Show me the way, she silently prayed. And be quick about it! Metal warmed her hands. A molten knowledge filtered through to her psyche. Hand me to him. To do that she had to step into the circle. How? She asked and the words veil within a veil entered her mind.
Aden was giving everything up for her. She had to try. She swiftly opened a portal on the edge of the perimeter, linking it to the edge of Aden’s circle, all the while expecting to be repelled, to be tossed to the ground once more.
“No!” Aden perceived the change in energy and spun round, his hands moving swiftly in front of him as he placed his spells into the orb. “No! You’re not powerful enough. Goran! Stop her! My last request as your superior. Stop her!”
“Rosa.” Goran charged forward, ready to risk his life to save Rosa if she failed. “Be careful.”
Aden swore at him. “Don’t betray me now, brother.”
“It’s not betrayal to save you both from a dreadful mistake.”
Uttering a silent prayer to the Goddess, Rosa opened a veil within the first portal. Within that veil she created a similar one, smaller in size. Before anyone could guess her next action, she stepped into it and sealed it off, leaving her isolated from everyone.
Closing her eyes she prayed to the Goddess. I hand my life to you, Sweet Goddess. Take me. Use me as you choose.
When she opened her eyes, Aden’s gaze was focused on her as he held the orb high above him. “Don’t do it, Rosa. Don’t.”
But Rosa had gone this far. She wasn’t giving up now. Blindingly, without knowing what would happen next, she took the final step into Aden’s skilfully constructed circle. A circle that should not allow anyone to breach it.
Expecting to be expelled, to be knocked senseless, she suddenly felt weightless as an invisible swell of energy encompassed her, accepting her presence as that of an equal. Like the snap of a rubber band, the veils and portals closed, leaving her standing next to Aden as he continued to release his magic into the orb.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
An eerie silence descended as everyone waited for something to happen. Alanna, pale and tearful, clutched her hands together as if in silent prayer. Goran hugged Beth, holding her against his chest as he attempted awkwardly to comfort them both by encouraging Rosa into action.
“Your potential must be equal to Aden’s.” He confirmed Rosa’s opinion on the matter. “That’s the only way you could have done what you’ve just done without killing yourself.”
Aden’s eyes flashed a genuine mix of anguish and confusion, but he held his arms out to ward her away. “Don’t come any closer. I’ve made my decision.”
“Don’t do this,” Rosa persevered, clutching the straight stem of the rose so tightly in her hands the metal protested by bending. “There’s no need. Listen to me.”
“There is a very real need,” he informed her, his voice determined, his body filled with tension. “You’re my world now. I choose you. I relinquish everything else.”
“You don’t understand.” Rosa looked up at the orb, pointed at it, and sent out a loud command. “Freeze.” It stopped spinning, suspended above them as ice formed around it.
Aden gasped. “How did you do that? You don’t have the power for such a spell.”
“I do now,” Rosa told him, determination written in the way she moved toward him with a surety that had not existed this morning. She surged to his side, snatching at his shirt, which glowed eerily with the magic he had already generated. Her skin burned as if stung by a thousand needles, but she refused to let go. Her hair and dress lifted with static electricity, flying in every direction. She looked briefly to the sphere he had suspended above them almost like a small copy of Earth, then back to him. “I’ve been to Marylebone.”
Aden’s dark eyes stared uncomprehendingly into hers. Jagged lightning bolts shot from him. Rosa visibly winced as if they seared her skin, although none actually touched her. “Marylebone? Is this some kind of ploy to stop me? It won’t work. My mind’s made up.”
“I’ve met Anton. I’ve met Eleisha. And your father. You never told me he was Leonardo, the greatest warlock in Witchdom.”
Confusion reflected back at her. “My father? But he’s in Cyprus. I was just there.”
“He was also at Marylebone. As was I.” The silver rose warmed in her hand, the petals beginning to unfold of their own accord. She held the rose out to him, an inkling of why she had brought it with her coalescing into a truth that filled her with wonder. “Take it,” she insisted.
Aden’s fingers clenched into fists at his side. His heart hammered a bruising staccato against his ribs. The rose was blooming. It should have only done that for Lydia.
He looked to Albert, whom he’d thought never to see again. He scanned the cluster of spectators — Goran, Beth, and Alanna — who appeared to be as mystified as he. Focusing again on Rosa, he forced his fingers to unclench and reached out to take the rose he had not held for four hundred years.
