A Kind of Magic

Seventy-Seven

Peregrine tore his eyes off the blue circle of light produced by the ring through which, as every evening, he was observing Ancalagon and his army, before using it to connect with Freddie once the boy retired for the night into his bedroom in the cottage his father used as headquarters. 

He looked towards the door of his house, questioning his sanity. Why did the air all around him suddenly carry his Bella's scent? She had been on his mind constantly since he had left Alaric's castle... no... since he had laid eyes on her for the first time in London months ago. But her perfume, the fragile, ephemeral trace of it which he still carried with him trapped in some of his clothes, had never felt this strong. He stood and rushed towards the door, opening it wide even as she raised her fist to knock, her small, cold hand connecting with his chest instead of the wood. 

Taking her by that hand he pulled her into him, running his hand up and down her back soothingly when he felt her shoulders start to shake with her tears, and a few sobs she couldn't suppress, the sound breaking his heart. This, her sadness and tears, were his fault.

"Hush, please... don't cry..." he muttered, unable to believe that his own eyes felt wet and blurry. He hadn't cried since he had been a little boy... since his parents...

But this was not the right moment for such thoughts. Pulling himself together, he buried his hands in her red curls, relishing the feel of her undone hair, released into chaos around her face. She must have been walking the whole day in the cold, she felt freezing. And yet her cheeks burned with heat as he kissed her deeply, savouring the moment he had been dreaming about since he had left her sleeping in her bed... pulling the blankets and furs over her ivory skin to keep her warm in his absence... kissing her on her lips one last time without waking her... 

Right. This definitely wasn't the moment for such thoughts; he scolded himself, staring into her mesmerising eyes as he said, "Bella. By the old gods... how did you get here? How did you find me? How could the two... fathers of yours allow you to come here, so close to the enemy army... You are not alone, are you? You can't be..." he realised, not allowing her to speak as he tucked her under his arm, making her shiver in his warmth, before he addressed the tree line of the encroaching forest shrouded in fog. "Come out, everyone, you just blew my cover anyway!"

And even as Fiona unthawed from the coldness she had felt the whole day, or rather since Peregrine had left, and the shock of really finding him, then wrapped her arms around his waist, holding onto her beloved Highlander for dear life lest he would vanish again, sighing contentedly when he bestowed a kiss on the top of her head as they waited for their friends, they all filed out from the trees blurred by a veil of fog.

Annwyn ran happily towards her big brother while the others followed at a slower pace, allowing time for the family reunion. 

"Leodhais, Gilderoy, and Aryana, of course," Peregrine scolded but his lips turned up into a suggestion of a smile as he observed the men and the werewolf girl hiding behind them, Annwyn now under his other arm. "And Angus and Calum," he added, inclining his head to the Scots. "But why, by the old gods, bring our women, our hearts into this danger?" he demanded, pulling Fiona and Annwyn closer to his sides, crushing them against his body.

"It was more like they brought us here to save you," Leodhais said, chuckling, before he added as he wrapped his arm around his wife who now left her brother to Fiona, "You know that if it was for me, dragon..."

"The truth is, Fiona set out upon this quest all alone. She wouldn't be persuaded to change her mind and wait for you at home. So we followed her. It was just all easier and safer this way," Gilderoy said, kissing Aryana who now stood at his side on her temple, the loch's uneven shore making the dwarf almost as tall as the petite werewolf.