19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

H e pulled a lighter from his pocket. It was the one single thing of his father’s that he had kept, a heavy silver thing with a rose etched on the front. It had been left behind on the night he walked out of the house and never came back.

It seemed fitting that it would be the thing to help him end all this. All the anger and fear and grief churning in his gut had compelled him to dig it out of the bottom of his suitcase before leaving the house this morning.

He held it now in one clenched fist, the wind howling in his ears. He lowered himself to the sand, the book in his lap. He was the only one here again. He had come to think of this beach as his place. It seemed right that this would be the place where he executed his plan. It seemed very prophetic—very full circle.

He set the book down in the sand and got to his feet. There was no fire pit here. Didn’t beaches usually have a fire pit for bonfires and such? He had never really paid attention before. So, he set about collecting sticks and stones, a pyre to burn the book upon. A fitting end to it all.

Except it would not stop raining and the wind seemed to blow harder every second. But he was determined. Flicking the lighter, he bent down to hold the flame to a small stick in his other hand. He used that stick to then light the pile of wood at his feet. The flame caught quickly. Once he was satisfied the flame would not blow out, he went to collect the book from the spot where he left it, only to find that the wind had blown it open.

He got down on his knees to peer at the pages.

To create the perfect wind (for sailing)

There was a list of ingredients and then the spell itself.

I wish the wind to blow today.

This wish it will not fail.

I wish the wind to blow today.

So that it may fill my sails.

Kelly Grace Reynolds

“Olivia,” Jill said softly. “Are you sure—”

She held up a hand to silence her friend. “Jill, please don’t. If Draven’s planning on doing something to the book, we have to stop him. If we lost it, we could lose our magic. Is that what you want?”

Jill shook her head. “Of course not. But let’s just think about this for a second. Could he actually do any damage to the book?”

Parker nodded, eyes wide with fear. “The book can be destroyed. The only spells we used on it were ones to protect it from weather and age. I’m guessing no one ever thought we’d need to protect it from being stolen.”

Olivia laughed. She could not help herself. It was all so ridiculous and yet it was happening. The one man she had let herself feel anything for in years turned out to have a vendetta against her town and was intent on taking away their magic. You could not make this stuff up.

“Liv?” Parker asked gently, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s all my fault. I let my guard down around Draven. I told him what the book was and what it did for us and last night …” she whirled to face Jill, tears pooling in her eyes, “last night when he was supposed to be catching up with Malcolm? He probably followed us to watch the protection spell. That’s probably how he knew where the book was. He saw it.”

“Olivia,” Jill whispered. “It is not your fault.”

“But it is. When he came to see me earlier, he told me the truth and I snapped. I accused him of being afraid of magic. I told him the truth about his mother. I could see how much learning everything had hurt him. But I lashed out. I pushed him away.”

Parker pulled Olivia’s face up, cupping it in her hands. “Anyone else would have done the same thing, Liv. Believe me. He lied to you, betrayed your trust. No one would expect you to immediately forgive him, if at all. He did a terrible thing and you reacted accordingly.”

She sniffed, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Maybe you’re right. But I shouldn’t have let him leave. I was so ready to believe he was exactly like Shawn that I ignored his pain. Maybe he doesn’t deserve my forgiveness, but I won’t let him do this. I won’t let him take our magic. Because if he does, I know it will haunt him for the rest of his life. I don’t want that for him. There’s so much good in him. I won’t let him snuff it out.”.

She would give him the chance that Shawn never gave her. She only hoped he would take it and if he didn’t, she wouldn’t hesitate to stop him. She had too much to lose.

“How are we going to stop him, Liv?” Parker asked. “We don’t even know where the hell he is.”

“Should we use a locator spell?” Jill asked.

“No,” Olivia said, shaking her head. “We don’t need it. He’s down at the beach. That’s the only place in town he loves more than anything. The place where he always feels the most connected to his mother. If he was going to try and take away our magic, that’s where he’s going to do it.”

His mother had written this spell. There was no date, but he knew it was likely from before she had met his father. She had still used her family name. It did not strike him as a particularly advanced spell. Maybe something she had come up with as a teenager?

He read it again, laughing at the title. She had loved the water, the beach. He had always assumed she had no interest in sailing, though. Always content to watch him and Lucas venture out. But maybe she had loved it just as much as they had. The idea brought tears to his eyes.

On impulse, he pulled out his phone. He unlocked the screen and navigated to the camera. He moved back just a bit so he could capture the entire page. When he was satisfied, he sent it off to Lucas.

