Page 22 of Magic & Mochas (Tales of Love & Lore #1)

Chapter fifteen

Shadows & Stars

Clove

“D id you mean what you said?” I whispered, terrified but painfully hopeful. I fisted the fabric of his shirt in my hand as he strode through the gardens that surrounded the castle.

“Every word.” Thorne’s voice rumbled in his chest, and I could feel his heart racing beneath my ear.

The full moon highlighted the planes of his face, and silvered strands of his hair. When his arms tightened around me, I buried my face in his chest. I felt so relieved and excited and giddy all at once that a laugh bubbled up and snuck its way past my lips.

“Are you crying?” Thorne said in alarm, stiffening for a moment before relaxing when he realized I was laughing. “What’s so funny?”

“The looks on their faces,” I shook my head in disbelief. “When I first asked you to help me put on a show, I never could have imagined that fiasco in the ballroom.”

Thorne sighed, then said ruefully, “They’ll be talking about that little scene for months.”

“More like years,” I corrected him. When he raised a scarred eyebrow at me, I explained, “Magically enhanced lifespans, remember?”

The shadowmancer groaned. “Great. Well, I think we both got a little more than we bargained for out of our little arrangement.”

The way his eyes softened when he said that made me think he was referring to more than just the scene we had made. “I’m okay with that.”

“Just okay?” His voice went low and husky.

“More than okay.” I pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek, and heard his quick intake of breath.

“Good,” he growled. “Because I’m not offering refunds. You’re stuck with me, now.”

“I’m not complaining.” On the contrary, I felt like rejoicing.

I could hardly believe this was real, that Thorne felt the same way I did.

This whole evening felt magical—minus one unfortunate interruption—in a way that even my most impressive spells couldn’t replicate.

“Thank you for what you did back there. For protecting me.”

Thorne smiled down at me. “I’m sure you could have handled him just fine alone. But I didn’t think you should have to.”

It was nice, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that Thorne was someone I could rely on. Someone who would see my need and supply it, without having to be asked.

“Where are we going?” I whispered, as we left the castle behind and entered the enchanted forest that surrounded it.

Thorne came to an abrupt halt, as if he hadn’t even considered that himself. If he hadn’t still been holding me, his answer would have made me weak in the knees. “Home.”

Although I had spent four years in that cramped little apartment in Seattle, had it ever really felt like home?

I had tried so hard to pretend that it was, but now, only the old brick apartment above my cozy little shop came to mind.

Only the touch of cool shadows and the scent of warm cinnamon felt like home.

I smiled into his shirt. “Yes. Let’s go home.”

The walk back to town was peaceful, and shorter than I would have liked.

Thorne didn’t ask if I wanted to walk, and I didn’t ask him to put me down.

I liked feeling safe and cared for in his arms, liked the way the stars reflected in his eyes and the way the crisp autumn breeze cooled my too-warm face.

Trees soon gave way to the quaint little buildings of Willowmere, complete with glowing Jack-o-Lanterns on every porch and balcony. It was almost eerie without other people, as if it were a ghost town.

As Thorne carried me down the main street, lights caught my eye. “Look,” I said pointing up at the sky. “They’re releasing the lanterns back at the castle.”

The Halloween lanterns, which were shaped like pumpkins and had drawn-on faces, swirled across the sky.

They glowed like newborn stars as they began their journeys into the endless expanse of the heavens.

Though we couldn’t see it through the trees, I knew the trail of golden lights led back to the castle.

“Is that some sort of tradition?” Thorne paused to watch them.

“Yes—they’re released every year at the end of the ball.” I smiled to myself. “It’s been years since I’ve seen it, though. The children are the ones who draw the faces, after they’re done trick-or-treating.”

We stood watching them dance across the sky in silence for a time. Though the air was cold, Thorne was so warm that I hardly even noticed the chill.

When the last of the lights became pinpricks on the horizon, Thorne carried me the rest of the way to the shop’s front door. But when I made as if to stand, so I could unlock the door, Thorne’s arms only tightened around me.

“Thank you Thorne, but you can let me down now.” Laughter lightened my tone.

“I've got this.” A tendril of shadow slipped into the keyhole and I heard the lock click open.

With a mischievous grin, he swept inside and had his shadows lock the door behind us.

He didn’t even hesitate once as he navigated through the dark shop without bumping into a single chair or table, and continued up the stairs to the apartment.

He unlocked that door just as quickly and easily as the first.

With a flick of my wrist, I sent glowing golden balls of light into the corners of the room, giving the apartment a cozy atmosphere. But the warmth they gave off was nothing compared to what was currently melting me from the inside out.

I reached up and brought his face closer to mine. I breathed in his scent of cinnamon like a drowning sailor seeking air. With a tenderness I had feared I would never feel again, I pressed my lips against his.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to share with you,” Thorne murmured.

