Chapter One – Jade POV

Marco and I sat in the grass near our home in Henford-on-Bagley, gazing up at the night sky. Here in the countryside, the stars shined brighter. The night was quiet and still. San Myshuno had its benefits; the bright lights of the city, constant hum of the traffic below the towering buildings, not to mention the view of the river and everything on the other side from our balcony.

But here, it was completely different. It was beautiful. Of course, the manner in which we obtained this house was quite dark. It had only been a few months, but it still haunted our minds.

But right now, all I could think of was this perfect moment with him. I sat on his lap as he cradled me in his arms. “If we see a shooting star, what will you wish for?”

I grinned. “Mr. Lew, if I told you that, the wish won’t come true.”

He laughed softly, leaning in and planting a kiss on my cheek, then a few more down my jaw to my neck. “This is perfect,” he mused. “A quiet, kid free, romantic night under the stars with someone whose presence gives you butterflies.”

“Oh?” I smiled at him. “I give you butterflies?”

He kissed my cheek again. “Maybe. I’ll never tell.”

I wrapped my arms around him, properly kissing him on the lips. “You already did.”

He laughed, pulling me down into the grass. He laid me on my back and pinned me, letting out a playful “rawr” as he did.

I giggled. “I love this side of you.”

“Do you?” He smiled warmly.

“Yes,” I nodded. “Your playful, gentle side.”

“Ah,” he waved his hand, sitting up again. “Don’t get used to it. I’m a certified bad boy.”

I laughed. “Certified. Well I guess it’s good I like bad boys too.”

He grinned. “Oh yeah?”

“Yep!” I leaned against him again. “Now, we aren’t doing a great job at stargazing when we are gazing at each other.”

He kissed my neck softly. “I can’t help it.”

I pulled away, playfully shoving him, giggling. “Behave, Mr. Lew! Orion is gone for a few days. There’s plenty of time for that later.”

He wrapped his arms around me. “Alright, alright.”

We sat there for awhile before we laid down in the grass. I rested my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as he stroked my hair.

“Careful,” I said quietly, closing my eyes. “You might put me to sleep.”

“That’s alright,” he responded. “Sleeping under the stars doesn’t seem so bad.”

I smiled, cuddling closer. “Aside from the bugs I may wake up to crawling all over me, no, it doesn’t.”

He laughed.

We must have fallen asleep because I woke up with a chill a bit later. Marco was asleep. I shivered a little.

“Marco,” I whispered.

He opened his eyes slowly. “Hmm?”

“Let’s go in. It’s getting cold.”

He nodded, sitting up. “Maybe we should have brought a blanket.”

I giggled as I stood, brushing grass off of me. I held my hand out for him and he got up. We headed back in. In our room, I laid down while he set a fire in the fireplace.

I undressed into my typical night time attire; a long tee and underwear and laid back down, shimmying under the covers. Marco changed as well, sleeping in only boxers and he joined me.

“The fire is nice,” I said quietly, closing my eyes.

He wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. “It is.”

I kissed him. “I love this. Everything about it. It’s so nice here. Peaceful.”

“Mhm,” he said weakly. I knew he was drifting off to sleep. I smiled, stroking his hair.

‘And maybe, I love you too,’ I thought. I didn’t want to tell him. His reaction to that dreaded four letter word made me think he didn’t want it. He didn’t want to feel it, and didn’t want anyone feeling it for him. But his actions spoke differently. His sweet, romantic gestures, soft spoken words and even the way he looked at me. Tonight, he even admitted he got butterflies. But then he backtracked, as if he caught his mistake. I stroked his hair, kissing his cheek. “Good night, mi rey.”

The next morning, I woke up alone. I got up and headed downstairs.

“Good morning, mi reina,” he smiled, kissing my cheek. “I just finished breakfast.”

“Mmm,” I inhaled, smelling the sweetness of eggs and french toast. “My favorite.”

He smiled. “I know. With Orion, you don’t have enough warm breakfasts. So sit down. I’ll bring you a plate.”

I giggled. “You spoil me.”

We ate and then went outside to tend to the animals. We had acquired this cottage when Damien led us here. When he was banished, we moved in, getting cows and chickens and learning how to grow crops. We still had our apartment in San Myshuno and technically lived there. But this farmhouse was our escape. When we traveled to the city, we had someone tend to the house.

“I have a surprise for you,” Marco said in my ear, wrapping his arms around me.

I turned around. “Oh?”

He gestured to another part of the large yard. “Come.”

I followed him to what had been just an empty space in the yard. Marco had been keeping it a secret from me, renting a large outdoor tent to cover it from my curious eyes. But now, the tent was gone. I saw some brush, and as I stepped closer, bright flowers and budding trees. There was a bench under one of the trees, shaded from the sun. Off to the side, there was a cut tree that wild birds flew to and from, and a tree stump with a hole that rabbits poked their heads out of. Those trees had been diseased, but now they had become homes for the animals.

I stood in awe. I had no idea what to say.

He smiled at me. “You like it?”

I nodded. “I love it. It’s beautiful.” I knew my eyes were brightening more and more as I gazed at it.

“And today, we have someone delivering a jungle gym and ball pit for Orion.”

I turned to him, shocked. “Wh-what? I’ve wanted one of those for a long time!”

He grinned. “I found one. He will love it.”

‘God I love you so much,’ I thought. But I didn’t say those words. I just wrapped my arms around him. “You’re so amazing, Marco. Thank you!”

He held me close, tightening his arms around me and lifting me into the air, laughing. “I’m so glad you like it.”

I giggled as he placed me down. “Let’s sit!”

We sat on the bench under the tree. I gazed around. “It’s so peaceful,” I mused happily. “Something I think we’ve both needed since our lives can be so chaotic.”

