Chapter 18
Magda told Rayna where to find the solvent in the kitchen. As she was leaving, Joell called out, “Don’t forget that has to be diluted with water, otherwise it’ll eat right through anything it touches.”
“What?” yelled Sahara and Sebastian.
“Don’t worry,” Magda said, looking at Sebastian. “Rayna is good at following directions.”
“Have you met Rayna?” Joell asked.
Sebastian groaned.
Wally gave one more heroic pull and broke free. He hopped around the greenhouse, avoiding the tendrils of Velcro.
“I think it’s loosening,” Sahara said. “Maybe it’s one of those spells that fades quickly.”
“Thank the Goddess,” Joell said.
Everyone tried to pull apart, and indeed, the strong bonds seemed to give a little.
Joell managed to pry her grip from Magda’s elbow, and now that she had both hands, she was able to push herself to her knees.
Sahara used Joell’s ribs to push herself to a standing position and then assisted Joell to rise.
Just then, Rayna rushed in with a bucket and threw the chemical-smelling liquid over all four of them.
“My blouse!” Joell cried. “We were just making progress. The spell was dissipating.”
Rayna jammed her hand on her hip. “You’re welcome.”
Magda and Sebastian lay on the floor, breathing hard and looking into each other’s eyes. “What do you think, Mazda? Ready to throw in the towel?”
“Mazda? Are you telling me I weigh as much as a car?”
“Not at all. I just thought it would be fun to give you a nickname, now that we’ve become so close, and everything.”
She laughed. “Well, think of something other than Mazda. How about your supreme supernaturalness?”
“Uh-uh. Too long. I’m just relieved my assistant Derek isn’t here to see this!”
“Why? What would he say?”
“It’s not what he’d say. It’s more his smug expression and the roll of his eyes I dread.
Sahara gazed down at the couple on the floor. “You two can lie there as long as you like, but I’m going to my suite to shower.”
“Make it quick,” Rayna said. “I came by for a reason.”
Magda rose shakily. “What? You didn’t sense your witch sisters in dire straits and come to rescue us?”
“Not originally.”
“Well, give us all a few minutes to shower and change,” Joell said. “We can meet in the library to discuss whatever’s on your mind.”
“Sebastian can use my shower,” Rayna offered.
“Thanks,” he said, “but the sooner I get out of here, the better. No offense.”
“Some taken,” Magda said, looking like she wanted to pout.
“You don’t have to get naked, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Sahara said, smirking. “Getting those chemicals off your clothes might be a good idea.”
“I’ll risk my SUV’s upholstery.” He struggled to his feet.
Magda’s face fell, doubting he would be coming back. Ever.
The library glowed with warm lamplight and the faint ginger scent of Crystal’s emergency cookies. The long, oval table had been cleared of notebooks and grimoires, replaced by mugs of tea, a plate of biscuits, and one very tense atmosphere.
Rayna paced in front of the fireplace like a general preparing to brief her troops, and the Army sweatshirt she’d thrown on did absolutely nothing to hide the agitation rolling off her.
Magda slipped into her chair, still mentally replaying Sebastian’s exit. Sahara sat beside her, smelling faintly of eucalyptus shampoo. Joell arrived last, smoothing her magically laundered blouse.
“All right,” Joell said, dropping into her seat. “We’re clean, we’re alive, and Magda’s not fused to a scientist anymore. Spill it, Rayna.”
Rayna stopped pacing. Her eyes flicked to each of them in turn.
“I… need advice.”
Three witches straightened. A request for advice from Rayna usually meant one of two things: Either a hex had gone sideways, or she had accidentally disappeared someone.
She wrung her hands. “Adam proposed.”
Silence. Thick, wide-eyed, incredulous silence.
Then Joell swallowed her gasp, resulting in a coughing fit.
Magda squeaked and slapped both hands over her mouth.
Sahara blinked once, then said, “Well, that explains the sweatshirt.”
Rayna groaned and collapsed into the nearest chair. “Don’t. Just don’t.”
“But congratulations!” Magda burst out. “Or condolences? Which one are we aiming for?”
“Neither,” Rayna said, dragging both hands down her face. “I haven’t answered him.”
Sahara cocked her head. “Rayna. Major Adam Payne—six feet of disciplined military dreamboat—got down on one knee, and you didn’t say yes?”
“I didn’t say anything!” Rayna cried. “I panicked. Completely. It was a full-body internal meltdown. One second, we were having breakfast, and the next, he was holding out a ring and looking at me like—” She shuddered. “Like I’m the only woman on earth.”
“That sounds horrible,” Sahara said dryly.
“It was!” Rayna insisted. “Because I don’t know if I want marriage. I’m barely surviving commitment. And Adam is… Adam. He’s stable. He’s honorable. He wants a life with clear lines, schedules, and rules. And I’m—”
“A witch who writes erotic romance novels and sets things on fire when startled,” Joell supplied.
