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“That’s the last apology you get, Moonstone. Put some fire back into those veins. Ignite the world if you must, but stop cowering. You are not weak. You are not broken. You are not a victim. You’re the most powerful witch of our generation, and it’s time to start acting like it.”
“There’s no magic here. The panic attacks, the headache earlier, the bloody nose now… I don’t think you’re supposed to be in the human lands, Raven.”
“I have to let him go,” I whispered. “But I don’t think my heart is ready.” “You have a lifetime to let him go. You can hold on a little longer.”
“Raven,” he yelled from behind me. “There’s nowhere you can run that I will not find you. I will chase you all over this world if I have to.”
“You could have been a million things. And every time I let myself believe that you were truly who you’d shown yourself to be, my mind would rebel. Because how could you be so perfect in the midst of all this chaos? How could you want me? How could I deserve you?” His hands gripped my waist, and I didn’t not stop him as he lifted me.
“I wonder if there is anything he would not do for you. Your Dark King might be fearful, but he is equally fearless. He sent you to the land with no magic, not to save himself, as he would let everyone believe, but to save you. He feared what the others would do to you should he die. He never planned on joining you. Hadn't even thought about it. He simply accepted his death and cast to protect you.” Her pause was infinite and nothing at all. “He is worthy, if not broken. Though the broken things we keep tend to be the most extraordinary, do they not?”
“I've never known you to do anything lightly. You wreck worlds with mere thoughts and call down goddesses with sheer intention. You're unlike anything this world has ever known.”
“I feel you, Kir. And if you cannot, then I will feel for both of us. You are no less than you were a month ago. Changed, but nothing less. If you're hurting, then I'm hurting. If you're celebrating, then I am. You've always been the best part of this friendship. I won't let you falter. Because you would never let me.”
“Don’t mistake my silence for sadness, Little Witch. It’s simply the foundation of my revenge.”
“No.” Grey moved in front of me, lifting my chin with his fingers. “Someone pulls a weapon on you, you don’t stop to ask questions. You fucking defend yourself. And you never, ever apologize for being the most powerful witch around.”
“This negativity isn't going to get you anywhere. If you cast that out into the world, that’s what you’ll get back. If you need hard love, I'll deliver it on a silver platter. I will not let you spiral into the sad existence that consumes the other wraiths. You are Kirsi Moondance. You were a powerful witch, spirit blessed long before your death. I refuse to believe there is nothing in this world that can bring you happiness. Tie the fucking knot, Kir.”
“Anyone that casts a spell toward you is my enemy. Anyone that has a single cruel thought about you is my enemy. Anyone that stands between you and whatever it is you want in this world is my enemy.”
He shook his head frantically, for the first time ever, finally seeing Raven for the witch she was. She’d always been kind, but the fire within her had also always been there. I’d never been so proud.
“I know what it’s like to watch someone die. I know what it means to feel a loss so strongly you want to give up on this world. She felt that. But now she has more time with you. I’d give anything to have Laramie back, no matter what she looked like. I’d be willing to bet your witch feels the same.”
I watch. I listen. You’re afraid. You’re so afraid of your own future, you’re hiding from it. You want to save her, but that doesn’t mean you’ve let yourself believe you can actually be with her. You’d rather run. You’d rather use insults and anger to reinforce those barriers you’ve built between yourself and the world. You’re mad. You’re so fucking mad, you can’t stand being around anyone most of the time. I see you, Kirsi. You suffer. But you are not alone.”
“You are my only weakness,” he breathed into my ear. “My only equal. My only future. A year ago, I would have given my life to keep this world from burning. And now, I’d sooner light the world on fire and watch it burn than see you suffer its wrath. You’ve changed everything. I think I’ve fallen in love with you, Little Witch. In fact, I don’t think I’ll ever stop falling.”
“Give me back your fire. Give me the witch that stood toe to toe with the Dark King and dared him to see her for anything less than the fierce woman that she was. Give me back the warrior that stormed through my castle, sending my men flying as she tried to get to me, to rip my throat out.”
“Sometimes the most painful stories are the truthful ones. Gossip can be full of lies and twisted tales, but those that shock us the most are the ones of fact.
She’d loved me so hard my whole life. To a fault, it seemed. Why had I been so naive to believe that smothering someone with love was the worst kind of thing? She’d protected me every single day of my life and I’d never thanked her for it.
“If I could take this moment and live in it forever, I would,” he said, quietly. “I’ve never known anything to be so unbreakable and so fragile at the same time. I think I will need you every second of every minute for the rest of forever and then five minutes more.”
“Fear only means you will suffer twice, shifter. Once at the onslaught of weakness, and again when faced with the thing you fear. It is far better to acknowledge your fear and then conquer it.”
“Every second of every minute for the rest of forever, and then five minutes more.”
That which was meant to destroy, molded me. Death had cursed me, but the goddess had blessed me. The world had broken me, but my family had strengthened me, and somewhere along the way, I’d lost myself as a broken witch, and found myself whole and his.
