Page 16 of Magical Midlife Conclave

“But you don’t have to take it if you’re not sure,” I said, pulling my hand away and hooking my arms around his neck.

“Yes, he does,” Ivy House said.

I rolled my eyes at her.

“She told you I do, huh?” He gave me a small smile and pulled me in a little tighter. “She’s right. I do. If it means I can protect you even a little bit better, it is worth the risk.”

“You’ve done all this to protect me already. I’ve turned your life upside down, Austin.” I shook my head at him. “I stripped you of a nice, peaceful, quiet life and then basically shoved you at a coming war. If you’re not a hundred percent sure, then you shouldn’t do it. You can always take it down the road if you want. It doesn’t have to be now.”

He laughed sardonically. “Peaceful life? I was hiding here, Jess. I told myself it was for the best, but I was fooling myself. I was being a coward. You woke me up. You nudged me into reaching for the stars, and because of that, I reconnected with and then saved my family. I owe you everything, all that I am. You cannot imagine the suffering I would’ve endured if my family had been taken down by Momar and I’d done nothing. If I hadn’t been there when he needed me, or even known about it until after, it would’ve…”

His voice hitched. His eyes turned glassy and he shook his head in small jerks, trying to keep the emotion at bay.

I ran my hands along the edges of his jaw.

He captured my wrists and then slid his hands to mine, entwining our fingers. “I had a shell of a life until you came along. I didn’t have any peace. Any future. I’d built my life on ghosts and guilt. I went home to a quiet, empty house every night and woke up to beauty I didn’t fully see. That I couldn’t internalize. It wasn’t until you that I came alive. Truly, completely came alive.”

A tear leaked out of my eye.

He bent to kiss it away. “I will brave that magic, and I will either master it, or I will ensure I am taken out⁠—”

I slapped him across the face, cutting him off. “I know what you’re doing, and it is very noble, but shut up. Being taken out is not an option. It just isn’t. If it comes to that, I will force them to stay back, and I’ll go down with you. I will tell you I love you even as you kill⁠—”

Now it was his hand on my mouth. Nice of him not to slap me.

A pained expression creased his face. “Point made.”

I pulled his hand away. “You will either take that magic and master it, or you won’t take it. End of story⁠—”

He put his hand back on my mouth. “Point made, I said. I got it.”

I lifted my eyebrows at him.

He took his hand away and then covered my mouth with his. I could feel his smile.

“He is the very best mate you could have chosen,” Ivy House said with pride. “He is better than all the others. He is the kind of man the Mate Protector’s magic was meant for.”

“You don’t make my life easy,” he joked, taking my hand again and tugging me back to walking.

“Ditto.” I leaned into him.

After a moment, he said, “I would like a quiet, peaceful life one day. For a little while, at least. I’ve never really had that. In my youth I was always battling my beast or being told I’d grow up like my father. Then…I started to follow that path or was hiding from it in loneliness. My first real breath of fresh air was you, and we’ve been running from or at danger ever since. I guess…one day…I’d like to just be a family and run a business and cook for you and sit out with a cup of coffee on a lazy Sunday morning, looking out at the trees. I want to travel and experience new places without the threat of death always hanging over our heads.”

I heard the wistfulness in his voice. The longing.

I pulled my hand away and looped my arm around his waist. His arm fell over my shoulders.

“We will. I promise. We’ll learn a new hobby, and I’ll study magic that doesn’t center around war and killing.”

“What about flower growing? Is that hobby in your future? Flower shows, maybe.”

“I don’t know, maybe doily making…” I laughed as we neared downtown. “I’d love to travel abroad, though. And look, I just happen to have some property we can visit. Castles and villas and who knows what. We’ll do the hard work now so that we can live the good life later, okay? That’ll be our reward.” I took a deep breath. “Hope springs eternal.”

“Can I hope that you leave Mr. Tom at home when we travel, or…?”

“The thing is…if we leave him behind, you’d have to do my laundry.”

“Hmm…” He lifted his hands like he was weighing that. “I’m still a go for that plan.”