Epilogue
ROMAN
J osephine’s cheeks are pink from the cold, but after the coven meeting, she wasn’t ready to go home yet. Penelope is staying with Odie for the night. Ava and Piper are joining them for a girl’s night. It’s been hard for Jo’s little sister, but hopefully we’ll give her a big enough support system that her parents' actions won’t irrevocably damage her.
We stop to get a coffee for me and some hot chocolate for Josephine. Instead of sitting down, she pulls me outside. “I need to clear my head after that meeting.”
Fat snowflakes fall from the sky as we walk without direction. Josephine tips her head back, catching snow on her tongue, and laughs when I swoop in for a kiss. Before long, we’re standing in the middle of the Briar Hollows Bridge. The river below has been frozen for weeks. Josephine peers down at the icy surface. I stand behind her, wrapping her tight in my arms.
“I made a wish,” Josephine blurts out.
It’s an old tradition to throw a coin into the river and make a wish. As a kid, I used to do it all the time, but I can’t remember the last time I wished for anything. I only damned the world for my fucking curse.
“Right now?” I didn’t see her throw in a coin. “I’m not sure it counts when the river’s frozen.” I hug Josephine and rest my chin on the top of her head.
She chuckles, her free hand wrapping around my forearm. I look out at the two sides of our city split by the river and think about the Briar Witch cursing us all. All she wanted was to be with the man she loved and she died because of it. I may not have wished for anything for a long time, but I realize how lucky I am that Josephine and I found our way to each other.
“No. The night of the founders parties. My friends and I came here beforehand, and we all made a wish.”
“What did you wish for?”
Josephine sets her hot chocolate on the railing and turns around in my arms. She tips her head back to look up at me. The sun is long gone, but the glow from nearby streetlamps is enough for me to see her beautiful face. She’s looking at me like there’s nowhere else in the world she'd rather be. She takes my coffee and sets it next to her cup. Her fingers thread through mine, and she holds up our hands, looking at the identical set of twin vines that circle both our fingers.
We still haven’t figured out exactly what it means, but we won’t stop searching.
“I think I wished for you.”
I smile. “I always knew it was magic.” I cup her cheek, and she leans into my palm, her eyes soft. I press a kiss to Josephine’s forehead. “You bewitched me from that day I saw you scrambling across the lobby.” I drag my lips over to her temple and brush another soft kiss there. Then another on her cheek.
“You wrapped me around your finger the night of the founders party, in the library.” Another kiss to the tip of her nose. “And every night since has been a dream. I’m afraid to pinch myself in case I might wake up.” I stroke my thumb over her cheek, then bury my hand in her hair. She moans when I tug her head back, her eyes going half-lidded.
“I love you, Josephine Delvaux. You may have wished for me, but I dreamed of you. My life without you in it was cold and emotionless. You brought warmth and joy into my soul. I am yours until the end of time.” My heart gallops in my chest. This woman is it for me. Even if fate hadn’t marked us, she would still be the only woman I will ever want.
I close the distance between us, kissing her slow and deep until her body goes limp. One hand clutches my coat in a death grip, but her other is still clasped tightly in mine. The vines on my finger glow with a warmth that flows all the way to my chest, where my magic sits.
“I love you,” Jo gasps in between kisses. “I love you so much.”
We might have new problems facing us with the recently formed Luminara coven. Our friends still have their curses to deal with. We’re now responsible for a soon-to-be teenager. Josephine’s parents need to burn in hell. And I have a feeling there are other trials we aren’t aware of yet. But none of that matters.
With Josephine at my side, the world is a brighter place. Fuck anyone who tries to take her away from me.
The end!