Page 84 of Pure Magic
“It would seem so.” I grasp his face in both hands and kiss him until I’m out of breath.
“What’s this then, right out in the light of day?” Sylvia asks.
Henry Dove stands at her left side, his face bright with amusement. “It looks like a good idea to me.”
Before he can lean in, she slaps him on the arm and keeps her attention on us.
Pulling himself out of the mud, Adam stands and brings me up with him. “Sara Beth has agreed to marry me.”
“Thank Goddess.” Sylvia pulls Sara Beth into a hug. “I worried you’d be stubborn and make him wait months more.”
With a hearty laugh that turns heads, Sara Beth hugs her friend. “Not about this. Some things are meant, and it’s silly to be stubborn about them.” She nudges Sylvia toward Henry as she lets her go.
Sylvia frowns, but Henry laughs and hugs Sylvia around the waist. “I wish you both much happiness. When will you marry?”
In my head, Adam says, “Today would not be soon enough.”
Minerva steps out of the tent. “He’s doing better, but he’ll not be ready to move for at least a few days.”
Sylvia, still in Henry’s arms, says, “Sara Beth and Adam are going to marry.”
Even exhausted, Minerva smiles brightly as she pulls me into a tight hug. “I’m so happy for you.” She hugs Adam. “You’ve brought joy to my oldest and dearest friend, and now you will be my brother.”
Adam’s mind runs with emotions and thoughts of a real family. “We’ll marry when Kaden is well enough, if that is all right with you, Beth?”
My cheeks heat at the nickname in front of so many people. “You can all return to Windsor as soon as you can pack our things. Adam and I will stay with Kaden until he’s ready to travel.”
From the next tent, Esme and William emerge. Esme shakes her head. “I’ll not leave you here alone. We shall stay with you and return together in a few days.”
Sylvia props her hand on her hip. “I agree with Esme. I shall not leave you. What if you need help?”
As touched as I am, I know everyone is tired and could do with a hot bath and a good meal. “We survived several weeks on our own, and then we were traipsing around the countryside. I’m sure we can manage just caring for Kaden here.”
Minerva’s gaze is distant, and a moment later Jonah arrives.
Jonah embraces me in a giant brotherly hug. Shaking Adam’s hand in his beefy one, he grins. “I’m happy for you both.” He frowns. “If you think I guarded your brother all through the battle just to leave him and you behind, and lay awake worrying in my soft bed, you’ve lost your senses. Minerva and I will stay at Stonehenge until we can travel home together.”
It’s futile to argue with them about something I don’t really want. As much I look forward to a future with Adam, I never want that future to exclude our coven, our family. “I give up. I thought you’d all like a decent meal and bath, but clearly you prefer the rain and chill of tent living.”
On the second day after the funeral, I walk around the standing stones. Hard rains have washed away most of the grime of battle.
Laura approaches. “High priestess, I’ve come to bid you farewell.”
I take her hands. “There’s no need for titles between us.”
“You were kind to give me part in the funeral, but I saw your power, and that of your mate. You could rule this isle if that were your will.” She squeezes my hands.
I shake my head. “That magic was borrowed from gods, Goddess, and kings. I’m just a witch.”
She laughs, and the sound is musical. “You can think that if you like, Sara Beth Ware, but you are far more. You slew a devil and sent him and all his minions back to hell. You saved this world and two others. The nonmagical people of this place may never know what you did for them, but I’ll not forget. Witches will tell tales of you and Adam MacNab for generations to come. Soulmates who used love to let light conquer darkness. There will be songs.”
Oh dear, I hope she’s wrong. “I’ll miss you, Laura. You’ve been a good friend to me and my coven.”
“And you to me and all the Derbyshire witches. We shall meet again, and until then, I will write to you if you permit it.” She gives me a small curtsy.
Flattered by her deference, I don’t know how to take it. My cheeks heat. “I would be thrilled to correspond, dear friend.”
She hugs me. “Be well, happy, and live in the light of Goddess.”
