Witch Hunters

Maeve was still feeling the after effects of the spell the next morning when she woke up, finding Liam in the chair beside her bed asleep at an uncomfortable angle and in the same clothes he wore yesterday. They were dirty and ripped near the hem but he still looked unbelievably handsome. As always. She smiled, remembering their confession after the spell yesterday and his determination to heal her that he cast his first spell. Successfully, at that, though she knew he had it in him. One of her mother’s diaries lay open in his lap and she wondered what exactly he had been reading before he fell asleep, watching over her. She assumed it probably had something to do with his birth mother, and she would be mostly right. She tried to move slowly, closer to him to get a better look at his peaceful face, but the slightest creak of her bed woke him up and she blushed when their eyes met.

Of course, being a hunter, his ears were trained to hear the slightest of sounds and add in his worry over her it would take merely a pin dropping on the wooden floor to bring him from his sleep no matter how exhausted he was. His spell hadn’t even been that powerful but he could feel the grogginess that came with practicing magic. He couldn’t even imagine what Maeve had felt after that large spell and it was no wonder she slept as much as she had.

“I’m glad you finally awoke. I was getting worried about you.” He said, voice heavy with sleep and raspy. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up straighter and looked her over to make sure she looked completely rested and well. Seeing her after that spell, he had thought he had lost her for a short span of time and it filled him with absolute terror and dread to recall her in that state. He never wanted to see that again.

“Once you start practicing more, you will see how much rest is required to recuperate.” She smiled, grabbing her blankets to hold over her chest. She didn’t remember disrobing and getting into her nightgown though from the blush on Liam’s face she could tell he hadn’t done it, either. More than likely, it was her grandmother and she breathed a sigh of relief at that, moving to touch her mess of brown curls to flatten them to her head. She thought she must looked horrible but with the way he was looking at her it would appear he did not agree with that.

Liam didn’t dismiss that he would be practicing magic again when she made that conclusion because he knew that she was right. It was in his blood, after all, so instead of arguing that point, he simply shut her mother’s book and set it on the bed and took a seat beside it. “I have spoken with your grandmother as you rested. She has consented to allow you to come away with me.”

“Come away … where?”

“I promised you a trip – where ever you’d like. She told me you have been wanting to go up north for a long time.”

“What about Harry and Lilly?” Maeve couldn’t disguise the excitement on her face at the thought of going up north. Her grandmother was right – ever since she could read her mother’s books she had wanted to make the trip but as a young lady she would never be allowed. Not to mention, her grandmother constantly worried about her well-being and rarely allowed her to go anywhere alone.

“I think those two are going to enjoy some time on their own for a little while.” Liam said, with a knowing smirk. He may have been preoccupied with Maeve yesterday but he had not missed the exchange between his two closest mates. He had wondered if the lad would ever make a move. “We can meet up with them again once we have had some time off.”

“You are really going to take me up north?”

“Of course I am. I know why you want to go up there.” He looked down at her mother’s book and back up at her. “Word of a good coven up in Duncansby Head, Scotland.”

“I don’t know if they are still around, but my mother has discussed the possibility at length in her journals.”

“Even if they aren’t, Scotland is beautiful and it’ll be a wonderful trip.”

Maeve crawled over to where he sat and pecked his cheek. “Thank you.”

“I am just as intrigued to find more good witches as you are … now that I know my past. And, well, my future.” He gripped her hand and kissed the back of it. “Up until now, I hadn’t thought they could exist. I hadn’t thought you existed.”

Liam leaned down to capture her lips in a kiss, sweet and gentle just like the hand cupping her cheek. When Maeve pulled back she grinned at him. “I cannot believe my grandmother said I could go with you to Scotland.”

“It took a lot of convincing. I assume, when we come back, I will have to marry you.” He teased, standing up to stretch. Maeve caught a glimpse of his toned abdomen and flushed all over. The thought of Liam being her husband was not entirely unpleasant. In fact, it wasn’t even a little unpleasant.

“Oh, the horror!” She joked back, giggling when he pulled her up out of bed and into his chest.

“You know, I read something fascinating in that journal. Our mother’s had already planned for that.”

Maeve had read that, too, though she hadn’t thought that Liam had lived through the witch attack or, if he had, that he would be anywhere near her village anymore. She had given up on finding a husband with her quirks and reputation in town. She had felt doomed to spend her days alone, with only her grandmother for company. But, now that she knew that Liam was the Liam from her past, she knew that they were fated to be together all along. “I suppose you would make an all right husband.”

Liam threw his head back in a loud laugh. “I’m not sure but I can promise you an adventurous life together. Full of magic and beautiful places.”

“That sounds perfect.”