“You made yours tonight,” Mia reminded her. “Trust me to make mine.”

“You’re the strongest.”

“Well, well. Is that a compliment I hear?”

“Can it, okay? In the magic stuff, you’re the strongest. What comes at you’s going to be the strongest, too.”

“None of us is alone now.” Nell took Mia’s hand, then Ripley’s. “We’re three.”

Ripley took Mia’s hand to finish the link. “Yeah. Witches Are Us.”

Ripley told herself she was doing what needed to be done, but that didn’t mean she would enjoy it. She watched Nell soothe and charm Harding. Bolster him with soup and tea. She let Mia treat and bind her hand. And avoided being alone with Mac until they left to walk to the yellow cottage.

“We can load up your equipment tonight if you want.”

“I’ll get it tomorrow,” he answered. He didn’t touch her. He didn’t know why, but he sensed she wasn’t ready for that yet.

“I guess Harding’s going to write his book after all.”

“Not the one he might have had in mind. But, yeah, I think Nell likes the idea of a book that offers hope to people in an abuse cycle. He’s barely the worse for wear now that he’s . . .”

“Exorcised?”

“In a manner of speaking. Can I ask you a technical question?”

“I guess.” It was a beautiful night. Cool and fresh and clear. There was no reason, she told herself, to be so edgy now.

“How did you know the blood would hold him?”

“I don’t know exactly.”

“Hereditary knowledge?” Mac offered and got a shrug.

“Maybe. That kind of thing’s your bag. Magic runs through the blood. Mine,” she said, lifting her hand.

“Yours, even though it’s pretty diluted.” She glanced over when he laughed. “That’s accurate enough,”

she said testily. “And blood is a transmitter, a sacrifice, whatever. It’s life.”

“No argument.” He stopped, turned at the verge of the trees where the shadows were soft and the moonlight dappled through black branches. “Was that all?”

“There’s a bond. It’s emotional—apart from intellect or logic, even from ritual, I guess.”

“Love.” He waited a beat. “Why can’t you say it now?”

“You’ve never seen me like that before,” she said in a rush. “Everything that’s come before has been like kid stuff compared to tonight.”

“You were magnificent.” He watched her eyes widen. It was going to be fun, he thought, to blindside her with statements like that for the next fifty or sixty years. “Did you think that seeing what I did would change what I feel for you?”

“No. I don’t know. Mac, I was nearly seduced. Maybe when I went out it was with the idea that I could sacrifice myself—and don’t tell me that’s lame. I’ve already figured that out.”

“Then I’ll restrain myself.”

“Good. But the farther I got from the house, from all of you, the more I wanted blood. There was a moment, more than a moment, when I might have turned, when I might have grabbed what was offered. The power was outrageous—huge, seductive, staggering.”

“But you didn’t take it.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I wanted me more. I wanted you more. And I . . . this sounds hokey.”

“Say it anyway.”

“I wanted justice more.”

He laid his hands on her shoulders, brushed a kiss over her brow. Then he lifted her bandaged palm and kissed that, too. “I said you looked magnificent. That’s accurate, too. There was a light, bursting out of you. Nothing could have dimmed it. And now . . . you’re just my girl.”

“Your girl.” She snorted. “Please.”

“All mine,” he said, and did what he’d wanted to do since he’d seen her with a shining sword gripped in her hands. He lifted her off her feet, nearly crushing her in an embrace as his mouth sought hers. “Marry me. Live with me in the house by the sea.”

“Oh, God, Mac, I love you. It’s better than everything, more than everything. Hell, Mac”—she tipped her head back—“it is everything.”

“And we’re just getting started.”

She laid her head on his shoulder while he stroked her hair. Brilliant mind, tough body, generous heart. Her lips curved as she thought, All mine.

“When the power was in me, I felt invincible, tremendous. It’s like having molten gold running through your veins. Do you know how I feel right now?”

“How?”

“Even better.”

She lifted her face to his once more so their lips met, once more. The sound of the sea was a steady heartbeat in the distance, the moon sailed white overhead. Around them the night shimmered with the echoes of magic.

And was enough.