Page 33

Chapter

Thirty-Three

brIDGETTE

T he sun was already up and shining through my curtains the next morning as we lay tangled together in the sheets. After Logan carried me to bed, we held each other close, both of us thankful that the nightmare was over. Without any more threats to my safety, Logan was noticeably calmer.

I felt his fingers comb through my sweaty hair as he held me from behind, and smiled to myself. I’d been woken up in the most delicious way possible and couldn’t wait to do it again tomorrow.

“I love waking up to you like this,” Logan murmured into my ear, echoing my thoughts.

I snuggled deeper into his embrace. “Well, then I guess it’s a good thing you’ll live a very long time.” I bit my lip, waiting for his reaction to the bomb I just dropped.

Logan stilled behind me, I didn’t even think he was breathing for a moment. Then he carefully turned me over so he could look down at me. “Can you explain that in a bit more detail, little witch?”

His eyes searched my face as I stared up at him, his expression giving nothing away. “You said your mother doesn’t know much about witchcraft or her legacy. Do you know if your father is her fated mate?”

Logan shook his head and frowned. “I don’t think so. They are happy together, but I can’t recall them being so in love with my mother that he can’t breathe when he looks at her.” His gaze ran over my face, and his thumb traced over my cheek as he took in my features.

My own breath hitched at his words, and I had to blink back the sudden moisture that came to my eyes. “Part of being a supernatural race often means longevity,” I began. Unlike with vampires and demons, witches aren’t immortal. Most don’t even live much longer than a normal human lifetime. But, those who have found their fated mates live to 200, sometimes 250 years old.”

“Fuck me,” he drew in a sharp breath, and I was afraid I’d finally broken him until he spoke his following words. “You’re telling me that I get to spend the next two lifetimes with you by my side?”

“Logan,” I murmured as I choked back a relieved sob.

“I mean it, little witch. I would have looked for you in the next life, but knowing I don’t have to? You just made my day.”

I laughed through my tears. “There’s more,” I warned, and his expression grew serious as he waited for me to continue. “The longer we are together, the more bonded we become. You know my grandmother didn’t stay with her fated mate for long, right?” He nodded, so I continued. “After a while, maybe twenty or so years, you’ll find our heartbeats begin to sync. That’s when our life forces begin to combine. Once that happens, we will be able to know where each other is at all times.”

Logan grinned. “I like the way that sounds.”

“Well, we might also be able to communicate without words, too.”

“Again,” he said, nipping my bottom lip, “it doesn’t sound bad at all. So why are you hesitating to tell me the rest?”

“Perceptive, Detective. Once our life forces are joined, it’s permanent. If I die, you die.” Just the thought of it made my chest ache. How had he come to mean everything to me so quickly? I knew the draw to a fated mate was powerful, but it really seemed to be extra strong between us. Since the beginning, I couldn’t resist his pull, even with my deep-seated fears. I was able to get past them, far too quickly.

I closed my eyes as I felt a brush of cool air drift over my cheek.

I’ve always had a soft spot for you, my sweet child. For being so pure and kind when you could have abused the magic and power I had bestowed on you has proved your worth. Your reward is a man who loves you with his entire soul. Your openness to my gift has provided you both with all the happiness you could seek in all your lifetimes together.

I opened my eyes again as a tear fell and soaked into my hairline. “What was that?” Logan asked, a look of awe on his face. “It felt like something reached inside me and brushed against my soul.”

“It was the Goddess,” I choked out. “I think she just completed our bond. And I think she just ensured that we will always find each other in every lifetime.”

“I would have found you anyway, little witch. I told you that.”

I laughed and threw my arms around his shoulders and pulled him into me for a long, slow kiss. When I pulled back, I looked into his smoky gray eyes. “I love you, Logan Storm.”

“I love you, too, Bridgette Storm.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Bridgette Storm?”

“Do you think I am going to have a mate and not bond with her in every way possible? You’re marrying me as soon as possible.”

“You’re getting married?!”

