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“Since we have some time before we have to help save the world… let’s call my mom so she can show me her vision. Then how about we start picking baby names? It might be early for non-magic couples, but you’ve already seen our son as a toddler.”
“I would love that, Turquoise. Then later we can try out the other variation of this position,” Isaac said as he wiggled his eyebrows.
She laughed again. For now, all was right with their world. In the worst of circumstances, she and Isaac had forged a love unlike any she’d ever thought possible. Their future was bright, but not just hers and Isaac’s. There was finally hope ahead for all magics.
* * *
Mirek stood at the back of The Magic Plate, leaning against the wall, his hands shoved in the front pockets of his jeans. To anyone watching he would look relaxed. Not carefree, per se, but not angry or impatient either. Like he was hanging around waiting for what was going to happen next.
He’d perfected the pose years ago. So often his magic had been drained, and without it to cool off his anger and frustration from the atrocities he’d seen, he had learned self-preservation meant presenting a carefree attitude.
His captors hadn’t hidden their hatred for their charges, even while using them. That had taught Mirek early on that eliciting strong emotion or defying an order resulted in punishment. He would have withstood any torture they had wanted to inflict upon him to protect the others. But his captors knew that.
To keep Mirek in line, Sam had become their target.
Mirek let his gaze wander around the restaurant until it settled on Sam. She was talking with her dad. If Mirek had been stronger, Sam might not have been separated from her family for more than twenty years.
He had failed her, in so many ways. But she wasn’t the only one he had failed, and some mistakes could never be fixed.
Tonight, if Mirek could convince Sam to alter her plan to contain the evil magic, maybe he wouldn’t fail her again.
Sam looked up at her uncle, the action causing her hair to fall backward over her shoulder. Even from where Mirek stood across the room, he could see the burn scars on the right side of Sam’s face that trailed down her neck and onto her shoulder.
He counted down the seconds… Three, two, one… and then Sam’s hand came up, pulling her hair forward to cover her right side.
For years, he had tried to break her of the habit. She didn’t need to hide.
Even with the scars, she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. He would never be able to convince her of that, although he’d tried for years. She’d been his entire world since he was ten years old, and he would do anything for her.
When Mirek looked at her, he didn’t see the scars. He saw her beauty, both what was on the inside and the outside. He saw intelligence, strength, kindness, loyalty, and most of all, the innocence she’d somehow managed to maintain in the face of all the horrors they’d seen.
No, he didn’t focus on her scars, but he couldn’t forget they were there because to him, they represented more than just what she’d been through. They also represented how he had failed her time and again for over twenty years.
Now Mirek worried he would fail her again because six years ago he’d made her a promise. If he kept that promise… in two days, Sam would be dead.
* * *
