He stops in front of us and grabs me by my throat causing my mother to gasp. Without missing a beat Sam’s hands are wrapped around my father’s arm as the crunch echoes throughout the room.
My father falls to the floor screaming in agony. “You broke my fucking arm!” he screams in pain.
Sam squats down in front of him, his face cold and killer-like. “Next time I’ll break your neck. You don’t touch her, you don’t even speak to her and if you ever come near here again, I will kill you.”
He stands back up and strokes my neck where my father had grabbed me and plants a kiss on my throat. “She’s mine,” he growls for all to hear.
My stomach flutters with excitement. I am his.
“This is done, Helena,” my granny says. “You can keep yourwealth, you can keep your ruins. But this is a warning to you, Helena. I have played nice, but if you ever come at my family or any other witch again, I will break the Magic Society treaty. I will burn the world around you while you watch.”
My granny is kickass.
“They are twin flames.” She gestures to me and Sam. “You know what that means.”
Helena looks wild with anger. She turns to her husband who has been silent through this whole encounter then at Greg, still sheepishly looking at the floor.
My granny continues, taking pleasure in Helena’s fury. “The ancient magic has awoken within them. Witches have started to hear. Their power knows no limits together and you know they will be protected by those who choose to follow. Taking this further will result in war.”
“Get out!” Helena screams. “Get your freaks out of my ball!”
We move quickly but not in a rush. It’s obvious we need to leave, but we must remain in control. We walk down the stairs and to the back of the building.
We head out through the back door so as not to run into all the drunk wet socialites that have congregated out the front.
One of the unknown women from upstairs approaches us and speaks to Granny. “We have people holding the fort out front. They have taken role as fire marshals, so all is quiet out the back. The rest of us will disperse and we will speak another time.” She then turns to me and Sam and bows her head. “Twin flames… I never thought I’d see them in my time.” She smiles then leaves quickly with the other unknown woman.
Granny turns to me. “We’ll meet you back at home, darling.” She nods at Sam then takes the hands of her daughters and walks away, pulling up their hooded cloaks as they walk. Gloria and Angela smile, do the same and walk the other way.
“They left quickly. Did we do something?” I question,confused at the sudden departure.
“I just think it’s best we don’t hang around,” he reassures.
“And how do we get home?” I look at Sam.
“Brooms?” He laughs. “I have the van and spare clothes, so come on.”
I hit his chest and smile. Idiot.
He takes my hand and leads me through an alley, our clothes still sopping wet and the cold November night now chilling us down to our bones. Sam pulls me in closer to him and I can feel the warmth of his body through his drenched suit.
His van is parked just around the corner. The streets of London are still alive with drunk stragglers who pay no attention to two soaking wet people in the middle of the night.
He opens the back of the van and helps me inside, shutting out the world behind us.
He needs to crouch slightly just to fit inside.
He leans into the driver seat to switch on the ignition, lighting the back and turning on the heat. The van has the faint smell of meat, but I’d sit in a bin lorry if it meant I was with him.
He takes off his suit jacket and throws it in the back. He grabs some towels from the seat in the front and comes towards me before kneeling down.
“Turn around.”
I do as he commands, slowly starting to warm in the now heating van.
He unzips my dress slowly, taking care to pull the straps down delicately so the dress falls at the bottom of my feet. A big fluffy towel is then thrown around me covering my skin in its warmth. Followed by his arms. He pulls me backwards onto his knees and holds me tightly.
“You’re so beautiful, Harri.” He smiles, kissing my forehead. “I love you.”