I sat up so fast that my head banged into Logan’s chin, making him grunt in pain. “Grandmother!” I gasped.

“Bridgette’s getting married? To whom?” My mother pushed past my grandmother and rushed into the room, coming to an abrupt stop once she caught sight of Logan in bed with me. “Oh, my. Goddess. There’s a man in your bed. Bridgette,” she tore her eyes away from my mate and stared at me with wide eyes a shade darker than my own. “Did you know there’s a man in your bed?”

I had to stifle a laugh while trying not to let the mortification swallow me whole at having the women in my bedroom, knowing I was naked under the covers. “Yes, Mother. I am aware.” I gestured around the room with one sweeping hand movement. “Grandmother, Mother, this is Logan. My fated mate.”

“And you’re getting married,” my mother repeated slowly as if her brain were stuck in a loop. “To a man.”

“Well, yeah,” I snickered, getting too much enjoyment from my usually poised and elegant mother being at a loss for words. “Umm,” I looked back at Logan, whose chest was shaking from the effort not to laugh at the situation. “Perhaps the two of you could wait for me in the living room. Or downstairs. Or maybe at your house?” I winced as I remembered I hadn’t been over to dust or water the plants in a while. “Maybe downstairs.”

Grandmother narrowed her eyes at me, perceptive as always. “We’ll be waiting in the next room. Then you can tell us what the emergency was.”

They were walking out the bedroom door, my mother turning her head to look back several times as if to convince herself that what she was seeing was really in front of her eyes. “It specifically said there was nothing wrong!” I called out, just to hear a huff come from my grandmother.

I turned to look at Logan and gave him a sheepish grin. “So, that was my mother and grandmother.”

He pulled me into his chest, and I took a brief moment to close my eyes and soak him in. “On a scale from one, to she’sgoing to turn me into a toad, how worried should I be?”

I laughed and pulled away. “She may look formidable, but that woman is a huge marshmallow inside. She’s going to love that you love me.”

He grunted as he pulled away to stand up. “Good.” Then he pulled me to my feet and smacked my ass. “Hurry up, woman. I have in-laws to impress.”

Rubbing my bottom, I glared over my shoulder but hurried into the closet. I grabbed a shirt and yoga pants, then ran to my dresser for a bra and panties. The last thing I wanted to do was go out there without panties. Then I remembered what we had been doing before they’d arrived and grimaced. Thank the Goddess they hadn’t been thirty minutes earlier.

I went into the bathroom to clean up, and after getting dressed, I ran the brush through my hair and brushed my teeth. Logan was sitting on the side of the bed in a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt, and I had an internal battle between pulling him back under the covers with me and facing the firing squad in my living room.

“We don’t have all day!” Grandmother called out, making me sigh in defeat.

“Come on, little witch. You defeated a big, bad murderer last night. How bad could it be seeing your grandma?”

I huffed and took his hand. “Just wait,” I grumbled.

My mother was in the kitchen making coffee when we emerged from the bedroom, and Grandmother didn’t waste a second to start her interrogation. She had Mortimer in her lap, who likely had already told all kinds of tales, and was rubbing the top of Samantha’s head.

“Who is this lovely creature leaving hair all over your furniture?”

I walked over, and Samantha left Grandmother’s side to come to me, leaning heavily against me. “The lady is nice, ”she said. I couldn’t help but think that she would say that about nearly anybody. I scratched behind her ears.

“She really is nice. If you look at her with those big puppy dog eyes of yours, she’ll probably give you treats.”

Samantha gasped in my head and started wagging her tail so hard her butt wiggled. “Really? I love treats!”

My grandmother looked up sharply. “That’s your familiar.”

I nodded as I smoothed a hand across Samantha’s head. “Yes. She’s Logan’s dog, though. It was a happy coincidence.”

“I’m so happy for you, darling girl. I know you’ve wanted to find your familiar for so long,” she said with a loving gaze toward Samantha. Then her eyes sharpened as she looked back at me again. “Now tell me what’s wrong.”

