Grace sobbed once, wrapping her arms around Cade and holding him tightly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Cade, you are so much more important to me than anything else in this world. You should have told me. Immediately. Right after it happened.” She sat back and swiped at her tears. “I have a lot to do. I’ll start looking for an apartment. I’ve got plenty saved from your grandfather’s estate — ”
“You can’t leave dad. You don’t know what he’s capable of.”
Grace touched his face. “Baby, I don’t care. No one who truly loves me would nearly kill the child we made together. Has he… Has this happened before?”
Cade’s own heart broke at the despair on her face. He wished he could tell her no. “Yes.”
“How many times?”
Cade shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t come home.”
“You can stay with us,” Ever spoke up.
Cade looked up at her on the other side of the bed: his beautiful witch with flaxen hair and bi-colored eyes. He loved everything about her, from the way her large sunglasses held back her hair to the cartoon fox on her sweater and the way her leggings were tucked into brown boots. Most of all, he loved her heart.
“If it’s okay with your mom,” she added with a blush. “I promise I’ll make him behave himself. We have plenty of spare rooms, and I’m sure Nah won’t mind if I tell her what happened.”
Grace looked to Cade for confirmation. “I’m okay with it if you are.”
Cade nodded. He wanted nothing more in the world than to be at Ever’s side.
“Don’t do anything yet,” he told her. “Let me and Dad work things out on our own. If we can’t… then you and I will find a place together. Okay?”
Grace hugged him, her tears wet against his neck as she said, “Okay.”
* * *
CADE FOLDED HIMSELF into the passenger seat of Ever’s tiny car. “This thing is roomier than it looks from the outside.”
“You shouldn’t judge things by outward appearances,” Ever teased, turning over the engine. It purred like a cat; he couldn’t even feel it, not like his car.
“Touché.”
As they pulled out of the lot and hit the highway, Cade put his head against the headrest and closed his eyes.
“Thanks for offering me a place to stay,” he said, finding her knee with his hand without opening his eyes. “Are you sure your grandmother is cool with it?”
Her cool fingers clasped his. “I texted her while you were being wheeled out. She said absolutely.” She paused. “Are you okay?”
“Physically, yeah. Mentally? I’m pissed at my asshole dad.” Cade shook his head, thankful for the black of his eyelids.
“I can’t believe he would abuse you like that. Magick or not. I can’t believe he would think that was okay to do to anybody, but… his own son?” Ever’s voice cracked.
Cade opened his eyes, turning to stare at her in the late afternoon sun. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I’ve reevaluated what my dad is capable of doing.”
“My father isn’t any better,” Ever said bitterly. “Gilles was going to take me, even if he had to use force.”
“That man isn’t your dad, Ever.” Cade leaned over, planting a kiss to her shoulder. “A real dad doesn’t hurt you. A real dad raises you.”
“We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” she said sadly.
He caught her soulful gaze and felt as if they could truly see each other. “As long as we are a pair, I’ll take whatever comes.”
* * *
WHILE EVER MADE them dinner, Cade unpacked his bag and then turned on his computer. He’d been without a phone for three days, so he figured he had some missed Facebook messages and emails to catch up on.
And he did: nearly all the BlackMags had sent him well-wishes via social media. He responded to each of them, assuring them that he was okay and would be back at school tomorrow. Then he signed into his email.
When he saw his dad’s email address, he almost didn’t open the message. He clicked the checkbox and hovered over the trashcan, determined to ignore anything the man had to say. But a little voice inside him told him to open it.
He clicked on the tiny envelope icon.
I apologize for such a fierce punishment. It was done in anger.
The situation is resolved. I’ve retrieved Gilles from jail and magicked the courts to grant him a dismissal.
This nonsense about staying with the O’Connell girl had better be because you intend to deliver her to Gilles.
There was nothing more.
Shaking with rage, Cade deleted the email without responding.
