Page 34 of Enduring Magic

“Your wish is my command, my darling wife.”

“Yeah, and you’d better remember that.”

“No doubt you’ll remind me if I ever forget.”

Summer laughed. “No doubt.”

EPILOGUE

TEN YEARS LATER

Abloodcurdling scream rent the air.

From her lounge chair, Summer jerked into a sitting position and searched for the culprit. Pressing her hand to her heart, she reclined back. “Damned kids love giving me heart failure.”

“Your drama-queen daughter especially,” Tums replied with a hearty laugh. “I wonder what movie they’re acting out now.”

“Probably Braveheart or Tombstone. They’re both Jolly’s favorites, bloodthirsty beast that he is.”

Autumn grinned affectionately at her son playing in the distance. “He does love a good battle.”

“Pfft. I’m just happy we’ve been relatively battle free for the last ten years. I worry it could all change in a heartbeat.”

“Don’t borrow trouble, sister.” But Autumn entwined her fingers with Summer’s and squeezed. They both remembered a time when their family fought for whatever bit of happiness they could get.

“Should we set the table? The others will be here soon,” Summer said with a check of her watch.

“I suppose we should.”

Just then, something caught Autumn’s attention, and her expression darkened. Summer followed her gaze and saw the younger children were in a makeshift cage.

“Damn—”

“Don’t swear!” Her sister ordered. “I’ve got this.” Stalking off, Autumn bellowed her oldest son’s name. Four faces turned in her direction, two decidedly guilty.

Biting her lip against laughter, Summer scowled and placed her hands on her hips in a show of solidarity for her sister when their children looked her way. With a wave of her hand, Olivia dissolved the bamboo cage containing Jolly’s and her younger brothers.

“We’re sorry, Aunt Tums. We were playing cops and robbers. Papa told us how he used to put the bad guys in prison.”

Too far away to hear her sister’s response, Summer turned her back and gave into silent laughter. Coop was going to get an earful when he returned from the animal clinic today.

The air around her contracted and grew heavy with magic, causing their group to stand stock still as they waited for the incoming witches to arrive.

The first to appear were Spring and Knox, who held a toddler on his hip and the hand of a five-year-old. The second their daughter saw her cousins, she was off and running.

“Slow down, Megan!” Knox called, wincing as his daughter face-planted in the grass. He handed off their son to Spring and ran to assist his disconcerted child. “Well, that didn’t go as expected, did it?”

Megan, good-natured girl that she was, was quick to recover and gave her dad a solemn look. “It’s okay, Daddy. I’m not hurt.”

“I’ll see for myself, thank you very much.” He stood her up and, after dusting off the dirt, declared her perfect.

The adoration in Megan’s eyes brought tears to Summer’s and a lump to her throat. Knox and Spring deserved every happiness after the trials they’d faced to get to where they were, and the Goddess had blessed them.

“She’d rather die than cry in front of Knox,” Spring said in a low voice. “She worries about disappointing him.”

“At five?” Summer couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice.

“In case you haven’t noticed, she’s accident prone, and as athletic as Knox is, she fears he won’t love her if she can’t participate like the other kids in our family.”

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