52. Cori
Cori
C hloe called the meeting to a close, and the room slowly cleared out. Eventually Cori stood alone with Adrian, Seth, and Pru.
Prudence cleared her throat. “Alfie is going to walk you to the hotel. He’ll track behind you to make sure it appears like you’re alone just in case someone recognizes you.” She exchanged a meaningful look with Seth. “We’ll give you a few minutes.” Seth clapped his hand over Adrian’s shoulder sympathetically before following Pru through the heavy industrial door into the hallway.
Cori sat heavily on the metal folding chair, her head in her hands. She had not seen her mother in almost a decade, but she would see her today. To rescue her.
Enzo had helped Fin escape from the Sampson house. A kernel of hope vibrated in her chest. Maybe he wasn’t so far gone. Maybe there was still a part of him that wanted her to be protected and safe.
Adrian’s hands slid onto her shoulders, kneading the tension out of her muscles. She angled her head up at him, but the worry written on his face was almost too much for her to bear.
“Please be careful,” he whispered. “If something happens to you…” his voice trailed off, but she knew what he was about to say. What she had been too terrified to admit, even to herself.
“A few months ago, I was leading a partial life. My entire existence was centered on one goal—stay alive and stay hidden, all for the greater good.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Everything I did and every move I made was for this prophecy, and now it’s finally time to face the reality of what it means. I don’t know what the world is going to look like after the solstice. I don’t know if there will even be any magic left. All this time, in the past, when I thought about it, I didn’t even care about what happened after. Is that sad? I didn’t care if I was alive or dead, or if there was nothing at all. But now I care. I care very much. But there is only one thing I care about when this is all over, and that’s you.” She felt him fold his arms around her as tears fell down her cheeks. “If the entire world changes, if magic is gone forever and erased from the Earth, it won’t matter. The only thing that matters to me now is that we can get past this so we can be together.”
He held on to her tightly as the tears shook from her. “Magic won’t be erased from the Earth, Cori,” he reassured her, “I never doubted that for one minute. And if it is, it won’t be your fault.”
He took her face in his hands and kissed her. The familiar feel of his magic, the waves moved over her, washing away the feeling of nauseating dread. She broke away from him and studied his face, the perfectly formed constellation of freckles haloing the vivid blue eyes that been a part of her dreams for as long as she could remember.
“I’m really proud of you for doing this,” he said sincerely.
She nodded. “I know.”
“Of course, you know,” he said, the corner of his mouth curling up. “I will not let anything happen to you. I promise you,” he choked on his words. “If they actually succeed—if they hurt you, I will kill every single one of them.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “Adrian…”
“I don’t give a shit about magic or this prophecy,” he said, cutting her off. “You are the only thing that matters. I love you, Cori. And if magic as we know it is gone at the end of the solstice, and you are hurt, I will kill whoever harmed you with my bare hands. ”
A shiver ran up her spine because she knew he meant every word. “I love you, too,” she whispered as she pressed her lips to his cheek. She lingered there as long as she could before joining Pru and Seth in the stairwell.
As she followed Alfie in the snow toward the motel, Adrian’s magic flowed under her feet like the current under a frozen river. The icy flakes swirled through the surrounding air, the wind caressing the skin of her face.
She savored the feel of each one of them as they clung to her coat and hair, like an icy, familiar kiss.