KISS THE WITCH (36 page)

She smiled and broke into a sort of
half-crying half-laughing sputter that gave life to her tears.
“Just enough to make her interesting,” she said, sniffing. “She’s a
pistol, isn’t she?”

I shook my head lightly. “You have no idea.”
I put my arms around Lilith and Ursula and pulled them in for a
hug. Our heads bumped and we all laughed at that. I let them go
before my own tears blurred my vision entirely.

“
Madam. Milady. The thing
is…. What I’m trying to say is that I love Lilith. She is my life.
My soul mate. We have been through so much together. As far as
Ursula is concerned, of course I love her, too. I cannot help but
love her. She is so much a part of Lilith. But I don’t love her the
same way Dominic loves her. That kiss last night that linked us; it
was a kiss of mistaken identity. A kiss between two people who love
each other, but only platonically.” I turned to Lilith, swept her
tears away with the tips of my fingers and kissed her salty cheek.
“Not like my love for this one.”

I returned to the old matriarch in the
mirror. “Milady, let Ursula live her life free of my shadow. It is
only right. Break the link between us and let it join instead the
two people most worthy of the witch’s light. I took Lilith’s hand
in mine. I love this beautiful woman. I want to spend the rest of
my days with her. I want her in my heart and on mind always. As it
should be. I want to make her mine.”

The old woman smiled. “This be thy wish,
Anthony of New Castle?”

“
It is. Yes.”

“
Lilith of New Castle.
This be thy wish, too?”

Lilith peered at me through eyes pinched
nearly shut. “It is, Milady. I don’t know why, but I love this
sentimental old witch.”

The matriarch faded back into the sea of
faces. “Then so be it. The coven doth bless and recognize thee,
Lilith and Anthony of New Castle, as man and wife. Go in peace,
live healthy and prosper.”

With those words, the mirror went black
again. “What? No. Wait a minute.” I grabbed the mirror from Carlos
and shook it hard. “You misunderstood. I didn’t say…. That’s not
what I meant. Hello? Can you hear me? Come back!”

“
What’s the matter?” asked
Lilith.

“
I think she just married
us.”

“
Yes. I know. I was there.
You asked her to.”

“
I did?”

“
Didn’t you?”

“
No. I wanted her to....”
I looked into Lilith’s eyes. She seemed genuinely surprised, if not
hurt. “I mean I thought––”

“
You thought? Are you
telling me you didn’t want to marry me?”

“
What? No. I didn’t say
that.”

“
I don’t believe it.” She
turned to Carlos. “Can you believe this guy? Did you or did you not
hear Tony propose to me?”

Carlos gave me a highbrow and a nod. “It did
sound like you were asking her to marry you, Tony. Dominic?”

“
Yeah,” said Dominic.
“That’s what I heard. Sounded poetic. Congratulations. I
guess.”

“
Yeah. Congratulations,
Tony.”

“
Carlos, I
didn’t––”

“
Tony.” Lilith snatched
the mirror from my hands. “Are you telling me that you don’t want
to be married to me? Because if you are, I will call the coven back
and have the marriage annulled this minute.”

“
Lilith, no. That’s not
what I’m saying at all. I’m simply saying....” I looked down at the
ground. The witch’s light still ran from Ursula to me in a jagged
blue line that seemed to excite the very soil beneath our feet. “I
thought she was going to break the link between Ursula and me once
and for all.”

Lilith looked at the ground briefly before
looking up at me again. “Tony. Step aside.”

“
Excuse me?”

“
I said, step aside.” She
grabbed my arm and yanked me back. I looked down at my feet. The
witch’s light no longer connected Ursula and me. Instead, it linked
Ursula to Lilith. I had merely been standing on the line between
them. I looked up at the two. They were looking at each other,
smiling similarly, sharing each other’s thoughts.

“
I don’t understand,” I
said to Lilith. “I asked her to link the light between me and
you.”

“
No.” She crossed her arms
at her chest. “You asked that the light join the two people most
worthy of the link.” She smiled. “That’s me and Ursula.”

“
But that is not what I
meant.”

Ursula replied, “`Tis words ye say what
first we hear, not what words ye mean.”

Lilith added, “You told the coven you loved
me.”

“
And I do.”

“
You said you wanted to
spend the rest of your days with me.”

“
I do.”

“
And that you want me in
your heart and on your mind always.”

“
Yes, and that’s all
true.”

“
You said you wanted to
make me yours.”

“
Yes. I did say that, and
I meant it.”

Carlos said, “Sounds like a proposal to
me.”

“
Yeah,” said Dominic. “Me,
too.”

“
Aye.” Ursula chimed in.
“Doth me, as well.”

Lilith dropped her arms and softened her
stance. “Well?”

I smiled sheepishly. “Well what?”

“
Did you mean all
that?”

In that instant, I fell into the depth of
her eyes. They drew me to her. I slipped my arms around her waist
and held her tight. “I did. You know I did. You know I do. I love
you, Lilith. And I do want you to be my wife. I always have.”

Her eyes glistened in the sparkling glow of
firelight, but she held her tears. She would not let them fall.
Saving them, instead for later, after we made love for the first
time as husband and wife. And though the witch’s light did not link
us, as I hoped it might, our thoughts were as one, forged forever
in love.

Carlos, perhaps fearing we could stand there
all night locked in each other’s embrace, broke us from our lover’s
trance, reminding us that we were not the only ones standing in the
ring of fire. He told us we were married now, but that we still
needed to make it official. His words I will never forget. They
ring in my ears still.

“
Can you believe it,
Tony?” he said. Though I barely could. “You’re married now. What
are you waiting for? Go on. Kiss the witch.”