AWAITING IN THE DARK

Chapter 20

The breeze danced across my face as I held Noah's body close to mine. Tucking my face in-between his underarm and side I try to shield it. All of a sudden the air becomes icy. I look down at my feet and notice we are standing in snow. I pull away from Noah to look at his face. His facial expression shows nothing but pure joy. I can only assume his newfound happiness is due to him returning home. I turn and glance around me. People are dressed in winter clothing. Covered from head to toe in fabric. They rush to get indoors, away from the cold. 

Noah takes a step forward. His boots disappeared in the high snow. I follow him as I try to walk in the snow with sandals. Noah stops for a moment and looks behind him. He notices my choice of footwear. Shaking his head he stands up straighter, lifting me out of the snow. 

"I am going to have to carry you. " He gently speaks. 

"I can walk. " I say stubbornly. 

"Not in those shoes you can't. It's winter. Why are you wearing those shoes?" 

"It wasn't snowing where we were. " Say defensively. 

"That's true. Do you have clothes for the winter here that I can get from your house or do we need to do some shopping?" Noah asks, cradling me to his chest  as he continues to walk in the snow. 

"I have clothes at home. " 

"Remind me to get those. "

"You're going to go back? " I ask surprised. 

"Magic, Juliet. I can retrieve your clothes with magic. " 

"Oh. I was hoping you'd see if you could find my mother and Courtney. "

"Courtney is fine. " Noah assures. 

"How can you know that?" 

"A list of save coven members was brought to the kingdom. They keep track of that, you know. Her name was on the list. " 

"How many people are missing?" 

 I was shocked. 

"Twenty two." Noah says looking down at my face. 

I want to tell Noah to watch where he is going. He might bump into someone or something. I can't bring myself to do so though. He has me captivated by his eyes. 

A thought suddenly occurs to me. If my element is water, maybe I could lift some of this snow off the ground as we walked. 

"Everyone here knows about magic, right?" I ask as we pass an area that has a sign reading "Witches Cottages". 

"Yes. Why?" Noah asks curiously. 

I stare at the ground and imagine the snow floating above us. Slowly the snow starts to lift into the air. It stays floating in the air for thirty seconds before falling back to the ground. 

"It was a nice thought. It would take a very experienced witch or warlock to lift that much snow. " Noah says as he smiles down at me. 

"Can you?" 

"Can I do what?". 

"Can you lift the snow ?" 

"Are you questioning my amazing abilities?" He says with a cocky grin. 

"Yes. I am ."

"What if I like being able to hold you. If I lift the snow, I would have to set you down.  " 

"What if I let you continue to carry me afterwards? Will you show me then?" I ask eagerly. 

"Hmmm. " Noah says before he stops and places me on the ground.