by D. N. Hoxa
Red touched my cheeks. “You haven’t even seen me in the past week,” I mumbled, looking around the street, praying for something to distract us both, but there was nobody around but the guards behind us.
“I’m seeing you now," said Bender, smiling sadly. “Just don’t lose all of your head, if you can.”
“I’m not losing anything, don’t worry,” I said, trying to joke but it came out wrong. I sounded desperate. Bender grinned as if he could see right through my bullshit.
Lucky for me, he didn’t have time to say anything else on the subject. “They’re here.”
I spun around just in time to see the dark red Hundai slow down—and Ezra’s smiling face in the window of the backseat. Raising my hand, I waved, unsure if it was okay to go to him. Good thing I didn’t need to. As he soon as his father stopped the car, he climbed out all by himself and walked over to me.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Bender said with a wink, and headed to Ezra’s parents.
When the boy made it in front of me, I swear my heart could have burst wide open with pride. A smile couldn’t be helped.
“How are you, kid? You look good.” The red shirt suited him, and the cheeky grin made him look exactly like a boy his age should. He looked transformed, his brown eyes so much lighter and sparkling now.
“I’m great,” Ezra said. “We’ve been packing our things the whole morning because we’re going someplace secret. Everybody is coming with.”
His excitement made me laugh. “You’re going to love your secret place, I promise.”
“You know where it is?” he said, raising his brows in surprise.
“Nope, but I’ve seen the pictures of the house and let’s just say I envy you right now,” I said with a grin.
Blush touched Ezra’s cheeks and he looked back at his parents’ car, as if he couldn’t wait to get back and tell them what I’d said. Unfortunately, he was going to have to wait a bit longer.
Clearing my throat, I stepped a bit closer to him. “Before you go, can I ask you something?”
“Okay,” he said, his smile dropping as if he already knew what I was going to say. It sucked to have to remind him of what must have been the most frightening days of his life, but I had no other choice. I needed to know.
“Did the man in the prison come back to you again?”
Biting his lip, Ezra looked down at his sneakers. “Only once.”
My palms were already sweaty. “Do you remember what he said?”
Slowly, Ezra nodded. “He called for you to release him again.”
Shivers washed down my back as I tried to imagine the man the way Ezra had seen him. “Do you remember anything else about where he is? Anything new you saw?” I asked halfheartedly, but he shook his head.
“I’m sorry.”
A sigh escaped my lips. “Well, don’t be. You’re a good kid, Ezra. Someday, you’re going to be a great man and the best Spellmaker to have ever existed.”
Just like that, the smile returned to the boy’s face. I’d never forget how scared he’d looked when Jane caught him the first time, but I was going to remember how he looked today, too. Forever.
Leaning down, I planted a quick kiss on his cheek. I was going to miss the kid. “Go on, now. Your family’s waiting,” I said, waving him off, and before I could start crying—what the hell was up with that, anyway?—I turned around to leave.
“Hey!” Ezra called before I made it to Turtle. “What’s your name?” he asked.
Smiling, I shrugged. “Winter.”
“Winter? Like when it snows?” That was exactly what he’d said to me the night we first met.
“Like when it snows,” I said with a nod.
His face broke into one of those huge smiles again, and suddenly, something small and white fell on my lashes.
“What the…”
I looked up at the sky, bright blue and clear, the sun shining like usual, but above me…above me, there were snowflakes. Actual snowflakes came out of nowhere, and they were falling on me like it was actually winter. I reached out my hand and touched one.
Amazing. It was cold and white and perfectly real.
It took me a while to realize what was going on, and when I did, Ezra was already in the car, grinning at me from the window, waving with both his hands as his father drove them away.
My God. The kid had made me a spell! I hadn't wanted to ask him if he'd tried to use his spellmaking abilities because I didn't want him to even think about that yet. He was too young and there would be more than enough time for that later. But now I, Winter Wayne, had a personal Bone spell in my name because of Ezra Malone, and I couldn’t wait to show it to the whole world.
When the tears came this time, I didn’t hold them back. I let them fall down my cheeks and wash away some of the guilt eating at my insides. It didn’t matter that I might never see Ezra again. Not even that I might never see him at his greatest. The important thing was that he was alive, and he was a very happy kid for now.
***
When I got back to my office, I still couldn’t quite believe it. I’d done the spell five more times in the car—the wet seats were proof of that—and it still felt so surreal. I couldn’t wait to tell Julian all about it.
