Page 99 of Wickedly Ever After
They stood quietly for a while, hand in hand, staring down the mountain path. A light breeze kicked up, but it felt more like a breath of winter despite the warmth of the late sun, gilding the snowy peaks of higher mountains with fire. Ida leaned into Hector’s comforting warmth, grateful for the thickness of his robe in addition to hers. To her surprise, he pulled her closer to himself, and briefly, he touched his nose to the top of her head.
“They’ll be all right,” he said. “Whatever happens.”
“I want to believe you,” she said. “But I’m just so worried.”
“Quite frankly, I’m more worried about the dragon and the princess. I’m no expert on humans in love, but I know dragons, and there’s no mistaking it. This has gone way beyond Happily-Ever-After. They’re in love, Ida. Worse, itisreal.”
45
Hector
The foremost skill a Wicked Witch should hone over a lifetime is their intuition. It’s important to learn when to stay if a dragon invites you to dinner and when to run for your life.
A Thousand Years of Wickedness: A Memoir
Hector West
He hadn’t expected her to take it well. She should be angry with him. She should be dismissive, to remind him that he knew nothing about true love—even if it was dragons. He was a wicked witch—heartless and utterly incapable of understanding it.
Instead, she slumped against the rock, glowing pink in one of the last shards of sunlight to bathe the grim face of the mountain. “I know.”
“They can’t stay together. It’s completely impossible, for so many reasons.”
Her eyebrows drew together, her cheeks sagged, her mouth pouted. “Like Hari and Tinbit, some obstacles they can’t surmount.”
“Hari and Tinbit see the difficulties and concede them.Amber and Alistair don’t.”
“I don’t even know if theycanconcede them,” Ida said. “They think they can overcome it all by the power of love. I’m sorry, Hector—I’m sorry for everything. If I’d not sent you the laughing charm, this wouldn’t have happened.”
What was he supposed to do now? If she’d drawn her wand and blasted him, it would have been easier. As before, he wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her, tell her everything would be all right, he would fix it all for all the good that lie would do. Still, he offered her his embrace, and she leaned into it, head resting against his empty chest, and for once he wasn’t burdened by worrying if he was doing the right thing.
“Ida, Alistair would’ve burned me if Ihadn’tlaughed at him, and I think I deserved it. Blame me for this mess—I sent you the candor curse.”
She shook her head, eyes shut tight. “Amber would’ve come to see justice was done, and I’d have done the exact same thing I did. I know that now.” She sighed. “There’s an inevitability about this that would be serendipitous if it wasn’t so…well, there’s no serendipity in mangled magic, and that’s the way everyone will see it. You’re right. One of us has to go. It needs to be me.”
“No.” He swallowed hard. “I won’t allow it.”
“Hector—”
“No!” He couldn’t stand the idea that she wouldn’t be opposite him at the table, thwarting his every move, always ready with a scathing remark about his ineptitude, even when he knew she didn’t doubt his ability. She never had. He fumbled for the words to tell her what an honor it had been, fighting her for almost a thousand years, but they seemed empty, hollow, and purposeless. Instead, he pulled her tightly against him. He tilted her chinup with one hand, his other hand resting tenderly against her shoulder, and kissed her.
Frankly,somethingshould’ve happened. Bats should’ve descended and swarmed them. Perhaps an attack of spiders. Or Sebastian could’ve leaped out from behind a rock and said, Gotcha! But nothing happened except that Ida melted into him, and he broke away, terrified, trembling, afraid of what he’d started. But something very different was happening in the rest of his body, an eagerness he’d forgotten except in very occasional dreams. “Ida, I—I want—just once—”
“I know,” she whispered. “I do too.”
“We shouldn’t.”
“I don’t care!”
“But I care about you! If the Council finds out—”
“Fuck the Council!” She pushed against him hard, hands shaking. “If this is the end of Happily-Ever-After, if it’s all I have left, can’t I have you? Just once.”
Oh, he wanted that too, and his fear mixed deliciously with desire. There were a million reasons why he shouldn’t make love to Ida now, a million reasons why he shouldn’t make love period, but if he didn’t act now, he’d be sorry forever. “Come,” he said. “Come with me.”
“Anywhere,” she said.
***
