by K. J. Emrick
Abierta gave Addie a sad smile, her face back to its ebony perfection, and to Lucian she gave a glare that set off actual sparks in her eyes. It would be a long time before she forgave him for what he’d done. Even if it had been for good reasons, he’d made her reveal her true face. No woman liked being forced to give up her secrets.
Chief Harris had taken Lucian aside for a few private words. When he came back, he told her that the chief had congratulated him and Addie both on wrapping up this whole matter so quickly. He even apologized for not getting more help to them quicker, but a bad accident on Old Lutherfud Road had taken up most of their resources. The words had nearly choked Harris to say. He was more used to yelling and complaining than to giving out kind words.
Alex Candor was just being put in a patrol car and driven away when Kiera and Alan had shown up. Just before she and Lucian had gathered everyone into the office for the final showdown, Addie had sent a quick text letting them know that there had been some trouble at the museum tonight and that she was fine. Addie was surprised to see them. She hadn't expected them to drive all the way to Birch Hollow, but there they were.
Kiera had apologized for not being there to help, but Addie told her not to worry about it. Everything had worked out. She gave her sister a brief rundown of the night’s events, leaving out the minor details in favor of the bigger picture. There was one part of the evening she made sure to highlight, though. Philly’s help had been invaluable, and hey, credit where credit was due.
Speak of the devil…
Just as she was finishing with his part of the story, Philly appeared out of the retreating crowd looking refreshed and relaxed. He’d changed his clothes back to his tuxedo, and even Addie had to admit he was a vision no woman would have been able to resist. She saw the light in Kiera’s eyes. Her sister was still very much in love with Mephistopheles Smith, no matter what their history had brought them to.
In that melodic voice of his, he suggested they all have a late dinner at this wonderful place he knew. In Paris.
“Slipping between the gaps in the world again?” Addie asked him.
With a wink, he nodded his approval. “Now you’re catching on.”
No. She really wasn’t. If she lived to be three hundred she would never understand angels, either the risen or the fallen.
But, when Philly offered Kiera his arm, she took it. Addie remembered feeling her jaw drop at that. Her sister was starting to let Philly back into her life, and maybe into her heart, and Addie didn’t know what to think about that. She was going to have to find some time for them to be alone and talk about this rekindling romance of theirs.
Alan beamed at his parents, happy as any child would be to see his mother and father getting along, even if the child was now a grown man. They were a family, after all, despite all the complications and the years they had lost away from each other. Addie watched the three of them as they went not ten steps away and then disappeared altogether, slipping between the gaps in the world, moving from this spot to that restaurant in France that Philly had mentioned. It wasn’t her place to say who her sister loved. Maybe they would find a way to make it work this time.
After all, hadn’t Philly proven himself with the help that he’d given Addie and Lucian at the museum tonight? Just because he was a fallen angel didn’t mean he had to be truly evil.
Did it?
That brought up the question of Belladonna Nightshade again, and where she might have disappeared to. Now that Lucian had been unspelled from the evil witch’s influence, he directed the other officers to look for her and arrest her as the crowds exited the building. When the crowds were gone they did a search of the entire building. She was nowhere to be found. No one had seen her leaving. It was as if she had disappeared into thin air.
What had her plan been this time, Addie wondered? They never did find that out…
Those thoughts distracted her for just a moment sitting here on the couch, wrapped up in Lucian, feeling his body heat warming her skin. For now, she pushed all of that aside again. Fallen angels. Her sister’s love life. Evil witches. Murder. Those were troubles for tomorrow, and she let all of them go. She was here with Lucian, and for just this one moment everything was right in the world of Addie Kilorian.
As if he knew what she wanted, Lucian cupped her cheek, and brought her face up to look deeply into her green eyes. “I love you,” he told her.
Yes. That was exactly what she wanted to hear. Her answer came easily.
“I love you, too.”
Their kiss was sweet, and tender, and Lucian’s lips moved over hers in that way he had that made her believe no man on Earth could ever be as good at loving her as he was.
Yes, she’d had boyfriends and even lovers in the past. None of them held a candle to Lucian.
Addie had grown up being able to do things that most little girls only dreamed of. She had powers and abilities. She could—with the right balance of her life Essence and respect for the living world all around her—bend nature to her will. She had seen things that would make normal people scream, both things of beauty, and things of terror. A witch had all of this at her fingertips, and more, but all Addie wanted was this.
The love of the man in her arms.
Which reminded her.
She settled herself back against the overstuffed cushions, her arm still wrapped across Lucian’s shoulder, taking a moment to catch her breath. “Hey. Didn’t you have some secret something you wanted to ask me?”
His expression changed when she asked that. He looked nervous, his features becoming almost boyish in the dim lighting. “Uh, yeah. I did.” He cleared his throat, and sat up straighter with her, taking her hands in his. “We haven’t known each other for very long, I know that, but for some people three months can feel like a lifetime.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“No, I meant that in a good way. It took me three months to find what other people search for all their lives. I’m really lucky.”
