by G. Bailey
“You are simply breath-taking, Hali,” he softly tells me and holds a hand out, much like the day we met. “Would you honour me with a dance?”
“If you agree to answer a question I have?” I ask.
He grins and nods once. I slide my hand into his and he leads me to the dancers, slipping his hands around my waist and pressing me close to him. Once my body is flush against his, I all but forget anything other than how he feels against me. Hell, this witch has me acting like a love struck girl and it’s not happening any longer.
“What is your question?” he asks me, whispering into my ear.
“I want to see where the witches live and learn my history,” I ask him and he chuckles.
“So impatient, Hali,” he teases and I lean back to glare at him. The song eventually ends and he takes my hand likes it’s his and walks us over to Evie who is dancing with Azi. The look Azi gives Finn when he sees our joined hands would make most men wet themselves but Finn simply nods his head.
“Hali wishes to see her homeland and I would like to take her there. Of course that would mean leaving the ball early…,” he drifts off, leaving the request in the air.
“As long as she is home by midnight,” Evie says with a chuckle and Azi growls.
“Understood,” he replies and Evie grabs Azi’s arm, all but dragging him away before he can say anything. Finn makes air whip around us in a haze like smoke and instantly my feet leave the stone floors of the throne room and dig into soft grass covered with snow. We are at the base of a mountain that is familiar, the very mountain we have been training on for weeks. Finn grins as he tugs my hand and I walk with him into the cavern entrance that looks shallow until we step through a ward and it is huge. The cavern is filled with straw huts, wooden bridge walkways and plants growing all over the place. Crystals shine from the rocky walls, lighting up the city and trees hold steps around them that take you to the next level.
“You trusted me with your home from the beginning,” I point out. The city isn’t empty, I see witches walking around the bridges, children’s laughter and a few dogs bark occasionally.
“My home is your home, Hali. Witches blood made this cavern burn into life hundreds of years ago and only a witch can enter in here,” he softly explains. “Though our people are not as many as before, we still have over a thousand witches living here. With the newfound peace between the witches, demons and protectors I hope my people will move to your city and there will be more witches around than ever before.”
“Thank you for bringing me here,” I say to him as we walk through the city until we get to a large tree with a wooden staircase wrapped around it.
“Would you like to see my home?” he asks, waving a hand at the staircase. I grin and follow him up the steps, holding my dress up. It’s a long way up the steps to the top of the tree where it opens up to a smaller cavern with a large mansion made of black stone. It’s a square shaped mansion with white windows and ivy crawling over most of the front. Two witches in black uniforms stand outside the main wooden door and open it when they see us. The inside of the mansion is more modern than I expected it would be and yet still full of nature. Deep rich wooden floors match the dark walls, but light fixtures on the walls make it seem bright in here. Small different coloured plants line the corners of the stairs all the way up and it smells amazing in here no doubt from the plants. Two doors lead off at the back of the room and Finn leads me through one of them to a living room. A giant fireplace takes up the entire wall at the back and three deep brown leather sofas face around it.
“Would you like a drink of anything?” Finn asks.
“Tea?” I ask, sounding a little boring but he smiles.
“A witches favourite brew…well other than wine,” he replies and I chuckle as I move and sit down on the sofa. Finn takes his time making a sweet smelling tea and eventually comes back, handing me a yellow mug with pink tea inside. It smells like raspberries and sweets, and after blowing the hot liquid I take a sip and instantly close my eyes. That tastes amazing. I open my eyes to see Finn watching me, a smile on his lips.
“What is this?” I ask.
“Witch brew made only here,” he tells me, holding a small glass of what I think is whiskey. “There are five different types you can have and I’m happy to make them for you any time you like.”
“Thanks,” I say, feeling more than awkward. Tasking a deep sip, I finally ask the question burning on my lips.
“Finn, why don’t you talk about your family?” I ask him. “I mean I’ve gone on about Evie and all my family so often that I’m surprised you don’t know everything about them.”
Finn leans back, taking in a deep breath. “I don’t have any family left alive and my mother is a hard subject for me.”
“I know she died recently,” I softly say, trying to keep the guilt out of my voice. “I am sorry for your loss.”
“I didn’t know her well, if I’m being honest,” he coarsely tells me. “She was insane, and I knew it since I was a child. Every other thought of hers was about killing the death marked witch and she feared death. Witches do not fear death, it is the natural way of life and all our lives have an end point. Our race is taught to accept the hand dealt to us by fate and enjoy the blessing of magic, but my mother couldn’t.”
Knowing this is the woman who killed my mother and would have killed me as a child, I struggle to have sympathy for her. It feels like her life was punishment enough. So is the detest in her son’s voice.
This is the moment I should tell him the truth.
Just say it, Hali.
“I met your mother once,” I tell him and his eyes widen. “and I am the death marked witch.”
One Hundred Thirteen
Hali
Finn all but jumps off the couch and I follow, standing a good distance away from him. The confusion and anger in his eyes is daunting but I can’t keep this lie in my mind anymore, not when we are getting closer. Not now I know he didn’t adore his mother.
