Page 103 of Morning's Light

She turned her palm under his and squeezed. “I came here to tell you I am sorry. For everything. I am truly sorry.”

“You’re sorry.”

“Yes. For leading you on and treating you like you don’t matter,” she reminded him. “Because you do matter, Elon. You matter to me very much.”

“Don’t say these things to me.” Sweat beaded on his brow despite the comfort of his house. It made him nervous when she spoke like that. Too long he’d waited to hear those very words. And now they hung in the air between them and he couldn’t believe what he’d heard. Dared not believe. “Not if you don’t really mean them.”

Aisanna drew on her magic, the integral part of her always there beneath the surface. It imbued her with warmth and certainty. She spoke to him as she conjured, her voice light and her power flowing forth. “For years I thought I was unable to love, unable to give myself to anyone or touch the heat of passion. I’ve had many things happen to me lately. Things that shook me down to the core. I walked the precipice of life and death. My sister was hurt and has possibly succumbed to evil. And through it all, I saw your face, like morning’s light shining down to break through the darkness.”

“You saw me?”

“Yes, silly, I saw you. I realized something about myself through it all. I realized that I can love. I do love. I love someone very special.” A single tear slid down her cheek, though not from sadness.

When she separated their palms, it revealed a single black flower. Velvety petals unfurled from a neon-blue center flecked through with yellow. The pistils glowed with internal energy, like a universe held within.

“Just like this flower, nothing and no one like him exists in this world. He is unique and perfect.”

“And who is this man?” Elon asked, bringing her gaze back to his.

Aisanna met his eyes and smiled. “He’s you.”

He swallowed hard. “Please, I can’t take any more games. If you’re toying with me, then tell me now and save me the trouble of depression and therapy.”

“This is not a game. Not an illusion.” She stood and drew him up with her, bringing his hands up to cup the flower. “I love you, Elon Fayer. I may not have known it at first, but I know it now. I know it with the blazing truth of a thousand suns. And it scares the hell out of me.”

“You love me,” he repeated.

“Yes. I love you.” She brought his hand to her cheek until the blossom was cupped between them. “We’re stronger together than we are apart. I was too afraid, drowning in fear from the thought that she might use you against me. She knows what’s in my heart. I couldn’t think clearly.”

“You think you can save me?”

“I think we can save each other.”

At first, his eyes were blank with forced indifference as he took her in. There were bruises on her face. A lump on the back of her head and dirt smudged across her nose. Soon understanding blossomed and flashed across his face. He exhaled loudly and crushed her to him, burying his nose in her hair. Unable to do anything except murmur her name.

She tightened her grip in return.

“Well, that’s a damn good thing,” he told her. “Because I have been in love with you since the first day I met you.”

“I know. Oh, believe me, I have known. I only regret it took me this long to come around.”

His arms felt so good around her. Warm, comforting, safe. She could handle anything with those arms there to hold her at the end of the day.

“I’m not afraid anymore, Elon. I’m tired of feeling terrified and pathetic. I know what real madness is, and now I have the will to fight.”

“You know I’m going to have to pay you back for making me suffer.” He stroked her hair. “Damn, woman.”

“I’m bad, I know.” She chuckled as he bent to kiss her, cupping her face in his hands. Their future together stretched out before them in glorious color.

“If we end up having kids—” He ignored her choked intake of air. “—then there’s a fifty/fifty chance our children will have magic.”

“You’re getting a little ahead of yourself there, mister. But yes. If we have a girl, she’ll be a witch, like me. A boy wouldn’t inherit my magic. Although…” She eased back enough to look at him. “Take a look at my sister Astix. She inherited my father’s magic. Never say never.”

She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. “Look, Elon, I’ve done things my way until now because that was how I wanted to live my life. I walked the path I chose. I didn’t know then, but I know now that I was waiting for you. And damn if you haven’t complicated things for me, but I’ll never go back. I will never go back to living my life without you, Elon.”

“Good. And you will never have to.”

Everything inside of her welled up and shone brightly. A vast weight suddenly lifted off her chest. She felt like it had been there her entire life, an invisible anchor drawing her deeper and deeper until someone cut the chain and it dropped away soundlessly. Her chest expanded and she drew in a breath, her head feeling as if it bobbed up toward the ceiling like an over-inflated balloon at a kid’s birthday party.

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