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Her thumb glided along Isaac’s palm. In such a short time, this innocent touch had become her safety net.
She thought back to that morning when her fingers touched the sword. “When the sword spoke to me this morning… it’s hard to explain… I felt a sense of pride, but it was more than that. Well… first… talking to a sword was a bit strange, even for us.” She laughed as she remembered her surprise and excitement. “But then, it was like I was being trusted with the most powerful gift.” Looking into Isaac’s light-gray eyes, she saw his love and acceptance, and his trust too. “With your tattoo, you made that happen.”
“No, Turquoise, you made it happen. The tattoo I gave you was just a tool to assist you.” His lips curved up in a small smile. “Since we’re already talking swords, maybe this won’t seem so strange… But I think the sword trusted you. It killed Isabella’s brother, knocked your mentor out, and disguised itself to non-magics, but it tried to communicate with you. From the first time you touched it, it knew it could trust you. You just needed a way to communicate with it—the tattoo gave you that.”
Kate linked her hands with both of his. “You make me feel like I’m enough,” she whispered.
“You are. You always have been. Maybe just too stubborn to see it,” he teased.
“Hey, I thought I was assertive.”
“Yes, that too.”
She gave him a mock elbow to the stomach, then leaned against him, her head on his chest, their arms going around each other.
“Are you good with what was discussed at lunch?” he asked after a few minutes of just holding each other.
When she sat back to see Isaac’s face, he put his hand in hers. She’d never imagined a man giving her the kind of love and trust that Isaac did. A familiar burning formed in her throat—the formation of happy tears. She swallowed to push them back because happy or not, she didn’t want to cry.
She thought about Isaac’s question. “Yes. When everyone is ready, I’ll take the sword and lock in the magic.”
“And you’ll let me touch you like I did today?”
“You can touch me anytime, my lumberjack.”
“I believe you said those same words this morning.” He squeezed her fingers and then his smile disappeared. “When I touched you this morning… and felt both you and our baby… knowing you were both alright… it was like nothing I’d ever felt before. I think you forged us together with our love.”
Kate laughed. “Oh man, my lumberjack. That’s your corniest line yet. But I love it, and I love you.” More than she could ever express.
They’d almost lost each other, but now they had a second chance. She just had to believe Sam’s plan would work. “It’s hard to imagine that by tomorrow night or the night after, the evil magic could be gone for good.” It seemed too easy, although she knew that none of what they’d all gone through was easy.
Sam had told them at lunch that the test run of extracting the evil magic they’d done at her shop was successful. Now, Damon and Simon were doing their thing, and then it was Kate’s turn.
“I hope Damon and Simon are okay. It sounded dangerous.” After everything they’d been through in the last couple of years, she needed the drama to be over and for her family and friends to finally be safe once and for all.
“They’ll be fine. We have to trust that they wouldn’t have volunteered if they didn’t think they could handle it. And since we’ve got a bit of time before they need us…” He held out his hand, and the envelope floated over from the coffee table.
When she took it from him, it seemed so crazy now. For years, she’d let the experiences of the items in the envelope stop her from finding happiness.
The edges of the envelope were creased from being stuffed into the drawer, its surface strewn with black smudges. Nothing remarkable—just an ordinary, old envelope. Yet she’d let it hold power over her.
As if sensing what she needed, Isaac held out his hands between them, palms up. Upending the envelope, she dumped the items into his hands.
Isaac looked at the items and then at her. “I think we need to add one more item.”
“No, these are from the assholes who hurt me.”
“I know. Hold open the envelope, please.” When she had the envelope open wide, Isaac dumped the items inside. Then he conjured an empty water bottle and put it inside the envelope. Next, he conjured a wide piece of tape and sealed it shut.
Kate frowned in confusion. “I don’t get it. Why did you put an empty water bottle in there?”
“Because everything that was in that envelope is from men who have hurt you. But not all men are like that.” He tossed the envelope on the coffee table and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck.
“I would never intentionally hurt you, so that empty water bottle represents me.” She felt Isaac’s magic seep from his palm, right over the tattoo he’d inked on her neck. “Kate, I love you so much that I would give you my last drop of water.” He kissed her softly and this time a happy tear fell, but Isaac caught it with his thumb.
“I love you, my lumberjack.”
“I know.” His grin made her laugh.