Chapter 25
EVER
EVER HAD EVERYTHING set up for a dinner of sandwiches and fries by the fire pit out back. She had just placed the last log on the merrily glowing flames when Cade came through the back door.
She smiled. “Hey, you. I was just about to come get you. I hope you like veggie sandwiches, ‘cause that’s all we’ve got.”
Cade grinned, but Ever sensed a bead of unease behind it that had nothing to do with vegetables.
“Thank you for making dinner,” Cade said as he came to stand by the fire. By Ever.
His warm arms wrapped around her waist, tugging her into him. They kissed, slow and easy, as if they had all the time in the world.
“You’re welcome,” she said against his lips as the kiss ended. “What would you like to drink?”
“You got any of that delicious iced tea I once spilled all over your kitchen?”
Ever giggled. “I do.”
They ate dinner, chatting about school and other inane things. Ever told him about Meagan beating up Allie and getting taken home by the cops. Then she launched into her coven’s plans for the yard sale on Saturday.
“CircleEarth is so expensive, we needed something to offset the cost,” she said, taking a bite of sandwich. “So Nah helped us set up this yard sale. Do you want to come with me? It’s Saturday morning from eight till noon.”
“I can probably help you set up, but I’m meeting mom for breakfast at nine,” he told her, and then grinned. “You’re adorable when you talk with your mouth full.”
“We have plenty of people,” Ever said, flushing from his compliment. “So it’s up to you.”
He kissed her cheek. “I’ll be there as soon as breakfast is over. I wanna help. You know my coven is going to CircleEarth too, right?”
“Lovely,” Ever said, making a face. “Hopefully Meagan doesn’t decide to have a repeat of yesterday.”
Cade laughed. “At least this time I’ll be there to see it.”
Ever finally asked what had been bothering her since he came outside. “Something’s wrong. You’re worried. What happened between getting home and coming out here to me?”
Cade sighed, the flames casting his face in shadows. “I had an email from my dad.”
Ever didn’t say anything. She waited for him to compose himself.
“He bailed Gilles out of jail and magicked the courts to dismiss the case.”
Fear slashed through her. “He’s free?”
Cade nodded. “I’m glad I’m here to keep you safe.”
Ever hurled her empty plate to the ground and stood. “This is why black magick is bad,” she snapped. “You dark practitioners think it’s okay to throw around your powers as if no one else matters. You take whatever you want, and fuck everyone else.”
She was as surprised by the curse word as Cade. “Ever?”
“Don’t even talk to me right now. My life was so much easier before you came along.” Ever turned her back on him and stormed into the house, slamming the door behind her.
In her bedroom, the tears came freely. She fell onto her bed and buried her face in the pillows.
Life had become so confusing in just a single week, and it all went back to Cade. She wanted to return to a time when she wasn’t arguing with Meagan, when
she wasn’t so conflicted over a boy her friends didn’t think was right for her. Her life had been perfectly fine before she took a faraway crush and turned it into real emotions.
“Ever.” His voice was low, drifting into her dark room from the open doorway.
Why hadn’t she closed the damn door? How could she feel so strongly for Cade but hate him at the same time? She couldn’t stand the thought of him in her space, yet she wanted him there to comfort her. She didn’t respond because she didn’t trust herself to speak.
Suddenly, Cade was beside her, pulling her onto his lap, his strong arms holding her as if she were a child to be consoled. She could barely see his face in the moonlight coming through the window: one side illuminated by the ethereal glow of the moon, the other hidden in shadow.
“I will never let anyone hurt you,” he said, pressing a line of kisses along her forehead. “I will always protect you from anybody who wants to hurt you, whether it’s Donovan or your dad.”
“How can you be okay with black magick after Saturday night?” Ever asked when she’d calmed down enough to speak.
