Chapter 25 #2
Winter held him tight, pressing a kiss to his temple and another on the corner of his mouth. Fuck all the prophecy nonsense. He never wanted to let go of his Fox. But while he was grateful to have found Fox, Zelda’s prophecy didn’t make any sense.
“But why make the prophecy at all?” Winter demanded.
Zelda glared at Winter. “You want a real prophecy, Winter Varik. How about you try this one on for size?
When the mother finds peace,
And the brothers find joy,
The youngest shall find silence divine.”
Winter flinched and Fox felt it. There had been no hiding it. Zelda’s words were like cold water splashing over him. He knew that prophecy far too well. He’d been clinging to those ominous three lines as a life raft for well over a century.
“What is that? Is that about you and your family?” Fox asked. He pushed out of Winter’s arms enough so he could look into his eyes, but Winter didn’t want to face Fox over those words.
“Yes,” he whispered.
“What’s going on?” Fox looked from Winter to Zelda, but Winter couldn’t answer because of the lump in his throat.
When Zelda had made that prophecy, he’d been sure it was her way of promising he’d find peace in death after all of his family was settled.
He’d clung to her reassuring words that he’d finally escape the ghosts, but now that he’d found Fox, he didn’t want to die.
Didn’t want to be at the end of things. Didn’t want to hurt his lover.
“That one,” Zelda said, pointing her skinny wrinkled finger at Winter, “decided so many years ago that my prophecy was foretelling his death. I knew it. I’ve watched him for decades and could see how his brain worked.
He was merely holding on until his brothers were happily settled.
Didn’t even consider there were other possibilities. ”
“What other possibilities could there be with ‘silence divine’?” Winter argued.
Zelda waved one hand at Fox. “Silence. Fucking. Divine.”
And she was right. The silence Fox blessed him with when they were together was absolutely divine. It was the best gift.
Maybe part of him had known it for days, but he’d been afraid to believe it, to reach out and fully grab it.
He’d needed Zelda to actually say the words.
He’d found his peace, but it was more than silencing the voices in his head.
Fox was the peace he needed to soothe his soul and face the world with new energy.
Fox was his hope. His heart. His everything.
Joy exploded in his chest, and Winter’s knees nearly gave out. It was over. He had everything he wanted in this adorable, red-haired witch.
But Fox didn’t look pleased.
“What? That mean you had a fucking death wish? Were you running around risking your life so it would be over?” Fox snarled at him.
Winter tried to pull him into his arms, but Fox planted his hands in the middle of his chest and shoved. “Fox, please. I was tired and hurting. It had been so long. I was afraid of the ghosts driving me insane like my mother. I refused to hurt my brothers the same way she did.”
“I don’t give a shit! You keep fighting. You always keep fighting. You’re too important and too wonderful for this world to ever lose you!”
“Fox—”
“If you ever thought you were gonna be rid of me, you can think again, buster. I am never leaving your side. You obviously need someone to watch your back and tell you when you’re being a fucking idiot.
” Fox grabbed his side and pulled him in for a brutally tight hug and Winter happily went, joy bubbling over in his chest.
“I never want to be rid of you,” Winter whispered. “You are my happiness.”
“Damn straight. Stupid vampire,” Fox murmured against his chest. “I can’t live without you anymore. What would I do if I lost you?”
“You won’t ever have to find out. I’m not going anywhere.
” Winter closed his eyes, soaking in the feel of Fox in his arms. He needed this man, his witch, more than he needed anything else in the world.
Fox had truly become his everything. He was his hope and his happiness.
He silenced all the other noise and clutter, letting him focus only on what was important. And it was divine.
Winter looked up from where he held Fox to find Zelda standing in the middle of his kitchen, sipping tea from her china cup with the delicate floral pattern. The expression on her face was so damn smug.
“This is it. This is why you made up that prophecy and told Damon about it. You pointed him toward Fox,” Winter said.
“And you would then steal Fox from him, keeping your witch locked away with you,” Zelda finished.
“But he could have killed me!” Fox cried, which only made Zelda laugh.