Rayna pointed at her. “Exactly!”
Magda leaned in, brow softening. “Did he expect you to answer immediately?”
“No. He said he’d wait. But he also said he wants something ‘official.’ Something real. And I… I don’t know if I’m cut out for domesticity.”
The witches exchanged glances, the kind full of love and worry.
Sahara folded her legs underneath her. “Rayna. Do you want to be with him?”
“Yes,” Rayna whispered.
“Do you want not to be married to him?”
Rayna opened her mouth, closed it, and deflated. “Also, yes.”
Joell winced. “Oh. That’s messy.”
Magda reached for Rayna’s hand. “We’ll talk it through—all of it.
But first, tell us everything. How did he ask?
Where? What did he say? What did you say?
Did he really get down on one knee?” Rayna groaned again.
“Magda. It was breakfast. My hair was a nightmare. I didn’t even have makeup on.
He didn’t get down on one knee, but we were sitting at the elevated breakfast bar.
He would have been talking to my knees.”“How big is the ring?” Joell asked.
But Rayna had already buried her face in her hands.
Rayna kept her face in her hands for a long moment, then her fingers pulled at her red hair like she was trying to drag the answer out by force.
Finally, she sighed. “I think the diamond might be too big. It sparkles too much. It sparkles like it knows I’m hesitating and it’s trying to convince me. ”
“It probably does and is,” Sahara said. “Crystals have opinions.”
Magda nodded gravely. “Especially diamonds. They’re dramatic by nature.”
Joell leaned forward, practically vibrating. “What did you do with it?”
“It’s in my pocket,” Rayna mumbled.
Three witches gasped.
“In your pocket?” Magda repeated, scandalized. “Like a loose mint?”
Rayna groaned. “It felt wrong to wear it when I didn’t know how I felt, okay?”
Sahara frowned. “Did you at least put it in a case?”
“In. my. pocket,” Rayna repeated.
Joell pressed a hand to her heart. “You are personally responsible for Magda having bad luck in love.”
Rayna blinked. “How does that make any sense?”
“Chaos is contagious,” Joell said. “Your romantic confusion radiates outward and bends the universe’s probability field. Look what happened to her today. The potion sensed her longing and latched onto the nearest available man.”
Magda sputtered. “My potion did nothing of the sort!”
Sahara patted her hand. “Sweetie, it absolutely did.”
Rayna slumped lower in her chair. “I’m just…
I don’t know why this is so hard. I love Adam.
I do love him. But marriage? A ceremony?
A legal contract with rings and witnesses?
What if I say yes and it ruins everything?
What if I say no and that ruins everything?
What if I’m just not built for the whole forever thing? ”
The room softened around her. Even Joell stopped criticizing.
Magda twisted her mug slowly. “You know, love doesn’t have to look like the movies. Or the books. Or the coven’s seasonal romance picks, although those are excellent.”
Sahara nodded. “Marriage isn’t luck. You don’t bind your souls with a kiss and hope the magic holds. You choose each other. Over and over.”
Joell pointed a stern finger. “And if he proposed knowing you are a wand-waving fire hazard? Then he clearly knows what he’s signing up for.”
Rayna snorted. “That’s the problem. He’s too normal. Too grounded. He wants morning routines. And grocery lists. And synchronized calendars.”
“Yes,” Sahara said. “Because he’s in the military. Structure is how he survives.”
“And you…” Magda said. “Impulsivity and spontaneity are how you survive.”
Rayna sagged. “Exactly.”
Magda scooted her chair closer. “But listen. Maybe the question isn’t ‘Do I want to get married?’ Maybe the question is ‘Do I want to keep building a life with Adam?’ The rest are details you can negotiate.”
Rayna stared at her witch sisters. Her eyes were still panicked, but something inside them loosened.
“Maybe,” she whispered. “Maybe you’re right.”
Joell clapped her hands together. “Wonderful. Now show us the ring.”
Rayna groaned, but she reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a yellow gold band with a huge sparkler on it. She set it on the table like it was a live grenade.
Sahara leaned forward. “I swear, if you bent the prongs—” She picked up the many-carat diamond.
Magda gasped. Joell choked. Sahara whispered, “Holy Goddess.”
The diamond caught the lamplight and threw it around in a quiet explosion of fire and rainbow.
Joell whispered reverently, “That ring could propose to me, and I’d say yes.”
Rayna inhaled sharply and stuffed it back in her pocket. “See? Exactly! Too big. Too serious. Too forever.”
Sahara offered a soft smile. “Or maybe it’s just right for someone who deserves something real and wonderful.”
Rayna swallowed hard.