Cade brushed her hair from her face, gazing down at her. She wondered if he could see anything but the glittering of her eyes in the dark. “I’m not. Not anymore. There are things I think you and I will never agree on, but I definitely don’t want to be anything like my dad. He’s corrupt, and you’re right — he’ll use his magick for anything, even at the cost of others’ well-being.”
Ever sniffled, turning her face into Cade’s neck. He had put on his cologne: the strong, woodsy smell she’d come to know. The scent went straight to her libido, reminding her of all the reasons she was falling for him.
She kissed his skin, thinking the move was innocent, but the way his body stilled beneath her proved otherwise. His reaction made her skin turn to fire. She opened her lips, tracing her tongue along his collarbone. Testing him.
Cade cradled her head in his hands and lifted her face, capturing her lips almost harshly. Ever’s breaths came quicker as his tongue mingled with hers, and his fingers squeezed her waist as if they wanted to be elsewhere.
Ever felt their magick rising unbidden. Almost a separate entity, it rose between them, building like an orgasm.
Without breaking the kiss, Ever shifted to straddle his lap. She linked her arms behind his neck, pressing their bodies together. Their kiss grew manic: lips, teeth, tongues. Cade’s hands moved over her back, squeezing her butt. As if she weighed nothing at all, he flipped her onto the bed.
Ever hit the covers, giggling as he bore down on top of her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, gasping as he thrust against her in a graceful, sinuous movement. Their magicks manifested in that motion — blue and red sparking around them like static electricity.
The house was quiet but for the sound of his lips on her skin and the rustle of their clothes as they moved in the dark. Ever had never felt so alive, nor had she ever felt so magickal. Her need for Cade was mindless.
But as he reached for the hem of her sweater to pull it over her head, Ever grabbed his hands.
They stared at each other in the dark, both breathing heavily. Cade kneeled between her legs, the moonlight making him look like a god.
“I can’t,” Ever said. “I want to. But… not right now. I’m not ready yet.”
Cade nodded. He let go of her sweater and crawled back up her body, supporting his weight on both hands as he kissed her, slow and sweet.
“Stay with me?” Ever whispered.
Cade slid into place next to her, tucking her against his chest. His voice rumbled beneath her cheek. “Always.”
Chapter 26
CADE
“GOOD MORNING, CADE!” Ever’s grandmother greeted him. “Hope you like pancakes.”
She stood over the stove, holding a spatula over a cast-iron skillet. Her long gray hair in a messy braid and a gauzy black muumuu over her curvy frame, she looked the part of “witch.” She cast a brilliant white smile in his direction. “There’s coffee in the carafe, or if you prefer tea, we have dozens in the cabinet next to the fridge.”
“Where’s Ever?” Cade asked. He’d been saddened to wake up in an empty bed. He couldn’t believe the sheer exhilaration of holding her through the night, so waking up alone had left him feeling empty.
“Taking care of the chickens. How are you feeling?”
Cade chose a mug from the counter — orange with the black silhouette of a witch on a broomstick. “Weirdly good. I don’t hurt at all anymore.”
“Ever said that magick flares to life between you two when you kiss. I would imagine that’s done its part in healing you.”
Cade flushed. “Ever told you…”
Nah grinned over her shoulder, the spatula scraping in the skillet. “Ever tells me everything, honey. You better get used to it.”
Cade shoved aside his embarrassment and moved on. He couldn’t very well beleaguer Ever’s honesty with her nah when he was nearly as incapable of being untruthful with his mother.
As he stirred sugar into his coffee, he said, “Thank you for letting me stay here.”
“Honey, as long as you don’t feel comfortable in your own house, you are more than welcome in mine. It isn’t a bother at all.”
The back door opened, and Ever entered with three barking dogs on her heels. She caught Cade’s eye with a secret smile, and then bustled to her grandmother’s side with a basket of eggs.
“Ten!” Nah exclaimed, picking through them. “You’d think we were feeding them Miracle-Gro.”
Ever laughed. “I love the green ones.”