With the transference came a sound Aden never, ever expected to hear. He collapsed to his knees in shock, the reverberations shuddering through every cell as the message tolled loud and clear just for him.
“What is it?” Rosa cried. “What’s happening?” She fell to her knees. She grasped the rose too, remembering Anton’s assertion there was knowledge to be shared between them.
Aden gaped soundlessly as a deluge of images swarmed, invaded his inner vision. Frame after frame, in chronological order, they rolled like a movie. Rosa shuddered as she too saw what Aden saw. She gasped, her eyes wide in sheer wonder. Their auras mingled, entwined, creating a magnetic pull that held them together in an unbreakable link as the silver rose in their hands opened completely.
“Lydia?” Aden choked.
“Aden, it’s me.” Silent tears washed down Rosa’s cheeks.
Aden relinquished his hold on the rose, cupped her cheeks and thumbed her tears away. “You were right all along.”
Rosa pushed away damp tendrils of hair from his forehead. “About what?”
“About us,” he said. “I loved you so much. I loved you when I crafted the rose. But this time I love you so much more.”
Rosa sobbed. “I know. I know.”
Aden opened his arms and Rosa stepped into his embrace. He hugged her so tight she could barely breathe. “How can it be?”
“The timing wasn’t right?” A new voice spoke from the circle’s edge. Everyone turned to see Zelda standing on the opposite side.
“Wizardess! What do you know of it?” Goran growled.
“More than the lot of you put together,” she testily replied. “Anyone with half a brain can see they were meant to be together.”
“I’m confused,” Alanna spoke for the first time. “What did Aden mean when he said he loved Rosa when he crafted the rose?”
Zelda’s smile was smug. “Ask them.” She inclined her head to others who had appeared at her side.
Goran’s laugh was hearty. He clapped his hands, his relief evident. “Warlocks’ Balls! Am I happy to see you, Anton. Eleisha, a pleasure as always.”
Anton, Alanna mouthed to Beth. “Don’t say a word,” Beth whispered back. Alanna, it seemed, had learned a small lesson, because she did not make a sound.
“Unfortunate situation you find yourself in, Goran — ” Anton rambled conversationally, “ — but no doubt you’ve found ways to make your stay pleasurable?”
“You know me well.”
“That I do. But we will discuss your dilemma shortly. Meanwhile — ” he looked at his watch, then to the two in the circle, his meaning clear, “ — tick tock.”
Others arrived at the circle, including those Rosa had never met. Anton introduced them. “Leonardo and Sophia, Aden’s parents. Imelda and Santos, his siblings. You know Zelda, of course.” Without pause, he continued his explanat
ion. “The silver rose was crafted by Aden not long after he married a young lady called Lydia, over four centuries ago. Rosa is Lydia reincarnated.”
A collective intake of gasps diverted Anton for the moment. “And shocked you should be.” He focused his sole attention on Alanna. “You placed the entire union in jeopardy with your impulsive actions, young lady.”
Alanna, still quiet, blushed, her skin nearly matching the colour of her hair.
Anton turned his attention back to the others. “Lydia, Goran’s sister, was born without potential. She and Aden fell in love. They married against the wishes of everyone including Marylebone. If they had waited, Aden would not have endured centuries of pain and isolation from his family.”
“If we had waited — ” Aden spoke for the first time since everybody important in his life had arrived at the circle, “ — I’d never have crafted the silver rose. Maybe everything happened this way because it was meant to?”
“True enough,” Anton acknowledged. “But your road would have been less rocky. It was always intended for you both to bind your magic with each other. The Fates knew it, but you would not be told. Young. Impulsive. Blind to the truth.
“We knew Lydia would be reborn. She’s done so several times, each time her potential increasing. And then she was born again and named Rosa Greenwood. We have watched you since birth, Rosa,” Anton revealed. “Reading the signs, hoping it was finally time to reunite you both.” Anton smiled broadly, his face creasing into lines. His belly chugged, and he clapped his hands while bellowing, “I love happy endings.”
A glimmer of liquid filled the corner of one of Eleisha’s eyes. “As do I, my love.”
Leonardo clasped Sophia’s hand as tears cascaded down his wife’s cheeks. “We have our son back, and now it seems we will have a new daughter as well.”
