Page 43 of The Warlock's Trial

That thought sent me over the edge. Magical tingles spread over my skin, until the glorious sensation exploded. I thrust upward as I reached my peak, and Nadine gasped as she came with me. Together, it felt as if we had become one with the cosmos itself, reaching a place where time and space held no meaning. I could feel her as if we had become one… until the matter that made up our bodies slowly knitted itself back together again.

The moment seemed to stretch for several wonderful minutes, but it must’ve only been seconds. I had never imagined that making love to Nadine for the first time as a married couple could be this incredible.

Nadine collapsed onto the floor beside me, panting to catch her breath. I took her in my arms. Light shone from behind my lids, and I opened my eyes to see witch lights dancing above us. Tiny little orbs swirled around us like a kaleidoscope.

“Was that me, or you?” Nadine asked, looking up at the magical lights that twinkled like stars.

“I think it was both of us.”

Nadine snuggled into me. “I like being your wife.”

I let out a blissful sigh. “I love being your husband.”

“Those are beautiful words—wife and husband,” Nadine said dreamily. “I want to marry you all over again already.”

“The night isn’t over,” I reminded her.

“That’s right. We should probably get back to the party,” she said.

I kissed the top of her head. “I suppose we should.”

We cleaned up, and I put my suit back on. I helped Nadine back into her wedding dress before we left the room.

Nadine paused at the top of the stairs. “That’s weird. The music stopped.”

I hadn’t noticed until now, because we’d been so wrapped up in each other. Now that I noticed the silence, it was very eerie.

We quickly hurried down the stairs. Through the glass door, we could see our friends sitting around the table. They looked to be talking in hushed whispers. I caught sight of concern etched on Chloe’s face.

The moment we stepped out onto the patio, their entire demeanor changed. “Who’s ready for another round of shots?” Miles asked loudly, before grabbing a drink from the cocktail bar.

Everyone cheered, but Onyx threw a worried look our way. They were trying to act like everything was fine, but Nadine and I could both sense something was up. Isa and Oliver circled our feet, like they were trying to tell us something.

Nadine looked around. “Where’s Grammy? And Verla, and Professor Warren?”

“They, uh, went to get ice,” Miles lied.

Everything went dead silent, and a shiver traveled down my spine.

“Tell us the truth,” I demanded, feeling panic rising in my throat. Something wasn’t right.

“Everything’s fine.” Talia rose from her chair and bounced over to us. “We took a break, and now we’re ready to get back to dancing!”

Nadine placed her hands on her hips. “You all are terrible liars. Where. Is. Grammy?”

Onyx sighed. “We have to tell them—wedding or not.”

Chloe turned to us. “We don’t want you to worry. But Professor Warren was doing a routine perimeter check, and he spotted Executors not far from here.”

“Executors!” I shouted. “How did they find us? They’ve never come this close to the safe house.”

“We’re not sure they have found us, or if they’re just scouting the area,” Chloe said. “They weren’t headed straight for us, but if they reach the wards, they’ll know we’re here. Helena, Verla, and Warren went to deal with them before they could get close enough to discover us.”

“How many Executors?” Nadine asked.

“Warren saw five,” Chloe said.

Nadine started around the side of the house, and the rest of us followed. We had a high vantage point up here on the mountain, but it was difficult to see anything through the trees—let alone in the dark of night.

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