Chapter Forty-six
HARMONY hadn’t told King that in fighting such a powerful witch, her psychic and physical energy could be compromised. Yet she’d never felt more alive, more focused or determined, lightning and all. Nothing was more important to her than giving King, Reggie, and Jake a safe home.
She rang the bell three times to halt the storm and evoke good energies, and she turned to face the circle. “The storm is forcing an unplanned addition to the ritual.” She handed a sprig of holly to each of them. “Holly protects against lightning and negative witchcraft,” she said, arranging holly branches on the altar to form a star.
“Holly King soon to reign,
Protect this home from lightning’s bane.
Oak King, raise your staff;
Cut lightning’s energy thrice in half.”
Feeling a bit dizzy, Harmony rang the bell again as Gussie’s fighting wail became otherworldly.
“Let the Paxton family thrive
Joyful, calm, free, and alive.
Peace and love in this home bloom,
Safe from she who plots its doom.”
Gussie’s howl radiated fear in the people around her. “Positive thoughts,” Harmony said. “The power of three as one will prevail.”
She took a red velvet pouch. “Inside, I place angelica, thistle, holly, mistletoe, a hair from Gussie’s brush, and her dolphin brooch.”
Gussie’s scream became shrill as their royal battle of wills gained momentum.
“In your mind,” Harmony said, “add to this pouch: Gussie’s cry, Paxton home and family troubles, accidents, worry, hurt, negativity, pain, and sorrow.” She tied the pouch with a red ribbon. “Red heals, protects, and combats evil.” She set the pouch aflame with a red candle and placed it in the cauldron. “As smoke rises from the cauldron, so castle negativity rises and dissipates like smoke up a chimney.”
The timbre of Gussie’s wail changed to distress.
Destiny and Storm aligned themselves beside Harmony:
“Augusta Paxton, this spell we cast:
In this place, your time has passed.
No more will you fill this air
With wailing energy to ensnare.
The vindication you sought for years
Is freely given by Paxton heirs.
And it harm none, they set you free.
This is our will, so mote it be.”
The lightning reenergized Gussie, so her cry came from beside the circle. The cats arched and hissed as they guarded the perimeters, and Harmony’s energy waned. She rang the bell, grasped the altar for support, and fell into a black pit.
“Gussie! Enough!” King’s voice reached Harmony as if through a tunnel, and she knew
he
cradled her. “If you hurt the people I love,” he shouted, “I’ll take the castle down stone by stone and plow it under. I swear I will. Peace, Gussie! It’s time. Harmony, sunshine, wake up.”
Someone smoothed her hair and stroked her cheek. “Des! Storm!” King shouted. “I can’t wake her!”
Her sisters clasped her hands, and Harmony accepted the life energy they passed to her. She opened her eyes. “What happened?”
Storm chuckled. “Gussie sucked you under, and Bomb Diggity, over here, took over the ritual. Pretty touching and resourceful, for a detached hunk with no belief system.”
“You scared me to death,” King said, pulling her close, his heart beating double time against hers. He captured her gaze. “Harmony, I know you can do this, but do you feel well enough?”
“You believe in me? But not in witches, psychics, or angels, right?”
He chuckled. “I figure you have aspects of all three—though, rarely, the angel—but yes, I believe in you.” His loving kiss helped replenish her well of strength, and she leaned on him to stand.
“I’m ready,” she said. “Hold hands and imagine that Gussie is a spiral of smoke going up the chimney.” She took King’s cane and placed it on the altar. “You don’t need the cane for this. We’ll hold you up.” The six of them formed an inner circle.
“Can the purple lady play ring around the rosy with us?” Jake asked.
Harmony looked around. “Is she here, Jake?”
“She’s watching us, and she’s sad.”
“Gussie,” Harmony said. “Lisette sent me to help you find peace.”
Brahms’s “Lullaby” wafted into the room, while
inside
the circle, someone hummed. Harmony looked at each of them, all shocked by the sound, all denying the source.
Had Lisette joined the circle to lend her strength from the beginning? “Jake, is there a girl in the circle wearing a faded gown?”
Jake nodded. “She cares about Gussie.”
Harmony nodded toward her sisters. “Now!”
“With the grace of the angels and elements, we bless you, Augusta ‘Gussie’ Paxton, and free you from the negative forces empowering you, so you may find eternal peace and rest.
We bless and free you with the power of the God and Goddess!
We bless and free you with the power of the sun, moon, and stars!
We bless and free you with the power of the angels!
We bless and free you with the power of earth, air, fire, water!
With the grace of the angels and elements, we bless you, Augusta ‘Gussie’ Paxton, and free you from the negative forces empowering you, so you may find eternal peace and rest.”
Gussie wept quietly.
“I honestly feel bad for her,” King said, and at his words, his cane flew from the altar, into the air, hit the rafters, and shattered. Debris rained down on them, and the cane’s gold tip bounced at his feet. King picked it up, took a tiny leather box from inside, opened it, and looked up. “The female half of the ring.” He took it out and read the band. “What does your half say?”
