Eleanor by S. F. Burgess

Author:S. F. Burgess [Burgess, S. F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult Paranormal, Fantasy
ISBN: 9780957699618
Goodreads: 18191414
Publisher: Jojosala Publishing Ltd
Published: 2013-06-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

After a fantastic feast abundant with variety, the dinner table was magically swept away, but the reflecting pool remained, lowered to ground level and surrounded by silk covered benches. The chairs were rearranged around a bonfire, and a table of hors d’oeuvres and beverages replaced the arch. Enchanted flutes and acoustic guitars materialized near the north tree line, and soft music began drifting amidst cheerful laughing and bright conversations.

Around midnight, the lawn emptied of everyone who wasn’t staying, but the enchanted band continued to play for the coven. Serafin and Daleen remained, as did Aedan’s friend Kearny, who decided to stay after meeting Rhosewen’s cousin, Enid. The two of them hit it off immediately and were in the surrounding forest, getting to know each other.

Aedan looked at his wife, wondering how on earth he’d gotten so lucky. Then he leaned closer, smelling her hair as he whispered. “Dance with me.”

Rhosewen happily turned into him, and he wrapped one arm around her waist, carrying her into sweeping circles.

“Was it the wedding of your dreams?” he asked.

“Better,” she answered.

“Good,” he approved, picking up the pace.

He didn’t have to match the rhythm of the music; the bewitched instruments had been matching his all day, so he was free to concentrate on Rhosewen’s entrancing eyes, pink lips, and glowing skin.

“It seems impossible,” he whispered.

“What?” she asked, thinking the world was exactly as it should be.

“That you’ll be more beautiful tomorrow than you are tonight,” he explained. “But it’s not impossible, because that’s how it is everyday. Every morning, when I open my eyes to your face, you’re more beautiful than I remember. You take my breath away every time.”

Tears stung Rhosewen’s eyes as she clutched his cheeks. “I love you, Aedan. You mean everything to me.”

“Sounds like we were made for each other,” he quipped, lifting her high into the air. Then he spun once and lowered her lips to his.

They were still kissing when Kearny and Enid shot from the trees, soaring unusually close to the ground. As they approached, their feet flipped out in front of them, catching their breathless bodies, and Aedan and Rhosewen looked over, finding stark white faces.

“The Unforgivables,” Kearny warned.

Aedan’s embrace tightened as icy fingers gripped his heart. “How long?”

“Thirty seconds. Maybe.”

“Shit.”

Aedan turned toward the crowd, and Rhosewen spun with him, locked in his tense biceps. The instruments had crashed to the ground, and the lawn was silent, its occupants frozen.

“What are you waiting for?” Aedan shouted. “Go! Get the children inside. Kemble…” he mumbled, searching him out, “take Cordelia and Quinlan and hide, all three of you.”

His shouts snapped everyone out of their trances, and many of them scattered. But Morrigan, Caitrin, Serafin and Daleen flocked to their offspring, and several adult wizards formed a united front behind the golden family.

“What’s going on?” Rhosewen asked. “Why are the Unforgivables here?”

Aedan met her frightened stare, terror twisting his gut. “Medea,” was all he could say, and it killed him to say it. This was his fault. Everybody in the community, everyone he loved most, was in terrible danger because of him.

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