But as the hours passed, Julian was nowhere to be seen. When night fell, I was a mess of nerves, constantly looking around the office, waiting for him to pop up any second.
“Where are you?” I whispered, feeling bitter suddenly, fearing that the old record was back on repeat: me, on Earth, waiting for Julian, who said he’d be there but wasn’t.
What if he stood me up? I was going to kill him with my own hands if he did. All that talk about being back, birthday wishes, and rooftop dates we—
Holy spell.
Rooftop date!
How had I not figured it out before?
Heart in my throat, I ran out the door and barely found the keyhole to lock the office because my hands were shaking badly with excitement. I ran so fast, I almost knocked a werewolf to the ground when I hit him on the shoulder, but I didn’t stop to say sorry. I just kept on running until I got to the grocery store.
Its windows were brand new, the shelves inside in perfect order. The last time I’d been there, the floor had been covered with pieces of glass, the products all over the place. More importantly, back then the store had been empty.
Now, three people that I could see were picking up things from the shelves, and behind the counter was a woman—witch, if I had to guess. She didn’t look happy when she saw me come in, but lately, I wasn’t able to blame the people any longer because of what Galladar had done to the city and the paranormals on Earth. They were right to hate fairies, but soon, when we reached an agreement with the fairy Courts, all that would begin to change. Hopefully.
Hiding behind the shelves wasn’t easy, especially when the lady behind the counter seemed to watch my every move. But I was determined, and I sneaked in and out of places for a living, so I managed to reach the backdoor in minutes. Nobody called out to me or tried to stop me when I pulled it open and ran up the stairs.
A scary thought froze me for a second, before I pushed the door to the roof open. What if I was mistaken? What if Julian wasn’t there?
Only one way to find out.
I pushed the door open and stepped outside. The grey stones that set the floor were exactly the same as they had been last time. The clear night sky and the full moon enabled me to see my surroundings perfectly.
Julian was sitting on the ground, a red blanked beneath him, three bottles of wine in front of his feet followed by a picnic basket. My heart almost leaped out of my throat. He was there, and he was smiling as he stood up to come to me, his arms wide open.
I didn’t think twice. I ran and jumped in his arms like a little girl, desperate to suck in his warmth. The last time I saw him, the guilt hadn’t let me even kiss him goodbye properly. Tonight, I wasn’t going to let anything stop me.
“What took you so long?”
Julian said as he held me tightly. I sighed deeply, my nostrils filled with his smell, my muscles completely relaxed now. I leaned my head back to search for his eyes of violet stardust.
“I’ve got a confession to make. I might not be as bright as you think I am,” I said.
“Whoever said I thought you were bright?” Julian teased.
I slapped him lightly on the chest. “Bastard,” I muttered as he laughed. “It took me the whole day to figure out where you’d be. I thought you stood me up.”
“Good thing you found me. It was getting a bit lonely up here,” he said, and slowly brought his lips to mine. I didn’t feel shame or guilt or sadness as I kissed him with all I had—a welcome-back gift. My mind was wiped clean of the rest of the world in seconds, and when he let me go, even the guilt had eased back a bit.
“What’s in the basket?” I whispered against his lips.
Julian laughed. “You want to eat already?”
“What? I’m hungry!” I’d been waiting to eat with him all day long, to my defense.
“Okay, okay, let’s sit down. I brought wine,” he said, and led me to the red blanket he’d set on the ground so we could sit on it, resting our backs against the rooftop’s concrete railing.
“Fairy wine?” I’d heard that stuff was amazing.
“Oh, no. You’re not ready for fairy wine,” he said, opening one of the wine bottles. In the basket, there were ten sandwiches and two wine glasses. “Sorry, I’m not much of a cook.”
I grinned. “These are perfect.” I was a sandwich and soda gal all my life.
“How was your week?” he asked as I dove into the ham sandwich. It was delicious—or maybe I was just very hungry.
“Uneventful,” I said, still chewing. “And how was your…day?” I still wasn’t sure how the whole time difference thing worked.
“Exhausting,” Julian said. “My father almost took Marva’s head.” A shiver washed down his back. “It was nasty.”
“She’s okay now, right?” As much as I disliked how she looked at Julian, I still wouldn’t want anything to happen to Marva. She was his friend, one he trusted very much, and I wouldn’t want Julian to lose that.
“Yes, she’s fine. I’ll tell you all about it soon,” Julian said. “Did you see Ezra today?”