He sighed, feeling the weight of all his decisions on his shoulders. Seeing his mother’s name in that book was difficult in a way he hadn’t expected. That anger was back, pounding in his heart, pulsing in his blood.

His mother was a witch once upon a time. Before now, it had been this fantastical idea. But seeing that spell put the truth of it right in front of him. His mother was a witch and she made her choice anyway, knowing the risk it posed.

Magic is a gift, Draven. And I will not betray it.

Olivia’s words sounded in his head. So sure, so absolute. He had to believe his mother was the same. That despite this one mistake, she too believed that magic was a gift and if she did, then she would not want this for him now. She would not want revenge. Seeing her spell in the book proved that to him. Even if it was just a silly spell, his mother had truly been a part of something here. She would not want him to destroy it.

No. She had to have known the consequences of her actions and he could guess why she did it.

His mother had loved his father more than anything. Maybe that was her biggest mistake, loving someone who only wanted to use you. Maybe his father did love her, but he loved the idea of magic more and eventually, he got tired of pretending.

Draven was no better, using Olivia and her love of magic to further his own agenda.

Shame settled heavily in his bones. It was all so wrong. Because he could see now how his anger and his grief had skewed his viewpoint; he had been so lost. Adrift in a sea of loss and loneliness, discovering his mother’s secret had been something of a lifeline for him. His assumptions about magic’s role in her life was a distraction from the pain he lived with every day, the ache in his heart that gnawed away at him. The memories he was desperate to never forget and the fear that someday he would.

He looked down at the book, pages now wet from his tears. What would his mother think of him now? Would she be disappointed? Angry? Probably both. How could he have ever thought this would be what she would want? It was clear to him now that this was the sign he had been looking for earlier. Leave it to his mother to wait until the last possible second. He would laugh if he had the energy.

Because while he was incredibly happy that he hadn’t gone through with burning the book, he was now faced with another problem. Olivia. She had let him into her heart, sharing the most intimate parts of herself with him. He knew how much trust meant to her and he had betrayed that trust.

The sound of the waves crashing against the shore drew his attention. How many significant moments of his life had taken place with that sound in the background? Just two weeks ago, he had stood on this beach with Olivia and Daniel, the three of them searching for another shell to add to their collection. Daniel had been so thrilled that Draven had been the one to find one this time.

Being out on the boat brought him so much joy, the wind whipping around him, the smell of salt in the air, and how amazing it was to teach Daniel about sailing. The way he and his brother had taught each other.

How on earth was he supposed to fix this mess? Should he even try? Olivia and Daniel both deserved so much better than him.

It was taking incredible strength to keep from going back to her right now and begging for her forgiveness. He wanted to see her, to touch her. He fluctuated between overwhelming guilt from the way he had handled everything to crippling fear that he had lost the person he loved forever.

He loved her.

It was not something he intended, falling for her so quickly. But it was inevitable. Looking back, that much was obvious—but it was never something that he planned. The more she gave him, the more he wanted and oh how he fucking wanted her. How he still did.

It was like a hole in his chest, one that was gaping, ugly and raw. Everything still worked as it should—his heart beat and his blood flowed—but there was no reason for it now. He found himself wondering what he had done before her. How was it possible for her to have such a hold on him after such a short time?

His phone buzzed again, this time from somewhere near his knee. He had set it down after taking the picture. He picked it up, blowing away a few specs of sand and glanced down at the screen—three unread texts from Lucas. The first two were from earlier. He had been so preoccupied with taking the book, he had never looked at them. The first two were in response to his picture of the ocean from the first day he arrived in town and his picture of the sailboat from earlier today.

I miss you too.

And I’m sorry for everything.

The last was a response to the picture of the book page.

What is that? Draven, what’s going on?

He sent a quick reply back, letting Lucas know that everything was okay and that he would call him soon. Knowing that his brother wanted to see him, wanted to talk to him, made the pain in his chest that much easier to bear. No matter what happened with Olivia, at least he still had Lucas. There was so much they needed to say to each other, so many wounds that needed to heal. They had both taken the first step today.

The pop of a stick in the fire caught his attention. The flames were still going strong. He should put it out. Then he would go talk to Olivia.

He stood up from the sand, the knees of his jeans now soaked through. Dusting himself off, he stooped to pick up the book. He tucked it tightly beneath his arm and walked over to the fire.

“Draven! Don’t!”