Shadows erupted around us and formed into a massive cocoon. It was so dark I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face, but I wasn’t worried for a moment—not when I could feel Thorne’s arms around me.

When the darkness faded, we were standing on what must have been the roof of the building. But next to the chimney, I spotted a thick blanket draped across the shingles. Thorne carried me over to it, and knelt to gently place me on top of the blanket before sitting down next to me.

“I like to come up here whenever I need to clear my head,” he explained. “Since Willowmere is surrounded by the forest, this is one of the best places to see the stars.”

I looked up, and was awed by what I saw.

The stars looked like they had been scattered across a bed of crushed velvet.

They sparkled as brightly as diamonds and glimmered with their own inner magic.

Splashes of deep indigo and violet made the entire view look like one big painting.

In the distance, I could even make out some of the glowing paper lanterns from the ball as they drifted along in the breeze.

“You can still see the lanterns from up here,” I murmured with a smile. “It makes everything else seem so small.”

“It does help put things into perspective,” he agreed. “Which is why coming up here always reminds me how small my doubts and fears really are, in the grand scheme of things.”

There was a vulnerability in the way he said that, that made my breath hitch. Based on how he kept a blanket up here, I had a feeling that he frequented this refuge more often than he cared to admit.

“On the nights when Rasmus was snoring soundly next to me, completely oblivious to the way I was wondering if I was truly following the right path, I would cast a spell on the ceiling to show me the sky, instead.” Only Silas knew about this particular secret of mine.

I had kept my doubts hidden, even from my closest friends.

“Did you ever make a wish on a shooting star?”

It felt like he could see right through me. “Every time.”

“What would you wish for?”

“A life worth living.” I had never given voice to it before.

His violet eyes bored into mine. “Has your wish come true yet?”

“It has—just now, in fact,” I admitted softly. “Now I’m near my parents and friends, I have my own business that allows me creative freedom, and…I’ve found someone to share my life with.”

“What a coincidence.” His smile was so radiant I nearly had to close my eyes. When we first met, he had hardly ever smiled. But over the last few days, Thorne smiled every time he looked at me—and I could hardly get enough of the sight. “My wish has also come true.”

The way he was looking at me made me think that I was the fulfillment of his wish, just as he was the fulfillment of mine.

“Thank you for sharing it with me, Thorne.” I laced my fingers through his. “This place is beautiful.”

“It’s not nearly as beautiful as you.”

This felt surreal, like a dream—the kind I never wanted to wake up from. But I was afraid that, when I did, Thorne would be gone. But if we were both being vulnerable tonight, then…

“Sometimes, you make me worry that just like your shadows, you’ll disappear in the blink of an eye.” I removed his mask so I could see his expression properly, setting it aside.

His breath hitched. “Before I came to Willowmere, it was easy for me to slip away, to move on to the next town. No one else has ever tried to hold onto me like you have.” He removed my mask with a tenderness that warmed my heart.

Strands of dark hair fell over his eyes, and I could feel a slight tremor coming from the hand I held. Maybe it was the way he was looking at me, but I felt brave—brave enough to ask the question that had been hovering on my lips for days.

“If I asked you to stay, would you?” I held my breath as I waited for his answer.

“Ask me, and find out.” His violet eyes drew me into their depths like a cat drawn to a hearth.

“Will you stay with me?” I murmured, raising one hand to his cheek. “As my real boyfriend, this time?”

“Yes.” He leaned into my touch.

I felt so happy I could float.

“You have no idea what it does to me when you look at me like that,” he murmured, resting his forehead against mine.

“Like what?”

“Like I’m someone worth loving,” he whispered, with a raw pain in his voice that made my heart ache.

“But you are. Always have been, always will be.”

“Will you have me, scars, shadows and all?”

“Scars, shadows and all.”

Before I had even finished speaking, Thorne’s lips were on mine. I tangled my fingers in his silky black hair, and a spark of my magic filled his dark locks with thousands of glittering little stars, that paled in comparison to the ones shining above us.

I had never felt this way before. I had never felt so wholly seen. So wholly protected. So wholly loved.

“I love you.” The words were out before I could snatch them back.

“I love you, too.” His voice was low, husky. Sparks of violet magic popped in the air around us like miniature fireworks, responding to my jubilant emotions.

He kissed me just as a shooting star streaked across the sky, like a bolt of magic in the darkness. When he draped his arm around my shoulders, I snuggled up against him, even as my heart sighed in contentment and slowed, and my eyelids began to droop.

“Would you like to stay the night?” Thorned murmured, pressing a light kiss to my hair.

“Yes.” I shivered in the cool October air, and Thorne hugged me closer. “Will you have me, magic, mochas and all?”

I wanted to hear him say it, too.

“Magic, mochas and all.”