By Magic Alone (39 page)

“I know all of this, Scot.”

“Supposedly, there are going to be more daughters born into the family.”

I thought of the picture and nodded. “And Miranda’s magic is a gift, passed from daughter to daughter. Not to the sons. Correct?”

“Yup.” Scot ran his hand over his jaw. “But my grandmother is positive that the magic is growing and changing with each
new generation. And she believes that the future women in our family will struggle with the power, and that some of them could lose their way.”

“Okay . . .”

“She dreamed of a . . . well, a prophecy, I guess. For lack of a better word. And that prophecy showed her that our sons will create some type of a stabilizing balance for the magic. A grounding for the power.” He swore again, shaking his head. “I’m not explaining this well. But this is why my grandmother has been so focused on finding my soul mate.”

Okay. The right woman with Scot. Three sons who would somehow keep the growing magic in check. It was a lot to take in, but after the last couple of weeks, it was remarkably easy to go with the flow. “That’s startling, I’ll give you that. Do you believe this . . . uh . . . prophecy to be true?”

“If you’d asked me that question a couple of years ago, I could’ve said no. But that was before I learned about Miranda. That was before I’d seen what my sisters can do with their magic. And my grandmother is right far more often than she’s wrong.” Scot shrugged, but his tension came through loud and clear. “Yeah, I believe everything she has said about the prophecy.”

“But why walk away from me?” That’s the part I couldn’t wrap my head around. I mean, Scot would do
anything
for his family. He protected his family. So if I were somehow the one woman he had to be with in order to protect his family, his actions were the opposite of what they should’ve been. Unless . . . oh, God. All of my hopes swirled down the drain. Tears flooded my eyes instantly. “You don’t think I’m the right woman, do you? You care about me, but—”

“That’s not it. I
know you
are that woman.”

“Then I don’t understand.” I mentally went through
everything he’d said, every action he’d taken, again. Scot sat next to me, quiet and still. And then all at once, I got it. Oh, wow. Just freaking wow. Two plus two
can
equal five.

“You chose me. When you thought your family was using magic to coerce me to fall for you, even knowing what you know about this prophecy, you . . . you chose to walk away. To protect me over your family.” God, what a horribly difficult decision that must have been.

“I love you. Of course I chose to protect you from a life that wasn’t real.”

“Then—” I had to swallow a sob. “What brought you here today? What changed your mind?”

“The same reason, Julia. I love you.” He touched my chin, my cheek, my hair, and I melted. It was at once that simple and that complex. “I knew I’d hurt you, and that was unacceptable. I had to make sure you were okay. I also missed you. If there was any chance that your feelings were true, I had to find out.”

“They are true, Scot. I know that without question. But you put me through hell,” I whispered. Here it was: the beginning. Our beginning. “I love you, too. And if you ever try to make a decision for me again, I’ll . . . I’ll . . .”

“You’ll what?”

“I don’t know,” I said through my tears. “But it won’t be pretty.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He wiped my tears away. “I will do everything in my power to never hurt you again. I promise.”

“So, Scot, I have a question for you,” I said, purposely lightening the moment. “Is this real, or is this still pretend?”

“This is real. No more pretend.” His voice was soft, his eyes intense. “That work for you?”

“Uh-huh. But we better start thinking of names. I saw our eldest son today. He’s quite the looker.”

An eyebrow shot up in surprise, and Scot’s lips quirked into a grin. “Alice?”

“Yeah. Remind me to show you the picture later.” His arms came around me, tight, secure, and wow, it felt so right. So natural. “One more thing,” I murmured. “I’m out of a job in a month, and could use a little help deciding what I’m going to do next.”

“We’ll figure it out. My advice is to follow your—”

“Heart,” I said, just as his mouth met mine. The entire world dissolved into nothingness. I sank into the kiss, reveled in the heat and hunger that roared to life, in the way our bodies fit together so well. As if we were made for each other.

Up until now, I’d lived my life in a secure bubble of rules, rational thought, and practical decisions. I hadn’t gone looking for this. I hadn’t believed in the fairy tale. Fake magic had once pulled me away from a boy I had a crush on, but real magic had brought me to Scot . . . to love . . . to everything I needed. Everything I would
ever
need. I’d follow my heart wherever it might lead. And with Scot by my side, the journey would be nothing short of magical.