“Love eternal,” Harmony whispered.
King took her hand, removed her half, snapped the two pieces together, and held it for them to see. “The Paxton Celtic lovers’ ring, at last.” He took her hand, again, and Harmony bit her lip against hope as he slipped the coupled ring on her finger. Still holding her hand, he gazed into her eyes. “Love eternal . . . when bound we be,” he said, revealing the full engraving, then he bent to kiss her, the most gentle and . . . loving . . . kiss imaginable. “Hold that thought,” he said, straightening.
Harmony trembled inside, while Gussie wept, and the cats stopped hissing.
“The purple lady is sorry,” Jake said. “She’s gonna go with the girl, so we can have the castle.” Jake hugged King’s legs. “I love you, Grampa. Can we live here forever?”
“Yes,” King said. “We can. I love you, Jake, and I love you, Reggie.” He drew his daughter close. “Welcome home.”
Gussie’s last, unexpected sob burst like a glass ball into a million echoing shards of . . . joy.
Then . . . silence. Blessed silence.
The cats did a psycho-cat dance of joy, backflipping, altar-hopping, and running up pants legs. Jake giggled and went psycho with them.
Still trembling inside at the implications of the Paxton ring on her finger, Harmony continued the ritual. She broke and shared a warm loaf of honey-drizzled bread among them, leaving a plate on the altar to honor and thank the Goddess.
She and King kissed between bites. “We still have to give thanks,” she whispered against his lips.
He winked. “We certainly do.”
She returned to the altar.
“God and Goddess, angels fair, Earth, fire, water, and air,
Thank you for our bountiful fare Especially for this peace so rare.”
“Amen,” King said.
“Des and Storm, extinguish the candles, if you will.”
Harmony closed her eyes, bowed her head, and raised it. “The circle is open.”
King winked. “Are we free to move about the cabin?”
Jake stood on his toes to look around. “Is the purple lady gone?”
Harmony picked him up so he could check the room. “I feel peace all around us. I hope she’s gone and at peace, Jake.”
King touched her arm. “You hope? How will we know for sure?”
Harmony touched a finger to her lips, then to his. “Live here.”
Chapter Forty-seven
“KING,” Harmony said after their ritual, “this is Gussie’s scrying mirror. We sealed it in one of your metal toolboxes, so Gussie couldn’t access it during the ritual. It’s the last piece of her magick in the house. I have a plan to dispose of it. Let’s go.”
“Scrying?” he asked, as they left.
“You read it like you read a crystal ball. Do you need another cane? There are at least a dozen upstairs.”
“A dozen? And you gave me the one with the ring inside?”
“I had no idea, but no wonder I got a sense of the ring near the cane stand. Guess I must be psychic or something.”
“You’re something, all right, and I’d rather lean on you than a cane.”
Harmony’s heart tripped. “I never thought
you’d
lean on anyone.”
“Walking alone isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
“Especially up this hill.” They walked slowly, their arms around each other, toward the edge of the cliff. “This is the place,” she said, “looking down to the base of the cliff. Gussie loved the sea. Nicodemus died there. Lisette escaped there, and Gussie’s mirror belongs there.”
“This is Mermaid Cliff,” King said.
“Appropriate, since we’re both fond of mermaids.”
King brought her as close as he could with the mirror between them. “You’re the only mermaid I want.”
“I’m glad.” She accepted his kiss but didn’t push for more than he was willing to give. “I promised to explain the meaning of the sea horse after the ritual. Are you ready? The ancient Celts believed that the sea horse was a transporter to the otherworld.”
“Blessed peaceful ghost! What made you choose a sea horse tattoo?”
“It was cute. We were thirteen when we got our tattoos. We didn’t understand the symbolism. You named your boat
The Sea Horse
. Why? Because you wanted to cross somebody over? I don’t think so. Yet I believe that your compassion, when you felt sorry for Gussie, is what made Lisette give you the other half of the ring.”
“I think she did it for you.” He looked out over the cliff. “How did you know about this place?”
“I came for a walk last night . . . when I never thought I’d see you again.”
He winced. “I was a fool. Have you forgiven me?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
“Think harder.” He grazed her neck with his lips to persuade her.
Looking down, she eyed his interest . . . with interest. “I see
you’re
thinking harder.”
“Ignore that. I have a sock in my pants.” He turned the mirror so she could look into it. “Tell me what you see.”
Harmony gasped. “Lisette! She’s wearing my gown, saying, ‘Thank you.’ Ah, she’s gone, but I did it, King!” She threw her arms around him. “I completed my psychic mandate.”
“Somehow, I knew you would. I’m glad you saw proof. I didn’t expect it, but I’m glad. I showed you the mirror so I could tell you what I see when I look at you . . . at us.”
Harmony’s radar went up, and she stepped back. “I’m listening.”
“During the ritual, I realized that I’d entrusted you with my family’s future, and my thoughts crystallized. You and I are polar opposites. “I’m broody, skeptical, controlling.”
Harmony nodded. “Single-minded, uptight, impatient, bossy . . .”
King frowned, such an endearing frown. “I’m trying to make a point.”
She slid an arm to his waist via his tush. “Please continue.”
He raised a brow. “I’m all the things you said, while you’re unconventional, willful, impulsive, stubborn, and scary/thrilling . . . everything I’ve been missing in my life. You stir my heart, Harmony, the way you stir that cauldron, arousing fire and peace, magick and love.”
“I do?” Harmony stilled and felt herself coming back to life. “I wanna kiss you, but I can’t get close enough with the mirror between us. Throw it, now, as far as you can, so it doesn’t break on the rocks.”
King tossed it in a sweeping arc, and the mirror slid clean into the sea.
“Yay team!” Harmony cheered. “Give me an
O
.”
King crushed her in his embrace and kissed her senseless. When he broke the kiss, he looked up and turned her in his arms to face the sea. Dolphins played where the mirror had landed. “Look, they’re celebrating for Gussie.”
The sun slipped from behind a feathery white cloud and crowned the dolphin playground with a rainbow.
Harmony’s eyes filled. “The dolphin symbolizes the end of an old life and the birth of a new one.”
“Speaking of which . . . ,” King said. “When my cane shattered, I think the walls around my heart shattered, too, because all manner of emotions poured out. Then there was this ring.” He took her hand. “
This
amazing symbol of the missing half of my heart.”
“I feel like we’re in the lagoon,” Harmony said.
“The lagoon,” King repeated, “was more than passion. That’s why I ran.”
“I know.”
“You’ve always known things about me that you shouldn’t.”
She smiled. “When I got to the castle, I could read you—every sexy move, touch, lick, kiss, and maneuver you imagined—I read your every
fantasy
.” She wiggled her brows. “But I can’t read your thoughts anymore.” She tried to sound wistful.
He raised a knowing brow. “Want me to spell it out for you, do you? Then I will. Remember what I said about getting married once in a blue moon?”
“I remember. Blue moons happen about thirty-seven times a century.”
King searched her expression. “Do you know the date of the next blue moon?”
Harmony couldn’t stop her smile. “I do, but do you?”
He gave her an enigmatic smile. “Seven days from today. On June thirtieth, there’ll be a blue moon.”
“I found Lisette’s half of the ring with the first full moon of the month, June first,” Harmony said.
King’s laugh lines crinkled to the breaking point. Her heart about stopped with his all-out grin. “And with the second full moon of the month, the blue moon, we can split the ring so
we
become two halves of a whole, each of us wearing half. Romantic, huh?”
“I could faint from the romance—that
was
a proposal, right?”
“There’s that smart mouth, but I love you, anyway.”
“Get out!” She pushed from his arms. “You don’t know what you’re saying. You
love
me?”
“Didn’t I say so during the ritual when I gave you the ring?”
“Uh, no, McClueless.”
King shook his head. “Smart mouth and all, I love you,” he whispered against her lips, and his words touched her in amazing places, especially her heart.
He pulled her down to the wet, lavender- and thyme-scented grass.
Harmony touched his face, his dear, dear face, traced those wonderful laugh lines, gazed into his deep whiskey eyes, his emotions there for her to see, including . . . love. The man she loved . . . loved her in return. Bless the stars, how had she gotten so lucky? Her psychic mandate had turned a handful of unwanted misfits and an off-with-their-heads castle into a home and a family. “I love you, King.” She cupped his cheek. “I love you, but I never thought I’d get to tell you.”
“Harmony Cartwright, will you marry me? In sickness and health, grandchildren and castle renovations—not to mention great times in the sack with multiple multiples—for as long as we both shall live? How’s that for a proposal? Spontaneous
and
romantic, heh?”
She laughed. “I’ll marry you in sickness and health, lust, passion, peace, and love—in spite of your fractured tries at spontaneous romantic sentiment—for as long as we both shall live . . .
and beyond
.”
Despite his exaggerated wince and the quirky half smile that accompanied it, Harmony could see that King’s emotions sat close to the surface. He cleared his throat. “I love your laugh, you witchy woman. And I love that you’re a smart, sexy, sassy high priestess. I noticed the first day that you have a great rack, a fine ass, and legs that go on forever—but I didn’t know about the tattoos.” King began his nibbling way down her cleavage, toward the triquetra hidden there, but he stopped, looked up, and grinned, an easy, no-holds-barred grin that overflowed her heart with love. “How can a man not love a woman with tattoos?” he said.
“All this sweet talk is going to my head, McBullseye. Good thing you’re aces in the sack.”
“How do witches get married?” he asked, raising his head. “Do we have to fly in a high priest on a broom?”