AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Crow reappeared, wheeling a tea cart laden with stream-wisp candles and a dusty bottle. “Now we can begin in earnest,” she declared, undeniable glee edging her smile. Dread crept through my veins like ice melt. What had we stumbled into?
With a snap of her fingers, flames erupted in the carved hearth, unnatural chill blue instead of ruddy warmth. The occult lighting painted Crow’s face with menacing shadows as she poured three glasses of ink-black liqueur.
“Brace yourselves, my dears, for we venture into strangeness tonight,” Crow said, her green eyes glinting knowingly. “I shall harness forces beyond mundane ken to part the veil shrouding your destiny... To your freedom,” she toasted, smiling over the rim at me.
Did she know her tongue gave honeyed shape to my most vulnerable dream? I froze, torn between hope’s consuming fire and the cold warnings of reason.
But Crow’s smoky gaze held only kindness beneath the theatrics. “I mean you no deceit, winged one,” she assured me gently. “Now drink, and we shall unveil the whisperings of your heart.”
I searched her earnest eyes a moment more, then drained my glass in a long swallow. No turning back now. At once, the world gradually blurred at the edges, a feeling of weightlessness overtaking my limbs. Seraphina’s arm across my back was the only anchor remaining. I clung to her trusting essence through the gathering fog.
Crow’s voice seemed to echo strangely inside my head as she began her ritual invocation. The tongues ofwitchflameswelled higher in answer to her call, their lambent glow casting rippling shadows across the walls. Sinuous shapes twisted around us, both phantom and real.
Though power thrummed tangibly in the air, I registered no active malice. Indeed, a profound hush fell, a tranquil resonance that slowed each breath and heartbeat. Fear and doubt slipped from my shoulders as magic, older than memory, rose to embrace us. Despite myself, I began to hope.
Across the room, an image flickered into being amidst the witchflame—a face I would recognize anywhere.Seraphina. Her beloved features in those first stolen moments crystallized before me in luminous detail. I yearned towards it helplessly, this visage that had sparked an enduring beacon inside my gloomy spirit.
More visions phantomed into view, reshaping the smoky shadows—Seraphina’s silver hair glinting in the moonlight as she walked the midnight grounds... The graceful arch of her throat bared in the library, ignoring my helpless longing... Her shy smile whenever our eyes met across noisy crowds, a secret meant solely for me.
Each vision kindled a deeper yearning, unveiling a tapestry of moments I had almost convinced myself were imagined. Before Seraphina, my heart’s inner chambers had been walled off for years, bereft of hope or desire. I had resolved to walk in solitude, awaiting only the release death would grant.
But seeing her that fated night, something unlocked within me. A chest buried miles deep stirred, cracking open to sacred possibility. In her light, I glimpsed shards of the man I had been, so long forgotten—capable of mischief, laughter, dreaming. Of love. She alone held the power to resurrect him.
The visions shifted, displaying tantalizing moments not yet realized—Seraphina whispering she loved me... Tracing tender fingers over my gargoyle wings... A dazzling glimpse of her walking towards me in a gauzy wedding dress, grey eyes shining in sheer bliss...
I jolted as if pierced. Our marriage? Could I truly dare shape hope to such breathtaking heights? The yearning echoed through every chamber of my parched and longing soul, summoning humiliating tears.
Gentle hands captured my face, guiding me back. Seraphina. Her eyes brimmed with answering emotion, reflecting my impossible desire back at me. Through blurred vision, I saw she burned with that same sacred longing, brighter than any witchfire.
“Do you see now your heart’s true desire?” Seraphina asked, hushed with revelation. There was only one answer I could give. Eyes closed, I drew her into a kiss to seal the covenant written on our souls. No magic compelled me now, but love’s grace alone.
The ghostly light slowly faded around us, leaving only a trace of woodsmoke behind. We parted reluctantly, this new understanding glowing between us. What words could suffice?
Crow discretely busied herself refreshing our drinks. But a knowing smile played about her lips. “I believe we found the ritualenlightening?” she inquired with playful understatement.
“That’s putting it mildly,” Seraphina admitted wryly. “So, where does this leave us?” She turned to me, clearly willing to follow wherever I led next on our shared path. Tenderness overwhelmed me anew. I drew her close, letting joy rise unfettered for the first time in lifetimes.
“It leaves us side by side, facing whatever future awaits together.” No curse could stand before us if we remained united. Once, I had built walls to shield myself from pain. But no more. Seraphina saw me fully, broken places and all, and loved what she found. It was time I learned to do the same for the man behind the monster she believed in.
Tonight we had glimpsed destiny’s shape—two lives, two wandering paths, now beautifully intertwined. I knew not where this journey would end, but with her, the darkness no longer seemed so vast or cold. Her tender light would always guide me home.
CHAPTER16
Sera
Elation bubbledthrough me as we emerged from Crow’s parlor into the hushed nightclub. Her ritual had unveiled the breathtaking cure for Rhys’ curse—marriage to his true love! My racing heart matched the giddy tempo of my thoughts. To finally have an answer after so many false starts felt like sweet destiny unfolding at last.
Of course, the practical side of me understood it was highly irregular to marry so quickly, before even a formal courtship. But had Rhys and I not found true understanding of one another, the kind few couples enjoyed in decades together? Propriety seemed a small quibble before the scope of our intertwined fate. I would gladly walk any path beside this kindred soul the universe had gifted me.
I snuck a glance at Rhys’ sharp profile as we walked, wishing I could read his conflicted thoughts. Doubt still haunted the tension in his broad shoulders and mantled wings. After so many betrayals, he was wary of embracing this new, fragile joy completely. But I would help shoulder the lingering darkness until he could bask freely in the light again. Faith came easier when carried by two.
Back at the club, Crow awaited us with a delighted grin. “I’d wish you two joy, but you seem quite happy already.” Her sly undertone conveyed she sensed precisely what had shifted between us in her flame-lit parlor.
I flushed under her knowing gaze. “You’re not wrong about that,” I said. “We’re grateful for the gift of clarity you’ve given us.”
Crow waved aside my earnest thanks. “Seeing true love flourish is payment enough. Although, I must confess…” she wavered for a moment, “thereisa small favor I could ask in return...”
At my side, Rhys tensed, ever alert to possible deception in magical bargains. But Crow laughed brightly, holding up her hands. “Peace, suspicious one. I ask only an introduction.”
