Where A Witch Goeth

Chapter Fifty: Honesty

Evander traveled us to his suite, where I healed Minnie's wounds with magic and he spent the better part of an hour arguing with her. Minnie kept insisting he take her back to Henry. Her reasoning was that Henry would be incredibly upset with himself and she needed to comfort him. Evander refused, using precisely the same argument. Henry would be too upset with himself to get any true control back until he fed again.

I grew tired of their arguing and coaxed Minnie to write Henry a note instead, which Evander took to Henry. It was brief and to the point.

Henry Dukes, don't you dare start up again about leaving me. I am not a bit hurt. Celie healed those tiny scratches with a flick of her wrist. I'm also not a bit bothered by what happened. It went better than I expected, and it will go even better next time. We will get used to this—our cravings and the control they require. You stay and fight for us. I mean it. I will not let you go. I love you, and I need you. Your daughter needs you, too.

Your black witchy woman who will murder you if you talk anymore leaving me nonsense,

Min

P.S. You are breathtaking, Henry. I couldn't love you any more than I already do, but it's a good thing I'm a black witch now. When you take your stage back, I'm going to have to beat all the other girls off you with my broom.

Evander, smiling, came back swiftly with Henry's reply.

My Brave, Bold, Minerva,

You are the breath taker. You stole mine the first time you ever smiled at me. I think we were maybe six years old, and I think the smile was only because you wanted half my cookie, but I didn't care what you wanted from me, I only cared to keep you smiling at me like that.

Your courage has always taken my breath away, girl. Now, I will hold that breath until the end of time if that's what it takes to be with you because I realize how pointless it was to think of an existence where I can't see your smile. I'm betting our baby girl is going to grin just the same as her Mama.

I love you, Min, and I know you love me right back, and I know you're not scared of me, but you should be. I very nearly killed you, and you can't come back to visit me right now. My maker says he has reconsidered my training. He says I need to get out of this room. He says I need to learn to direct my killer instincts onto real prey and not you. He says he and Ace are going to take me on a little hunting trip. I don't know how long we'll be gone, or when I will be fit for you to visit safely. Wait for me, baby. Wait for me and grow our Little Light.

Your vampire who should leave, but can't, because he loves you too much,

Hen

P.S. We're gonna get married, girl. I don't care if there's a piece of paper that says its legal or not. We're going to stand before the vampires and the witches of our family, and I'm going to pledge to love you forever. I'm glad you're a black witch now. Because between us, that forever I'm going to promise you just might be possible.

Minnie was sufficiently blissed out by Henry's beautiful letter that she didn't even notice that Thacker was wearing his magical cufflinks when he arrived to coax her to get some breakfast, but I saw the cufflinks, and I saw that he also had a gun in a holster strapped beneath his jacket, and I saw the nod he gave Evander as they left us alone.

Evander draped himself onto the couch with a lithe glide that belied his weariness. He stared at the door Thacker had closed behind Minnie and put an automatic arm around me as I inserted myself against him.

"What kind of bullets are in the gun Thacker is carrying?" I murmured against his jaw, which was glacial against my lips. His earlier feeding hadn't been nearly enough, but he wasn't starving as he had been. Or at least, I felt no magical pull to want to feed him, so I assumed he wasn't starving.