“She stabbed me and somehow unlocked my powers by doing so. I didn’t mean to hurt her, let alone kill her but my powers exploded,” I explain to him. “The mark was gone when I woke up and so was she. The only reason I know I killed her is because I saw my magic destroy her and felt it as well.”
“Being close to death can unlock powers to marked witches. It is common knowledge,” he explains to me. “I think you should leave, Hali. You can portal outside the city, not inside.”
“If that is what you want, I will,” I say, nodding in agreement. “For what it is worth, I am sorry and if I could take it back, I would. I never wanted my fate or my mark.”
He only nods, looking away from me and to my surprise tears sting my eyes as I leave the room. Everything is a blur as I walk away from his home and out of the city. The moment the cold air hits me, tears freely fall and I feel helpless to stop them. I don’t know why I don’t use my magic to take me home, but I end up just staring at the treeline in front of me.
I messed up.
And it hurts more than I thought it would have done. I hardly expected Finn to be okay with everything but I didn’t expect him to send me away. For some odd reason I hoped he would forgive me and we could talk about this true mate thing.
I don’t move for a long time and not until I sense I’m not alone anymore. I spin around to see Finn walking towards me, taking deep strides and I don’t fear him at all. He cups the back of my neck and tugs my head towards him before taking my lips in a searing kiss. I gasp as his kiss is somehow delicate and desperate all at the same time. No one has ever kissed me like this.
No one ever could but him.
Time seems endless until he breaks the kiss and rests our foreheads together, both of us breathless.
“My mother choice to hurt you was hers and you only defended yourself. I don’t blame you, Hali,” Finn softly tells me and hell, I needed to hear that. “I was in shock but I quickly realised I fear losing you more than anything else. You’re my
true mate, Hali and I want to be with you if you will have me.”
“Maybe…kinda depends if Forest sleeps in your bed or not,” I cheekily say.
Finn chuckles. “He might do but I’m fully prepared to kick him out.”
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I grin. “Then take us home.”
One Hundred Fourteen
Hali
The months seem to pass in a hurry after I told Finn the truth and witches officially became part of the protector city as much as the demons and angels are. Finn and I eventually got out of bed and went back to Evie, telling her of the good news. Evie handled it well, her men not so much. Azi flat out challenged Finn to a fight, Nix challenged him to a drinking game and Trex suggested they just get rid of Finn altogether. Connor was the voice of reason, thankfully, and since then they have tried to be nice to him.
Tried.
I look over at my mate, and pressing on my magic, I push myself into his head so I hear what Evie is saying to him in the small kitchen of my flat.
“Do you see how good I am at frying bacon? I’ve spent years getting it to just the right crispiness,” Queen Evie tells Finn, picking up her pan and walking over to his side. She slides the bacon off the pan onto a plate near Finn. “I’m also very good at frying all sorts of other things. You know after I cut them off with my sword, chop them into little pieces and feed them to my tiger once they are cooked.” she calmly states, still smiling before picking her plate up and poor Finn chokes on thin air as her words hit home. “So don’t hurt her, or you’ll have me to deal with.”
“I won’t,” He quickly blurts out and Evie smiles, in a very creepy way, before she takes her plate into the lounge.
I try not to laugh as I hear Finn’s inner thoughts like they are my own. “I’m the king of the Witches, the source of all Witch magic and the blue-haired queen scares the crap out of me as much as Hali does when she is pissed. What kind of family I have just walked into?”
Pushing the magic out of my mind, Finn comes into the living room and sits next to me on the sofa, taking my hand and squeezing it tightly. Hell, I feel sorry for him. My family is a ball of crazy he has just rolled into.
“Hali, what do you want for Christmas?” Evie asks me as she sits down next to Azi, her giant baby lump becoming a plate holder for her bacon. “We have one month left.”
“I want trucks!” Danike shouts as he sits on Connor’s lap. He slowly slides hiss hand over to Evie’s plate, dragging a slice of bacon off it without his mum noticing. Sneaky kid. I wink at him and he chuckles as he stuffs his face with bacon. Mini Evie that one is.
“I asked Hali and I saw that,” Evie huffs and we all laugh.
Looking up at Finn before resting my head on his shoulder. “I don’t want anything. I have everything I could ever want.”
“Yuck,” Eella mutters with bright red cheeks. We all chuckle until Evie’s plate of bacon drops onto the wooden floor, bouncing and spilling bacon everywhere as she crutches her stomach.
“Vi, what is it?” Azi demands.
“The baby is coming,” Evie gasps. “I guess I know what I’m getting for Christmas.”
As the room breaks into chaos, Danike picks up bacon with Eella and Finn kisses my cheek. This is the best Christmas ever.
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About the Author
G. Bailey is a USA Today bestselling author of books that are filled with everything from dragons to pirates. Plus, fantasy worlds and breath-taking adventures. Oh, and some swoon-worthy men that no girl could forget. G. Bailey is from the very rainy U.K. where she lives with her husband, two children and three cheeky dogs. And, of course, the characters in her head that never really leave her, even as she writes them down for the world to read!
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