Spellbound

Original Edition: Forty-Five

My cousin's idea for the Winter Spirits celebration was even more magnificent than I imagined. Raven had moved the entire thing outside and into the city square just in front of the hotel. Fire pits were scattered around the party, surrounded by wooden logs where children gathered with sticks to roast marshmallows. The dining area was in a massive white, heated tent, where many of the older folks who normally avoided this night, ate and conversed. White lights draped over the center of the square where the dance floor was located. Tall heaters shaped like naked winter trees, glowed with bright orange balls in the center. And the snow only added to the mystical feeling of the night that Spelling paid homage to the two ghosts roaming amongst us.

Soren and I worked our way through the crowd to the dance floor. I shook my head at the full orchestra she hired that sat off to the side, playing classical renditions of modern songs. He pulled me into his arms and set our bodies to a slow tempo that matched the music.

"Is it strange that the air always feels fresher, lighter the moment I step over the border of the Reynard?" he asked.

I shook my head, tightening my arms around his neck. "Not at all. It's sort of ironic though."

"What is?"

"That for me, the air feels lighter and fresher the moment I come back here. Every minute away from this place, away from you, felt like an eternity. This is where I belong, Soren." Tears filled my eyes and I looked down, blinking them away. I stayed silent for a moment before glancing back up at him. "Did you know Archer is the one who told me about the no-trespassing order?"

"He told me, and I beat myself up about it for days. It should have been me."

I shook my head and tangled my fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. "No. I'm actually—I'm actually glad it was him. I would've broken down if it had been you, and I managed to somehow keep it together."

Soren gnawed on his bottom lip and nodded. "He said it went well and the two of you were civil to each other. He told me he even apologized."

I nodded. "He did. I was surprised, but it felt good to let go of that anger and resentment. He was really worried about you, you know. He said you weren't eating and hardly got out of bed." I cocked my head to the side and brought my palm to his cheek. "You have to knock that off, Soren."

"I know. It took every ounce of strength to get ready for tonight, but I couldn't risk the chance of you being here." He kissed the top of my head. "And I'm glad you found the closure you needed with my brother."

"I know you have been a little bit distracted since I've been gone, but how are things going with Raven and the Reynard? Has Archer told you anything?"

"She's paying them. According to Archer, Raven barks orders and makes far too many remarks that she should just keep to herself. I don't think Larry and Lloyd will last long." He sighed. "I don't think the Reynard is going to last long. She hates it here. I've overheard comments that have me questioning her mental stability."

I moved both arms back around his neck and closed the bit of distance between us. "Archer mentioned something like that too. Which is odd, considering that for all Raven is or isn't, she's always been grounded; I've never seen her slip like that."

He pulled me in tighter and brushed his nose along the side of my head, taking in the scent of my hair. "I don't want to talk about her anymore. She's taken too much from us and I refuse to give her this moment as well."

Nodding, I lay my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Encircled in his arms was where I'd been dying to be for weeks, and for the first time since I stepped foot off the Reynard property at the beginning of the year, I felt like I was where I was supposed to be.

Soren spoke after a moment, and I loved the way his voice vibrated through him, a low rumble against my cheek. "I wish I could give you nights like this all the time. Everything would be so different if I could just treat you like a normal girlfriend, like you deserve. I hate to think that I'm just another person who holds you back from everything I know you can do. You were made for bigger things than this small town, Gemma."

In that instant, a life with Soren flashed through my head. Nights in front of the fireplace, cuddling while I read and he watches football, cooking dinner together on Friday evenings, making out in the middle of a public place because we just can't keep our hands off each other...walking down the aisle...perhaps having a family...growing old together.

It would never happen, and it could have. If I had just been able to stick to one fucking thing in my life, I could've lived out the rest of my life with Soren here at the Reynard.

Before I knew what I was doing, I grabbed the lapels of his coat, emotion welling in my chest, threatening to bust it open. "Soren, I have to tell you something, and I don't want you to get angry."

He looked down and pushed a curl out of my face. "I'd never be angry at you, Gem."

"I broke my promise."

He looked at me quizzically with his head tilted.

I reached behind my head and loosened the ribbon on my mask, pulling it away from my skin. I slid my fingers up to his temples and pushed his mask up so I could see his whole face. "Soren, I'm so helplessly, desperately in love with you. I know I promised I wouldn't, but I should've never made such a futile vow. I love you," I kissed his jawline, "I love you," then his cheek, "I love you," I whispered, my lips finding their way to his.

Soren exhaled and his body formed to mine, hugging me like he planned on never letting go. "I don't want you to sacrifice for me. You should have the kind of life you dreamed of having before you came here. But I'd be a liar if I said I didn't want to hear those words fall so easily from your lips. I love you, Gemma. I knew it from the moment I handed you the Fox tome that I was going to fall madly in love with you, and I had to be all right letting you go if that's what you wanted. But it was never ever going to be all right."

I kissed him again, tears flowing freely down my cheeks, the salt moistening our lips. "What are we going to do, Soren?"

"I don't know. We'll figure something out, but for now, just dance with me," he whispered in my ear, pulling me close.

I turned my face to the right and rested it against his chest, my mask still in my hand instead of on my face. Movement caught my attention off to the side of the dance floor and my cheeks drained of color. Raven was staring at us with lifeless jade eyes.