“No, I couldn’t have,” Winter admitted before Zelda could speak.
Fox looked up at him, and Winter could feel his smile become a little lopsided.
“I took one look at you and just knew I had to take you home with me. I might have thought of killing you, but I truly doubt I could have done it. Not really.”
Fox hummed happily. “You know how to say the sweetest things to a boy.”
Winter kissed him soft and slow. He loved those lips and that taste of Fox’s happiness on his tongue. He wanted to spend years learning and memorizing this mouth. He wanted to spend a few lifetimes making Fox happy.
“Come along, boys. I know I’ve got your attention for only a little while, and I have other irons in the fire I need to attend to,” Zelda said, breaking them apart.
Fox and Winter followed her into the living room, where she settled on the couch with Fox next to her while Winter was waved over to the chair.
So they would both focus, according to the old witch.
It did help. The physical distance allowed Winter to concentrate on the tangled web they were in rather than wondering when he could get Fox up to his bedroom.
“You always knew Fox would block out the ghosts for me,” Winter murmured.
“I knew there had to be a way of doing it. At the time of the prophecy, I didn’t know it was going to be Fox, because he wasn’t born yet.
But I will say that the ghost issue wasn’t my main reason in pulling Fox into your orbit.
” Zelda narrowed her eyes on Fox and then Winter as if she could see all the worries, doubts, fear, but also joy swirling in their brains.
“Is that what you’re worried about? That the only reason you’re together is because of what he can accidentally do?
Of all the ridiculous nonsense.” Zelda continued to mutter under her breath as she turned and dug into the bag that was now at her hip on the sofa.
Wait! Winter twisted back around to check that it still wasn’t on the counter. He never saw her carry it from the kitchen when she brought her tea in with her. Was the bag following her around?
Rubbing his eyes, he forced his brain to just ignore it.
“Hold out your hand, Fox, dear,” Zelda instructed while she placed an old tin that rattled on the coffee table.
Fox turned his left hand over, palm up, and he held it out to the witch. With a long hatpin in her left hand, she grabbed Fox’s with her right and briskly stuck one of Fox’s fingers.
“Ouch!”
“Sorry, sweetheart. Just need a drop or two. Don’t move for a second.
” Putting the pin back into her bag, she turned her attention to the tin, opening it.
Inside were easily two dozen different rings and pendants made of silver or gold.
Gems sparkled in the light, and Winter leaned a little closer to look inside.
“We need a ring,” Zelda muttered. She picked up one, held it up to Winter for a second, and then tossed it inside to dig for another.
She repeated this process several times.
“What do you think? A ruby for a vampire?”
“A sapphire. It matches his eyes.”
Zelda smiled at Fox for a heartbeat, then dug out a gold ring with a square-cut sapphire in the center.
With the ring in her left hand, she took Fox’s again and carefully placed the sapphire to the bead of blood.
Instead of it smearing or running down the side of Fox’s finger, it looked as if the blood were being sucked into the stone.
She held the ring up to the light and wiped the excess off the gem before tossing the ring over to Winter. He fumbled it, mind boggled by the entire process.
“There,” she said as she closed up the tin and placed it in her bag. “You don’t need Fox anymore. Wear the ring, and it will block the ghosts from your sight and hearing in this world. No more guilt or doubts about asking him to stay. No more guilt and doubts about him deciding to stay.”
Fox stuffed the injured finger into his mouth, licking off the smear of blood from his skin. When he removed it, he looked at Zelda in wonder. “That’s all it takes. Winter is free now. Protected.”
“Well, there was quite a bit of magic in that ring,” Zelda admitted and leaned close to continue in a conspiratorial whisper, “But between you and me, I like to make magic look easy. Flusters the other witches.”
“Fox,” Winter croaked out as he slid the amazing gift onto his ring finger. “Stay with me?”
“Fuck yes,” Fox said as he launched himself at Winter.
He straddled Winter in the chair and kissed him over and over again.
Happiness soared through Winter’s chest, and he held his man tight.
The last of the weight on his chest was finally gone.