The Irish didn’t believe in a little bit of luck, she reminded herself. The only luck that mattered was big luck. The kind you bet your whole entire life on. The kind that really meant something.
Lucian was that kind of luck for her.
Her stomach did somersaults. All the way here, riding next to him in his car, she had studied his face and tried to divine what sort of surprise he was going to spring on her. It was obviously important. Something that he wanted to ask her only when they were alone. Without using magic to pry into his thoughts, she had to depend on her instincts, and those instincts were telling her one thing.
Lucian was going to ask a really big question.
The question.
“Go on,” she said, trying not to sound too anxious. What she wanted to do was scream at him to hurry up and ask it, ask it already!
Take a breath, she told herself. Let the man talk.
He cleared his throat again. “Addie, you’ve really made my life better. In a lot of ways, I mean.” His gaze drifted down to their hands. His fingers played with hers. “I can hardly remember who I was before I met you. You are truly amazing.”
“I am,” she agreed. She brought his hands up, putting them on either side of her face, loving the way he looked, he felt, he smelled. Everything. “I know how amazing I am, but I know something else, too. I’m better with you.”
“So am I,” he said, his smile goofy and lopsided. “That’s exactly what I was trying to say. That’s why I want to… I want to ask you, I mean, if you thought that maybe you would want to…”
She held her breath. He was going to ask her. He really was going to ask her to marry him!
A thousand different possible answers to that question raced through her mind as he tried to find the words to say what was on his heart. Yes, no, maybe, it’s too fast, it’s the perfect time, when can we book a reception hall, are you crazy, am I crazy, yes, yes, and yes!
Then he spoke, and she felt her heart hammering in time to the rhythm of his words
.
“Would you want to be a professional consultant for the Birch Hollow Police Department?”
“Lucian, I…” Her answer evaporated like smoke. That was not the question she was expecting. Maybe she heard him wrong. “Did you just ask me… to come work with you?”
“Well, yeah,” he said, somehow more embarrassed now that the question was out there between them. “We’ve done some really good work together. The murders that involve Belladonna Nightshade are trickier than anything I’ve done in my whole career. Without you, I don’t think I could have ever solved them. We’re good together, you and me. Alex Candor was right about one thing, at least. You and your sisters aren’t listed as official police consultants, and you should be. I think this would be good for all of us.”
Oh. Now it was her and her sisters he was asking. Well. That was… something.
She closed her eyes, feeling like a fool for expecting him to pop such a big question as marriage after the night they’d had, and this early in their relationship, and… oh, there were a hundred different reasons why a man like him wouldn’t ask a woman like her to marry him. She’d been expecting too much. Well. That didn’t mean this wasn’t important too, she supposed. She should feel honored. She was probably the first woman he’d ever done this with. How nice to be his first…
She still felt that connection with him. The warm tickle at the back of her mind was his soul, pulling on hers. They were special together. They were two halves of a whole, and she didn’t need him to say those three little words or put a ring on her finger to make that real. If this was all they had, forever, then she would be happy with just that much.
When she opened her eyes again she made sure to put a smile on her face because it wasn’t his fault that she had dared to dream that big. She wanted him to ask her that question, with all of her heart, but only when he wanted it, too. When he had a ring picked out. When he really, really wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, for better or worse, for magical wonders and plain everyday stuff.
When that day came, she knew it would be perfect.
“You know what?” she told him. “You’re right. We are a good team. We work well together so why not make it official? So, this would be like a real job? I’d get paid by the case and everything?”
“Yes, exactly. That way I wouldn’t have to hide it from the chief when I needed to ask for your help. If a case involved magic, we could just say you’re coming in as a consultant. If I needed a spell to find a murder weapon, you wouldn’t have to listen to guys like Alex Candor saying you shouldn’t be there. It makes perfect sense, don’t you think?”
Men, she said to herself. Sometimes they could be so dense. “Well, that would be wonderful,” she said. “What more could a woman want?”
“See, I knew you’d like the idea.” He actually bounced in his seat, holding her hands tight, smiling like she’d just offered him the greatest gift ever. “I’ve got the forms to fill out in the next room. Let’s get that taken care of and then we can eat?”
She sighed again. She liked this idea, really she did, but considering what she had been expecting him to say… no matter what she told herself, this was kind of a letdown. Working with Lucian was always great. Being his partner, at least during their investigations, had changed her life for the better, too. Of course she wanted to make that official.
He got up from the couch and trailed his hand along hers as he went past the couch on his way to his bedroom. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
The minutes passed. Addie got up and started pacing, trying not to think about anything in particular. She wasn’t sure she trusted her emotions right now. Her stomach was growling. Good. She would think about that. Their forgotten dinner, waiting on the table under covered dishes, smelled really good. It was cold by now, but they could reheat it…
Lucian came back into the room, his hands clasped together in front of him, a very strange look on his face.
He didn’t have any papers for her to sign and instantly, Addie was on edge. This night had been one long roller coaster of ups and downs and every sort of step in between, and now she sensed one more surprise still waiting for her. “Lucian? What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he told her, a smile slowly creeping over his face. “I didn’t mean to take so long. I had to put it away for safe keeping and I, uh, almost forgot where I put it. Took me a minute to find.”