I grinned as goosebumps covered my arms. The first sandwich was already inside my stomach, but before I started another, I leaned against Julian and wrapped my arms around his.
“Winter, like when it snows,” I said, and my magic buzzed to life for a second. I held my breath as I waited for the first snowflake to fall on us.
When it did, I started laughing out loud. My God, this was never going to get old!
“Wait a minute…is that snow?” Julian asked, looking up at the sky, trying to figure out what was happening.
“Yes, sir. Ezra made it for me. It’s my spell.” If I could have melted, I would have, a thousand times by now.
Surprised and in awe, Julian turned to look at me. “Are you serious? You have a spell?”
“Oh, yes. I’m calling it Winter.” It was only fitting.
“Fuck, that’s cool,” Julian whispered and raised his hand to catch snowflakes for a few more seconds, before the spell ended. “You definitely deserve it,” he said, a dumbfounded smile on his face as he looked at the snow on the palm of his hand, quickly melting.
There it was. The knife to my heart that ripped apart all my joy in half a second.
It took work to keep my smile from wiping off my face because I didn’t want Julian to see. I deserve it. Would he still think that if he knew the whole truth?
No. No, he wouldn’t.
“So, um…tell me about Marva,” I said, letting go of his arm and getting another sandwich from the basket. By then, though, my appetite was completely gone.
“First, I’ll give you this. The tea dishes,” he said, and pulled something out of the basket. It was a black, leather box with a dragon embossed at the side. Inside, above pillows covered in a rich red velvet fabric, were four cups, a pot, and four spoons—the most beautiful tea dishes I’d ever seen. They looked hand drawn with strings of gold and silver, their shape almost triangular, unlike anything I’d ever seen before.
“Thank you so much,” I whispered. Holy spell, Ms. Riley was going to love them. I couldn’t wait to show them to her. They were absolutely perfect.
“You’ve got nine thousand, nine-hundred, ninety-eight kisses left to pay for the pot,” Julian said, and before I could answer, he planted a quick kiss on my lips. “Ninety-seven.”
Closing the black leather box, trying to talk myself out of this terrible mood I so suddenly fell in, I took in a deep breath. I couldn’t do this to Julian. I couldn’t ruin his birthday wish, could I? No, I just needed to get myself distracted.
“The dragons,” I said, touching the one embossed on Ms. Riley’s tea dish box. “You never told me why the one in the fairy realm didn’t eat me that time.”
“But I already did,” Julian said. “Dragons are creatures of power. They recognize it better than anything out there, and they respect it in a way nobody really understands. You showed him you weren’t easy prey. You gave him a taste of your magic. To him, you were powerful enough to leave alone.”
I flinched. “You make it sound so…simple.” I’d been waiting to hear a much more complex answer.
“Because it is,” Julian said, offering me the glass of red wine. “And I’ll drink to that. And to the victory against Galladar. And to Ezra and Lynn being safe and alive. Drink up!”
Laughing, I drank with him for all those things. “And to you finally being here,” I said and clinked his glass with mine. I’d waited for this night for so long.
“No interruptions,” Julian said and put his arm around my shoulders. Leaving the sandwich on the blanket, I eagerly rested against his chest. “My father will eventually want me back, but for a while, we will have no interruptions.”
“How long?” I asked reluctantly.
“Three weeks, at least,” Julian said, kissing the top of my head. “We have three weeks to start and finish our personal adventure. It involves a lot of naked time, just so you know.”
Laughing against his shirt, I kissed him right above the heart. I loved this man, even though he didn’t know it yet. He was the only one who could give me the illusion of worth for myself, after what I’d done. I had three weeks to make memories with Julian, ones I would live through forever, and I intended to make every day count, both naked and with clothes.
And when he went back home to the fairy realm, my search for Jane Dunham would begin. Very soon, I was going to meet my father. For now, all I could do was pray and hope it would be worth having sold my soul to the devil.
_________________________
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Also by D.N. Hoxa
———————————
Demonic Mage (New)
Nova Unchained
Morta Fox Trilogy (Complete)
Heartbeat
Reclaimed
Unchanged
Starlight Saga (Complete)
Assassin
Villain
Sinner
Savior
Chronicles of the Demon Hunter
A Soul's Worth
Book Two (Coming Soon)
Book Three (Coming Soon)
Water Wielders
Trapped
Book Two (Coming Soon)
Book Three (Coming Soon)