Fox wanted him and just him. And Fox could be sure Winter was only interested in him.
“Okay, boys. We need to get back to business,” Zelda said.
Winter stared up at Fox who snickered softly, “Later, Big Sexy.”
Yes, there would definitely be a later.
Fox climbed out of his lap again and returned to his seat beside Zelda. They really did need to focus on the current problem with the vampires.
“I’m assuming Damon doesn’t realize the prophecy was an elaborate matchmaking scheme,” Winter said, rubbing his temples with both hands.
“Trust me, honey, that wasn’t elaborate. But yes, Damon doesn’t know it was a fake.”
“Which means Damon and his minions are still a danger to Fox.”
“Even without the prophecy, Damon is a danger to Fox because he’s now linked to the Variks,” Zelda said.
“Hell yeah, I’m linked. You’re not getting fucking rid of me. I’m there with you, and I’m fighting,” Fox argued. His face was flushed, and he seemed to puff up his chest a little, as if he were expecting Winter to fight him over that statement.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you,” Winter murmured.
The idea of Fox in the middle of the coming fight might scare him to death, but he knew his witch would want to protect his back, help protect the family that meant so much to Winter.
He turned his attention to Zelda. “Is there any help or advice you can offer in dealing with Damon?”
“Dealing with Damon largely falls on Aiden’s shoulders, and I know that vampire has been avoiding it because he’s more concerned with what comes after beating Damon.
” Zelda paused, a frown pulled at the corners of her mouth.
“You’re going to need to give him a swift kick in the britches for me, because that stubborn man refuses to listen. ”
“If we’re free of the prophecy, that means the Variks can plan an attack on Damon. Get rid of him once and for all,” Fox said.
Winter nodded. “I’ll talk to Aiden and Marcus.
We can start coming up with a plan.” The thought of taking the fight to Damon was both frightening and thrilling.
It felt as if they’d been stuck in his limbo for far too long, the threat of attack looming over their heads.
Winter was anxious to have it done and gone.
He didn’t want the lives of his brothers or their mates threatened, but it was time to have this done.
“Well, it sounds like you don’t need me for anything else.” Zelda started to rise from the couch, but Fox quickly captured her hand.
“Please. I know you are very busy, but please, teach me something. Anything. A spell. A ward. I don’t want to be such a waste anymore,” Fox begged, and Winter’s heart broke for his lover.
Zelda instantly sat, wrapping both of her hands around one of Fox’s. “Sweetheart, you have never been a waste. You saved that man’s life over there from his own stupidity.”
Winter blushed, but he didn’t care. He was worried about Fox’s happiness. He was ready to beg Zelda to teach him something to make him happy. “Please, Zelda. I’ll give you anything you want.”
The old witch’s eyes slid over to him and she smirked. “A lesser woman would take advantage of that offer, but I’ll be good…this time.” She looked over at Fox and touched his cheek. “I wish your mother had been given the chance to train you.”
“You knew her?”
Zelda shook her head. “No, but I heard about her. A good, kind soul.”
“She always did what I thought of as useful magic—made the dishes wash themselves, the feather duster flew around the house like a bird determined to capture all the little dust motes.”
“I think I can spare a little time. At least teach you enough that if you just happened to somehow end up with a spell book, you wouldn’t blow yourself up.
” Fox yelped and grabbed Zelda in a tight hug.
To Winter’s surprise, she smiled and hugged him right back.
When Fox released her, she looked at Winter and waved her hand.
“You go off and talk to your brothers. Tell them crazy Zelda made it all up. I’m going to work with your boy for a time. ”
Winter didn’t need any further nudging. He stood and leaned over to Fox, grabbing a quick kiss before walking to his office.
Zelda was right. He needed to make a few phone calls to his brothers.
They needed to know about the prophecy and Fox.
He also needed to check in with Rafe to make sure his reckless brother wasn’t contemplating something stupid since the Blush fire.
Philippe was good about reining him in and talking sense into him, but sometimes Rafe couldn’t be reasoned with.
God help them all if Rafe was plotting something and not telling them.