Page 65 of Destiny of the Witch

I whirled round and flung myself at him. ‘I love it. Thank you so much!’

He smiled. ‘I want this to be as much your home as mine. If you want to change anything, different décor or furniture, you just have to say.’

I shook my head. ‘Your home is beautiful Bastion. Maybe with time I’ll want to add little things here or there, but it really is lovely just as it is.’

‘I’m glad. This house is special.’ He reached out and patted the walls again. This time, I could have sworn there was almost a shiver running through the house. Bastion hesitated a second, looking at me. ‘Are you hungry?’

My tummy growled, making him laugh. ‘I could eat.’ I shrugged nonchalantly. He pressed a kiss to my hair and released me. He strode to the fridge and pulled out a bowl of overnight oats and a glass of freshly squeezed orangejuice. My eyes filled with tears at the thoughtful gesture. ‘Thank you,’ I managed.

He frowned. ‘I broke the juicer,’ he confessed. ‘I’ll have to ask Oscar which brand he used. Or maybe I just did it wrong.’

I smiled. ‘I didn’t think you knew how to do things wrong.’

‘It’s rare, but it does happen,’ he admitted. He looked serious. ‘I’m not perfect, Amber. I try to be – for you – but I’m not.’

‘I know who you are, Bastion. I know every inch of your heart.’

He smiled. ‘I have something to show you. I thought it could wait, but it turns out it can’t.’

‘What about my oats?’ I protested half-heartedly.

‘Fuck your oats.’

‘That wouldn’t be sanitary.’

He snorted a laugh. ‘Come on witch. I want to amaze you.’

‘You already do,’ I admitted.

He tugged me out of the kitchen towards what I’d thought was a walk-in larder; instead it had a trapdoor under it. He pulled it up, locked it open and led me downsome stairs. ‘If this is where you kill me,’ I quipped as I followed him into the darkness, ‘I’ll die happy.’

As we came to the bottom of the staircase, Bastion flicked on a light and my jaw dropped.

We were in a state-of-the-art potions laboratory. It made my secret laboratory back at the Coven tower look like a supplies cupboard. He had thought of everything. There were stainless-steel worktops and wooden worktops and marble worktops. There were cauldrons of every shape, metal and size. There were tripods and lids and a rack full of paintbrushes.

Bastion tugged me forwards to a metal door. He pulled it open to reveal a walk-in fridge full of potions. They had neat little ‘use by’ dates marked on them.

‘Brewed by Eleanora Moonspell,’ he confirmed. ‘I thought that you could set up your own free clinic here, once you get the Coven Council to allow you to give free medical aid legally, of course.’

I was speechless, possibly for the first time in my life. I gaped at him, my mind frozen in wonder at all that he had done for me. I wouldloveto start my clinic again; free access to healthcare was something I was completely passionate about.

‘One last thing,’ he said, as he pulled me forward. ‘I have another book for you.’ He reached behind himself to a bookshelf and pulled out a book. This one was entitledThe Witch and the Griffin.Half in a daze I took it, still somewhat in shock. I flicked it open and frowned when I saw that the pages were blank. ‘It’s empty,’ I said in confusion.

I looked up from the book to see that Bastion was down on one knee before me. He was holding out a ring. ‘Bambi, you said not today, but soon. Well, now is soon. I’m not always the best with words, but I love you. I love you with everything that I am and will ever be. I want a future with you. I want to write our own story into these pages. Amber DeLea, will you do me the honour of marrying me?’

I burst into inelegant sobs as I tried to nod, then I pulled him up so that I could bury myself in his arms.

‘Is that a yes?’ his low voice teased.

‘Yes!’ I burst out.

‘Thank God,’ he muttered, sliding the ring onto my finger.

I pulled back to try and examine it, but my eyes were so blurry it took a few attempts. Bastion hadn’t given me a diamond ring; no – he knew me too well for that. Instead, he had given me a ring made of swirling runes:algiz,forprotection;fehu, for love and luck – and for a joint familiar;uruz,for strength, and finally the lemniscate, the symbol for infinity.

A happy sob tore from my throat – it was perfect. I pulled him down to my lips, desperate to show him how I felt even though words escaped me. I kissed him with all of the passion in my heart and through our bond Iknewthat he accepted how much I loved him.

He was everything to me, and I would spend the rest of my life making sure that he knew it.

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