A Witch Central Wedding
“was a mantle you picked up by choice. She sighed. Some choices were heavier than others. She wasn’t ready to be old.Her husband chuckled again. “I believe the correct response to that is ‘pants on fire.’”She blinked, surprised by the gentle chiding in his voice. “What have I done now?”“It’s not the ‘old’ part that has you bothered.” He touched her cheek gently. “It’s ‘wise’ you don’t think you’re quite ready to be.”She stared, and felt the truth of his words slide over her bones. “When did you get so smart?”He grinned, shades of Devin’s glee tingeing his mind. “Since I woke up this morning married to a crone.”-o0o-Devin stood in his wedding finery—bare feet, suspenders, and all—and waited for Jamie’s teleporting spell to whisk him away.He hadn’t had to ask. The brothers who had stood beside him through more kinds of mischief than any of them could remember had known exactly what he would need before taking the entirely insane step of promising to be reliable and dependable f...or the rest of his life.Jamie had simply waved his fingers, winked, and asked if Devin was ready to go yet. And Matt had made rabbit ears behind Jamie’s spell, just like he always did.It was Jamie’s power that would carry him—but odds were good the idea had been Matt’s. The best ones always were.The light tingle of spell hit, two grinning faces shimmered, and Devin felt the sun-warmed sand under his feet before he even opened his eyes. The small strip of beach under the cliffs at Ocean’s Reach.The wave sounds crashed against his eardrums and the rocky cliffs to his left. The water wasn’t gentle here, smashing into rock with a force and persistence meant to remind you that in the end, the water always won.He’d loved this place ever since the first moments his toddler feet had touched its sand. His power had awakened here, on an innocent romp after a picnic. The power of the oceans, called into his veins by the magic that lived within.He’d only known that he’d danced with the water.Moira, visiting from the east, had been there to hold his hand. He remembered well the feeling of her trickle of energy dancing with his. And the awful green goo she’d given him later, the price to be paid for strong magic and the ocean-sized temper tantrum he’d thrown when his fledgling power had finally run out.He’d never done anything with restraint.Reaching his arms out to the water, he pulled power, glorying in the rush, the memories, and the knowledge that this would always be his.Permanence.It had captivated the small boy, knowing that he belonged to something so immense and timeless. And now, as he stood again on the cusp of permanence, it steadied the man.Marriage came with storms and rocks. He’d watched his parents long enough to know that. Sometimes the outside world threw problems at you—and sometimes they came from within.Devin grinned. He’d spent most of his life a magnet for trouble. That probably wasn’t going to change just because he planned to try to behave.Not once had Lauren asked such a thing of him—but he asked it of himself. His soul was a restless and seeking one, and that wouldn’t change. But his whole life had been a stream of lessons on how to join. In magic. In love. In family.When you held out a hand to someone you loved, she deserved for it to be steady.He reached for the waters once more—and blessed the people who had spent a lifetime shaping his reckless heart to be ready.-o0o-Lauren walked in the door of the small house on the cliffs and closed her eyes, overwhelmed.She’d walked countless clients through the doors of their new homes. Touched their minds as gratitude and hope, worries and dreams, entered four walls and started to breathe in life.She and Devin would do that here. Together.It was the right house—she’d known the moment she’d laid eyes on it. A cozy nest full of light and character, with a spot for her couch right in front of the fire. And water as far as the eye could see.MoreLess
Write Review:
User Reviews: