Fire & Ice

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Journal Entry:

I want her so badly—to be in her arms with nothing separating us—it has become consistently harder to maintain control when I'm with her. This is one thing I can't fail at. I need to keep her safe—even if it's from me.

***

Sean glanced around at the coven members gathered in the circle, concerned. "As you all know, I've been involved with laying a false trail that leads Vance's father farther away from here. Things seemed to be going pretty well. I had him searching in an area back East and he'd been stationed there for quite a while. However, he seems to have vanished and I can't find a trace of him anywhere. He had several followers working with him and they're all gone too. I don't know if he has any idea we were leading him astray, or if they simply left. They could be anywhere."

If Sean was worried, we all should be. The old familiar dread started to rise inside of me. It wasn't until this very moment I realized how complacent I'd become, allowing myself to fully immerse in my life here.

"We need everyone to be on their guard, watching for anything suspicious," Milly added.

Portia flashed a worried glance at me, and I took her hand.

"It's all right, baby. I'm okay," I whispered softly into her head, hoping to reassure her. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." Even if I wanted to run, which I didn't, there was no way I could leave her behind. She was my family—my life. My binding vows to her were as sacred to me as any marriage vow I would ever take. I belonged only to her.

Her grip tightened on mine. "Please be careful," she replied.

We spent the rest of the evening chanting several protection spells over the whole group before releasing the circle to head home, but I still found it difficult to release the sick pit of nervousness gathering in my stomach. Unease continued to pour through me.

I caught Marsha outside. "Aunt Marsha, I'm going to spend the night at Portia's house tonight. I don't want to leave her alone."

Marsha simply laughed. "So how's that different from any other night of the week?"

"You knew?" I was completely surprised. "You never said anything."

"I knew," she replied, smiling. "It's my job to keep an eye on you. Don't you think it would look bad if I didn't know where you were?"

Feeling like an idiot, I apologized. She was my guardian and deserved more respect from me. "I'm sorry. I should've confided in you sooner about this."

"It's okay. I remember what being young and in love felt like. Go on, but please be safe." She leaned in and gave me quick kiss on the cheek. I knew exactly what she meant when she told me to be safe, and it had nothing to do with my father. There were some things I was never going to talk with her about, though, and sex was one of them. I drew the line at that creepy prospect.

Several minutes later, I was lying with Portia on her bed, marveling at the fact that our parents knew we were here, together. There was no doubt in my mind that leniency was being made because Milly had gone to bat for Portia and me with her parents after our binding spell. This showed an incredible amount of trust toward me, and honestly, it made me a bit nervous because I was really struggling with containing myself these days.

"Why do you always do that?" Portia asked as I tucked the blanket around her.

"Do what?"

"Sleep with the blankets in between us. It's like you're afraid to be next to me." There was a slight hurt tone in her voice.