He smiled and stroked my hair, gazing at me lovingly. “I don’t feel chaos when I’m with you.”

I laid my head in his lap and caressed his cheek, looking up at him. “I don’t feel it with you either.”

He pulled me up to kiss him. “Let’s hope we never do again.”

I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder. “Yeah.” But logically, I knew something would pop up. Something always did. While sometimes it had a positive outcome, like pushing Marco and I together, the conflict, magic battles, chaos and turmoil was just too much. Why couldn’t we have a normal life like everyone else?

Because we were powerful spellcasters. Not to mention the legends about us.

I had read the legend of the hybrid child; my son, Orion. He was to be the Destroyer of the realm, but I couldn’t see it. He was the sweetest little boy in the world. There was no way he could do something so horrible.

But the other legend was far scarier. Not only was Orion a Destroyer, but so we’re Marco and I, together as a couple. The legend foreshadowed our union, prophesied that we would have a child together, and that child would be the restorer. However, we were supposed to become a dark duo, stronger than even the council. We could bend all to our will without a fight. We could be the realm’s downfall. But neither of us wanted that.

“Do you remember the legends?” I asked quietly as a breeze rustled the leaves around us.

I felt his body tense. “Uh, yes. Do you?”

“Yes,” I nodded.

“I thought those had been wiped from your mind during the darkness spell.”

I shook my head. “No.” I lifted my head to look at him. “And please, tell me what I did when I was influenced by darkness.”

He sighed. “I’ve told you I don’t want you to know, mi reina.”

I caressed his cheek. “I know, but I feel it’s important.”

He stroked my hair. “We don’t need to worry. The darkness is gone now.” He sighed again. “But we had a plan to act like we had darkness to get to Damien and release his girlfriend from his alluring spell. We knew she could help us. But, he made me cast a darkness spell on you to prove myself to him. I refused, but you told me it was okay. So I did. This shifted both of us, having a mixture of powerful light magic and powerful dark magic. You became completely darkened. I tried to fight the darkness as much as I could, but it took over. It was only released when I had both light magic and dark magic spellcasters coming for me in battle and I released it with my cry of being a light spellcaster. You then…” I stopped. “Um, well, your spell was lifted too.*

“How?”

He looked away. “You killed me again. Said I was a traitor. Used a painful spell to quite literally drain the life out of me. Then you left. You went back to the apartment. Morgyn revived me and I found you in the bathroom, berating yourself for what you had done. Your darkness was released as I died, but also as your lightness fought off the darkness in sadness and anger.”

I gazed at him. “I k-” she stopped. “I killed you. Again. Why would I do that?”

“I was a traitor to Damien’s plans.”

“And you’re still here with me? Why?” I started to become angry with myself.

“Jade,” he smiled. “You were under a spell. That wasn’t you. I held nothing against you.”

I growled and stood up. “But I-“

He stood up and grabbed me. “Jade, stop. You have no control over what you do when your mind is surrounded in darkness, okay? I never held it against you because I knew. And I know you would have never done it if you weren’t darkened.” He smiled. “Now, let’s just enjoy the garden, okay? Don’t worry about the past. It means nothing now.”

I nodded, hugging him. “I l-” I stopped. “I’ll be right back.” I caught myself. I gave him a warm smile quickly and went inside and into the bathroom. That was close. I almost just blurted it out. I sighed. I really didn’t think he would run if I did say it, but I was scared anyway.

I came back out and saw him lying on the grass with his eyes closed. I grinned and straddled him, poking his sides playfully.

“Hey!” He laughed, his eyes flying open. “That was cruel and unusual punishment.” He sat up and kissed me, but just as I wrapped my arms around him, he gripped my sides, tickling me. “I can get you back for it!”

I giggled and grabbed his hands, pushing them away. “Okay! Okay! You got me.”

He grinned and narrowed his eyes, slipping his hand behind my neck. “I sure do.”

I giggled as he kissed me seductively, pushing me down into the grass. This was usually the point where I would tell him to behave.

But I didn’t want him to.

We didn’t get too far before my phone rang. He rested his head on mine as we both laughed in sexual frustration. It was always something. It had been awhile because between having Orion around, as well as tending to things around the farmhouse, or helping around the realm when we were at the apartment, we were just too busy. When the nighttime hit, we were generally just too tired to act on our frustrations.

I answered my phone as Marco took my other hand, kissing my fingertips. I gave him a grin as I spoke. It was Caleb saying that they had made plans to take Orion to the beach for a week when he was on break at school.

“That’s great!” I smiled. “I’m sure he will love it.”

“Well, we were wondering if you’d like to tag along?” He asked.

I thought about it for a moment. “I think I’ll stay behind, though I do appreciate the offer. I just have so much to do around here, and I’m sure the sages will ask me to be a stand-in sage for Morgyn.”

Marco glanced at me, shaking his head. He was encouraging me to go with them. I also shook my head, holding up my finger, which he bit playfully. I grinned.

“Aw, yeah I forgot about that,” Caleb laughed. “Duty calls.”

I giggled. “Yes. And it’s not every day I get to be the untamed sage. I’ll embrace that when I have the chance.”

We both laughed. We chatted for a little longer before letting each other go.

Marco glared at me, playfully. He nipped my nose with his fingertip. “You need to treat yourself. A family trip to the beach? Come on! You passed that up?”

I grinned. “You’re just saying that because you want to be the untamed sage stand-in.”

“Ouch!” He laughed. “You know I don’t crave power. I only crave you.” He kissed my neck.

I giggled. “Okay, that was cheesy.”

He laughed with me. “Yeah, it really was.”

“But I love your cheesy side,” I grinned.

He kissed me. “Good.”

God, he was perfect.

Chapter Two (click here)