,” Willow explained, like we hadn’t all been therewhen we made our plan. She turned to Ezra and Damien. “You two are on standby in case that…thing—”A visible shiver ran through her body. “—decides to make an appearance. And Barrett will stand in for me.”
“I’d feel better if you stayed in the house,” Damien was saying, not for the first time.
She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his jaw. “And I’m not leaving my girls to do this alone.”
He sighed, like he knew that would be her answer, kissing her lightly as he rubbed his hand over her bump. “I just want to keep my girls both safe.”
I turned away, feeling like I was intruding on an intimate moment between them.
Eryne walked towards me, wearing a velvet cloak over her dress. The rest of the coven all wore identical ones, with pointy witch hats on their heads, and the energy was completely different than it had been hours before. Maybe it was because of the full moon, but it felt like I could feel magic buzzing through the air, pulsing all around me. I could even feel it in my veins—maybe because we’d been created by witches. I didn’t have magic, but I’d be acting as a conduit, and I was just glad to be able to help.
My mate extended out her hand to me, and I took it, interlacing our fingers.
“We’ll do it together,” I promised her.
She nodded. “Whatever happens, I’ll never regret any of it,” she reminded me.
They were words I’d keep reminding myself of, over and over. Especially because I didn’t know how much longer I’d have them.
How much longer she’d truly be mine.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
eryne
The spot we’d chosen to create our magic circle was deep in the woods. For anyone watching us, it might have seemed a little strange, this group of thirteen witches—plus a vampire, a wolf shifter, and a demon—walking through the forest with candles and other supplies levitating behind them in the air, but for Pleasant Grove, this was a normal Thursday. Mostly.
Of course, nothing felt normal. There was a gravity in the air, an importance I couldn’t shake off. This felt so much bigger than any of us. So much bigger than Barrett and I, so much more than just fixing a wrong from the past.
Maybe we’d never truly find out what the witches who founded this town were trying to keep out, or if they’d just been prejudiced against other paranormal races, but at least we could fix it now.
We wouldn’t tell our children that demons would come and grab them if they were bad, that making deals with one meant giving up your soul, or that vampires were nothing but bloodthirsty creatures who would feast, happily, off our blood.Though the latter was still out for debate, really, considering I knew nothing about Ezra, not really. Sure, he was Barrett’s friend, and they’d worked together long enough that he trusted him, but was that enough for me?
It still stung that he’d told Ezra about the creature attacking the wards and notme.The girl he was… what? We were more than just fucking—he’d made that apparent with our conversation earlier. That word felt crass. It wasn’t just sex, and both of us knew it.
We’ll do it together.He didn’t try to tell me not to, to warn me away because he was worried about me. Like he knew that I was too stubborn not to see it through. That after all we’d done, all we uncovered together, he knew that I couldn’t leave it alone until we’d made a change.
That was what I loved about him.
And I did. Dammit, it was early, but I felt the love swelling in my heart, wanting to burst out. But it wasn’t the right time. I wanted to tell him cozied up on my couch, or standing in the middle of the gazebo in town square, surrounded by lights and pumpkins. Not in the middle of the dark, damp woods, about to perform a spell we weren’t even one hundred percent sure worked.
But the girls surrounding me weren’t just my coven, or my friends… they were my family. And as much as I’d kept myself closed off for so many years, they’d all always been there, waiting for me to take that step. I held my head higher, squaring my shoulders, feeling the magic bursting through my body. There was no feeling quite like this, like unifying with your sisters, knowing your actions weren’t just going to change your life but everyone’s lives. For the better.
“I’m so proud of you,” Barrett murmured into my ear, squeezing my palm.