“To find what?”
He held his hands out to her, and uncupped his palms.
At the same time, he dropped down to one knee.
Addie put a hand over her mouth. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. All of her doubts and answers and questions from before came rushing back at her again. It overwhelmed her. She could barely breathe. A rushing sound in her ears was her own heartbeat.
In Lucian’s palm was the most beautiful engagement ring she had ever seen.
The band was twisted strands of silver, lifting up at the top to cradle a sparkling pink diamond. One of the strands sparkled all the way around with tiny white diamond accents.
Gorgeous, was the word that came to mind. It was beautiful. It was perfect.
So was the man holding it.
“Adair Kilorian,” he said to her, his voice trembling with nervous energy, “will you marry me?”
She reached for the ring, her eyes suddenly misty with tears.
His smile was cute, and a little smug. “Surprised you, didn’t I?”
She nodded, waiting for her heart to stop skipping in her chest.
With her next breath, her answer to his proposal rushed out. It came to her so easily, that she had no doubt it was the right one.
EPILOGUE
Belladonna Nightshade folded herself down into the corner of her couch. Her one arm was draped elegantly over the back of the cushions, while in her other hand she held a longneck bottle of her favorite imported beer. She took a long swallow from it now, her silk bathrobe sliding down one shoulder. She was barely dressed, not that there was anyone here to notice. She was alone in her house again, but she liked it that way.
As the sweet and bitter taste of the beer rolled over her tongue, she smiled. That was a good day’s work. Even if she did say so herself.
The murder of that woman—what was her name?—had been a fortuitous distraction, but not one she had cooked up. Timing was everything, and a large part of any victory was knowing how to take ahold of opportunities when they presented themselves.
A murder at the museum had afforded her the chance to get exactly what she needed from the night. Oh, she might have found some other way to make it happen, but she could always depend on the destructive natures of Typics. My word, they were worth having around just for the entertainment they provided. Committing a murder with all those people just down the hallway? Gutsy. Expecting Lucian Knight and Adair Kilorian not to notice? Foolish.
Even she had more respect for those two than that!
Languidly, she rolled over onto her stomach. Her bare legs kicked in the air as she rolled the empty beer bottle along the stone floor tiles. Sometimes she wished there was someone here to enjoy these moments of victory with her. Domovyk, that big black tomcat, had been a decent companion for more than a decade. A little mopey, perhaps, but she could live with mopey. He was off spying for her in the Kilorian household now, but when this next spell of hers was done she might just invite him back to live here. She would have everything she wanted then, and he wouldn’t mind going back to his collar and chain, certainly. He’d learned to love it before.
Well, enough of that. Soon she would have everything she wanted and with the Kilorian’s Well of Essence under her control, the world would beat a path to her door. Or, she would beat the world into submission. One or the other. The point was, she would be respected and loved by all.
And feared. Let’s not forget that, she told herself. Respected, loved, and feared.
For now, she had work to do. She left the empty beer bottle where
it was for now and stood up, wrapping the robe tight around her lithe, naked body and cinching it at the waist with the belt. She had another call to make, and she didn’t want anyone to see too much. Not even the cat.
Striding over to the inlaid metal circle in the floor, she poured her Essence into it, setting the braided gold wire ablaze and initiating the magic of the scrying circle. The spinning disc of her ethereal communication screen revolved and rotated and then focused into the same three parts as before. The faces of her conspirators showed up in their spots, one, two, three.
Domovyk, his eyes lidded and his ears folded back, irritated at being summoned again.
Herman Bledsoe, that cocky attitude he had developed at extreme odds with his goofy, scrawny self.
And in the bottom third of the Circle, right where he had been before, was the man who would finally let her win her biggest prize ever. He was a good-looking guy, she had to admit, and in another lifetime she might have enjoyed making him into her plaything. For now, this was just work.
Fun would come later.
“All right,” she said to them. “I now have the ingredients I need to make this spell a reality. You all know the stakes. For me, that is. You three will play your parts and get me what I want, and then afterward I promise there will be a great many… scraps left over for you.”
Domovyk’s ear twitched. “Cats can not survive on scraps alone.”
Belladonna’s smile turned wicked. “With these scraps, you can.”
That seemed to settle him, and if she didn’t know any better she might think he was smiling. Or scowling. It was one or the other. With cats it was hard to tell.
“Well,” Herman said with a sniff, “you know what I want, oh masterful witch woman. I’ll hold you to our deal when this is said and done. Now, tell me what was so important that you had to risk being seen by the Kilorian sisters tonight. That Addie Kilorian, she wouldn’t let me go with her to the museum. I would’ve been a much better date than that detective boyfriend of hers, I can tell you that! What does she see in that guy anyway? I mean, she could have a real man like me but noooo, she had to be with tall, blonde and boring. Have you seen that guy? I mean, I know you’ve seen that guy, but seriously.”