Stunned, Aden turned to the one stabilizing influence he truly trusted. Rosa. “It seems our past and present have collided. We have a chance at a future together. That was why I choose to surrender my immortality. So I can stay here in Raven’s Creek and live a mortal life with you.”
“Aden!” Rosa laughed, cupped his cheeks, and turned his face to hers so that she had his full attention. “Listen to me. You don’t need to give up a single thing.” She had the urge to clonk him on the head with his rose, but kissed him soundly instead. “I’ve been to Marylebone. I’ve been Called.” She turned to Anton. “The offer is still valid, I take it?”
“It is. But — ” Anton took another peek at his watch, “ — you’d better make it snappy. You’ve not yet formally bound your magic. Unless that happens, you won’t be going anywhere.”
“Rosa is to be immortal?” Aden was slow in catching on.
“Yes.” Anton beamed. “In order to receive all, one must be prepared to give up everything. Rosa’s final lesson for Mastership.”
“I can remain with Marylebone?”
“Well, duh!” Alanna’s voice rang loud and clear. Beth whacked her arm. “Hush!” Everyone erupted into laughter. For once, no one disagreed with Rosa’s fiery sister.
“Your lesson, Aden,” Anton enlightened everyone, “was redemption. You gave your all for Marylebone. You were prepared to give up all for love. All debts to Marylebone are paid. All lessons are learned.”
Rosa didn’t believe she could be anymore fulfilled than she felt right now. Aden was hers. She was his. How could it possibly get any better? “Will you bind your magic with me?” she asked softly, a light flush creeping into her cheeks. “For eternity?”
Aden brushed a kiss to her heated skin. “It seems you knew best right from the very beginning. I give you my heart. It was yours weeks ago. I give you my love. I give you my magic. I will bind with you for eternity.”
• • •
Stars glimmered, their sparkle lighting the inky sky. The sound of happy chatter filled the night lit brightly with the magic, a mixture of magical creatures including fairies and fiery dragons. Close friends and family surrounded Rosa and Aden as they stood, clutching the rose between them.
Anton unleashed a coil of silver rope, winding it about Aden and Rosa’s wrists. His voice boomed strong and sure as he continued to wind the rope into a figure eight while reciting three times, “Marylebone Coven binds Rosa Greenwood and Aden Dragunis for all eternity. Magic strong and pure flows freely between them, balancing and earthing each other.”
The silver rope shimmered, tightening about their wrists, changing color, melding into their auras, merging the two and creating a permanent link nothing but death would break.
Aden’s eyes misted over as he recited the formal words between witch and warlock. “Rosa, I bind myself to thee. I am one with you.”
Filled with an indescribable joy, Rosa did not hesitate. “Aden, I bind myself to thee. I am one with you.”
And then the silver rope was gone, visible only to Rosa and Aden. Anton sung out in a loud commanding voice, “Two souls now as one.” And everyone clapped, cheered and chanted in unison, “Two souls now as one.”
“It is done,” Anton boomed, and he chuckled in delight. “I’m so good I can hardly stand myself.” And then he broke the circle so everyone could congratulate the happy couple.
Rosa looked into Aden’s eyes and there it was. Her future, looking right back at her, filled with laughter, children, dragons. An eternity of happiness. “Who could ask for more?” Mindless of everyone watching, she kissed him breathless.
“I certainly couldn’t,” he told her when he eventually came up for air. “I have everything I want. Everything I will ever need. I have you my love. I have you.”
About the Author
As a child Rowena May O’Sullivan dreamed of becoming a writer. She also dreamed of becoming an actress, a ballerina, singer, hairdresser, an adventurer, a gypsy, you get the picture. Walking and reading at the same time was another passion until she fell down a manhole while doing so. Her only thought, save the book! In order to fulfill her dreams, she eventually returned to her first desire, writing. At least that way she could create stories and become any heroine she wanted without actually endangering herself. Although Rowena has travelled the world she chooses to live in the very beautiful New Zealand where she was born.
She is currently working on Alanna and Gregori’s story, The Jade Dragon.
Learn more about Rowena at: www.rowenamayosullivan.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RowenaMayOSullivan.
In the mood for more Crimson Romance?
Check out Of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
by Micah Persell
at CrimsonRomance.com.
The Silver Rose Page 24