Page 110 of Heart of a Witch
“I have to count inventory still,” he called back. “Mother is coming by tonight to see everything.”
I turned toward Elijah. “Ignore him.”
“I do,” he said with a smirk. “I’m glad your mother’s back with you all. She seems happy.”
“It’s still hard to look at her,” I admitted. “But things are a little easier now.”
“Now that you’ve opened up a little?”
“I guess.”
“You are most welcome.”
“Ugh.” I nudged him in his side. “Your ego needs to come down a few notches. I’m just saying.”
He kissed me again, softer this time. “I can’t help it. You make me feel so high.”
Alex walked in with Corbin. “Brother,” he said to Elijah, then looked at me. “My new sister.”
“We’re not married yet.” I looked at the rock on my finger and let out a small smile. Alex caught it and made a face—unspoken, but I understood every word. I’d never believed I would be excited about getting married, or ever settling down. When we’d told Cas, he’d almost fainted in shock, then muttered something about me “actually having a heart after all.” It had all gone perfectly, except that Elijah insisted Ebony and Buttercup could not be bridesmaids as it would frighten our guests, but I was still going to marry him.
He turned, chatting to Corbin about their next business venture, which had been booming since Elijah had taken over the estate, and I turned my attention to a newsletter. I walked to the cashier stand and leaned over the countertop to read the articles when I found one about Damian.
“It looks like he’s stuck in there. They took away his priesthood.”
“No surprise there,” Cas replied. “They can’t have a madman giving sermons.”
“Except he’s not actually mad.”
He placed a jar into a drawer, and it rattled when it closed. “You did the right thing, letting him live. Richard Blackwood may have been a murderer and a prick, but a day doesn’t go by when I don’t think about what I did.” He shuddered, despite the warm air. “It hurts the soul, taking a life.”
“I thought I had killed someone once, remember? The woman in the church. It didn’t haunt me.”
He shrugged. “You didn’t actually kill her though, and if you had, it was an accident. It’s different.”
I grabbed his hand before he could pull away. “Brother, you saved Alex’s life.”
“I know. I tell myself that every day.” He inhaled sharply and pulled out the jar of amber liquid. “Here’s your daily medicine.”
My nose wrinkled. “When can I stop taking it?”
“Once I’m certain your mind is healed, as long as you don’t perform any more dark magic.”
“I’m not sure it’ll ever fully heal.”
“Maybe not entirely, but enough so you can live normally. How’re the nightmares?”
“Less with your medicines. You’re so talented, you know. You should do what Elijah said and become a doctor.”
“No, I like doing this.” He mixed two herbs into a grinding dish. “I get to meet lots of women too.”
I rolled my eyes. “There it is, my cue to end this conversation.”
“Drink it all,” he said, passing the jar to me. “At least you don’t have to explain to everyone why your name has changed. I had to tell them Ambrose was my middle name.”
“Life is so complicated,” I said, feigning sympathy, and drank my medicine. Within a few seconds, the grogginess in my mind relinquished a little. “Thanks.”
“I know it’s not easy starting over,” he said, picking up the empty jar, “but I really do believe we can make a home here.”