Logan brushed a kiss over my cheek. “I need to take Sammy outside. I’ll be right back,” he murmured.

“Traitor,” I mumbled, then gratefully took the cup of coffee from my mother as she walked it over. She stared at Logan with wide eyes as he passed her with a smile, before taking a seat next to Grandmother. I sat down in the chair facing them. “It’s a bit of a long story, but do you remember that athame you bought at the estate sale a couple of months ago?”

“The one I was sent to retrieve and put a binding spell on so it would no longer cause problems?”

I blinked at her, taking in her words. “What?”

“That athame had been lost for over a hundred years. Someone found it about fifty or so years back and thought it might have been valuable. They wanted to sell it, but before they could, the person died. Every other person who owned that athame had terrible luck that resulted in either death or total loss of everything important to them. The council sent me to retrieve it before it could do any more harm.”

I sat back heavily in the chair. “I thought it was supposed to be sold in the shop,” I muttered, wanting to face-palm. Everything was my fault. Son of a bitch.

“Oh dear. Please don’t tell me you brought it into Oohs, Ahhhs, and Orbs,” she pleaded.

“I wish I could,” I sighed.

“And you allowed your power to fill it. Oh, Bridgette.”

“It was the Gainsburg witch,” I said sadly. “I had no idea. She killed three witches in town, trying to gain enough magic to break free. I think the spark of power I allowed was enough to let her out. She was able to break free during the lunar cycle.”

“Last night was the full moon. She came after you, didn’t she?”

I nodded. “Logan first. She was going to use my mate as leverage so I wouldn’t fight her.”

Grandmother snorted. “How’d that work out?”

“Her athame is a ball of metal, and she’s been banished to the ether forever.”

She nodded proudly. “That’s my girl.”

Mother spoke up, interrupting. “Did you say mate ?”

I nodded, smiling proudly. “Logan is my mate. He was one of the detectives in charge of the murders. He came to question me, then he asked me to help with the case.” I looked both of them in the eye, making sure they knew what I was about to say was serious. “We bonded.”

My mother gasped and raised a hand to her mouth as tears filled her eyes. Grandmother smiled softly. “You said the binding vows.”

“We did,” I nodded.

“Good. I’m so proud of you, Bridgette.”

“Is he good to you?” my mother asked gently, hesitantly, and I turned to look at her, my lower lip trembling.

“He loves me.”

She smiled softly. “I can see that, sweet girl. But is he good to you?”

I thought about the way he holds me, how he looks at me, and the way he is always concerned about my well-being. “He makes me smile. He always likes to have a hand on me when we are close, as if he’s reassuring himself I’m there. He offered to quit the job that he loves, which makes him him , because he was worried I wanted to leave him,” I sniffled. “Yeah, he’s good to me.”

“Okay, baby,” Mother said quietly. “That’s really good.”

“Thanks,” I said, giving her a tremulous smile.

Grandmother cleared her throat, and when I turned back to her, her eyes seemed suspiciously red-rimmed. “So, the drama is over, and you vanquished the Gainsburg witch.”

I looked down at my coffee and sighed sadly. “It’s my fault, though. All those witches died because of me.”

“Bridgette,” Grandmother said softly, and waited until I looked back up at her. “You aren’t responsible for the actions of others. You didn’t harm them. Perhaps they wouldn’t have died, perhaps Glenda,” she spat out, “would have found a way anyway. Stop blaming yourself. Besides, it brought your mate to your door. It was Fate, darling. You know how Fate works.”

I nodded, still sad about the deaths and likely always would be. But she was right. What was meant to happen would, no matter what. Fate had a plan, and it wouldn’t be derailed.

“Now, tell me about the baby.”

Logan chose that exact moment to walk through the door, and I didn’t know how I hadn’t heard him and Sammy coming up the stairs. “Umm…”

“Baby?” Logan asked, his sharp gaze on me. “What baby?”

I smiled sheepishly at him, ignoring my mother’s gasp, then threw up my hands and wiggled my fingers. “Surprise!”