Cade took his mug to peek over her shoulder. Some eggs were brown, some were cream with brown spots, and several were various pastel colors. “I’ve never heard of a chicken laying green eggs before. Is the inside green too?”
Nah chuckled, but Ever answered, “No. Just the shell.”
As Nah went back to making breakfast, Cade touched Ever’s hand. “How did you sleep?”
“Better than ever.” She tiptoed and kissed him, so feather-light he barely felt it.
As they ate breakfast, Cade couldn’t help but be in awe. Not just of Ever and her nah — their love for each other was obvious, as was the fact that Ever was cut from the same cloth. Cade could imagine Ever growing older, looking just as beautiful and self-assured as Nah. He was also awed to be in Ever’s presence, in her home as if he belonged there. Both she and Nah engaged him in conversation and made him laugh. They put their elbows on the table, and Ever even sat Indian-style in her chair. It was a meal entirely different from those held at the stoic, reserved table of the Bourdain estate.
“What are you thinking?” Ever asked with a smile during a lull.
Cade gazed at her, taking in every freckle on her face. He wanted to memorize her, and this moment.
“This is one of the best days of my life,” Cade told her.
Nah smiled behind her coffee cup. “It’s only just beginning.”
Ever parked in her usual spot in the school lot. Cade knew it was the usual spot because he’d watched her for so damn long. Now he was with her, sitting in her passenger seat with a hand on her knee.
“You ready for this?” he asked her.
She took a deep breath. “There’s going to be a lot of gossip today.”
Cade lifted her hand and brought it to his lips. “Let them talk.”
They stepped out of the car into crisp, fall air. It was Halloween morning — Samhain, for the witches — and it felt like it. Dried leaves blew across the asphalt, and the wind smelled of the coming winter. Cade hoped the last of the hot days were behind them. He lived for this time of year.
As he rounded the back of the car to stand beside Ever, Ollie waved.
“Hi, Cade!” she said happily.
“I never realized you guys look so much alike,” he remarked, glancing at Ever.
Ever looked at Ollie, her brow wrinkling. “We do?”
Ollie shrugged. “There are lots of blonde girls i
n Coalhaven. That doesn’t mean we all look alike.”
Cade thought he caught a glimpse of something like shame on her face, but that was absolutely ridiculous. What would she have to be ashamed of? Like Ever, she was beautiful, with elfish features and a curvier form.
One by one, the rest of Ever’s coven greeted him. He met quiet Ava and Roxy; brother-and-sister duo Tia and Tomas,; and the inseparable Claudia and Nate, the latter of whom shook his hand with a friendly welcome.
Meagan Stauble stood with her arms crossed, one eyebrow raised. “You hurt her, and I’ll kill you.”
Cade saluted her. “Aye, aye, Madam.”
He’d been expecting more friction over the two of them being together. Clearly, Stauble was the only one with a problem. But the way his salute made the corner of her scowl bounce up proved she wasn’t that bent out of shape.
Cade smiled at Ever as they headed hand-in-hand towards the school. “She means it, doesn’t she? Meagan would kill me if I hurt you. Should I worry?”
Ever sighed. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her lately. She’s taken on the role of my protector.”
“She’s really gunning for Donovan.”
“You’re not necessarily squeaky clean there, either,” Ever said as he held the door open for her.
They parted ways to get their books, but as always, Cade could still feel her behind him. The connection had been there for years, but now it was intense and inescapable.
“Saw you come in with Ever,” Mitch said, leaning on the locker next to Cade’s. He was smiling.
Cade nodded. “I’m staying with her right now.”
“I know I might not have agreed with it before, but I like her. I think I like the Fluffs.”
Cade glanced up, expecting his pal to be looking at him, but instead, Mitch’s gaze was across the hall. At first, Cade thought he was looking at Ever, but then he realized Mitch’s half-smile was for the Amazon best friend she was chatting with.
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