Page 110 of A Bond in Flames

I could feel how much he cared for Som, and I could feel the goodness inside him. “All will be well,” I said, not sure how to reassure him. But I knew my brother. If he’d allowed Pascal around Marigold, he trusted and cared for him.

Leaving Pascal to contemplate his reunion with Somnus, I headed below to the cabin. When I opened the door and slipped inside, I stilled. Zinnia lay on her side, Marigold tucked in close. Her little arm was wrapped around her mother’s neck, her fingers in Zinnia’s hair. Hemy was curled up behind Mari, tucked in close. Pulling off my shirt, I climbed on the bed behind my consort and wrapped my arms around all of them.

“Hey,” Zinnia said softly.

“Did I wake you?”

“No, I couldn’t sleep.” I heard her swallow. “All my life, I’ve had this feeling that something was missing, that there was this hole in my chest, that I’d been born with a fundamental part of me missing. I don’t feel that way anymore.”

I lifted up and looked down at her. “You don’t?”

A tear slid down her cheek, and she shook her head. “How could I when I have everything I’ve ever wanted right here in this bed? The male I love more than life itself, who owns my soul, and a daughter who is my entire heart.”

“And you own me, heart and soul, my precious consort.” I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Thank you, Zinnia, for choosing me, for pulling me from the shadows and loving me. Now, we have an eternity to look forward to, and I promise you that nothing will ever part us again.” I wrapped them both tighter in my arms, holding them safe.

“Nothing,” she said softly.

EPILOGUE

Zinnia

Four years later

Marigold skipped around the headstones, Hemlock on her shoulder, Violet’s hand gripped in hers, while the rest of her cousins followed in a disorderly line. “Keep up, Kai,” she called.

Rose and Ronan’s baby, Kai, had his father’s dark hair and his mother’s blue eyes. He was holding Torin’s hand, and they were babbling away to each other like they were speaking their own language. Torin was big for his age, but according to Warrick, all hellhounds were. They were both fourteen months old, and Rose and Willow had given birth only two weeks apart.

Mari loved spending time with her cousins; she also loved that she was the oldest and could be in charge. Her black hair was in a long braid down her back, swishing from side to side as she glanced back and rolled her eyes at Tate and Raff, Iris and Draven’s twins. Tate had gone wolf, and Raff was hanging on to his tail, cracking up every time he tugged on it and made his brother yelp, while Iris’s familiar, Nia, bounded along beside them, barking with excitement.

“Not long now, and there’ll be two more mini monsters in the coven,” I said to Jaz and Mags, who were gathering rosemary beside me, Iris, Rose, and Wills, who were currently filling our jars with cemetery dirt.

Jazzy chuckled, butterflies dancing around her head as she snipped off another sprig of rosemary. “Thank the goddess we have Mari. We won’t have to lift a finger.”

Mags straightened with a groan. “I’m thinking sooner rather than later for me. This little girl wants to come early. I’m sure of it.”

They were due three months apart, both having girls, but Mags was positive her baby was going to make an appearance earlier than she should.

“It’ll be fine,” Wills said. “Mom’s brewing you an elixir that’ll keep that little girl where she needs to be for a little while longer.”

“It works,” Rose said, sitting on the picnic blanket under the oak tree. “I used it for Kai.”

Iris poured a glass of lemonade. “Anyone want one?”

“None for me. We need to get going,” I said and shielded my eyes, looking over at my daughter. “Time to go, Mari.”

She hugged her cousins and ran over to the picnic blanket. There wasn’t much left over from lunch, but Marigold had put a cupcake aside for her father. She carefully wrapped it in a napkin and cradled it gently in her hands, then turned to me. “All ready.”

“Hang on a minute. I think you’re forgetting something,” Mags said.

Marigold giggled, then made the rounds, hugging everyone else and laughing harder when they gave her big smacking kisses on her cheeks.

Jazzy gave me a hug. “You’ll be here for the ceremony next week?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.” It was something we did every year to honor the loved ones we’d lost. All our coven would gather here.

After another round of goodbyes, Mari and I headed off.

Twenty minutes later, we were pulling up at the entrance to Oldwood Forest. I parked the car and Mari watched me closely as I did the spell to conceal it until we needed it again. She was already doing simple spells at seven. She was a natural. My baby would be a powerful witch one day. I felt the magic inside her growing every day.

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