“What is that? Is that about you and your family?” Fox asked. He pushed out of Winter’s arms enough so he could look into his eyes, but Winter didn’t want to face Fox over those words.
“Yes,” he whispered.
“What’s going on?” Fox looked from Winter to Zelda, but Winter couldn’t answer because of the lump in his throat.
When Zelda had made that prophecy, he’d been sure it was her way of promising he’d find peace in death after all of his family was settled. He’d clung to her reassuring words that he’d finally escape the ghosts, but now that he’d found Fox, he didn’t want to die. Didn’t want to be at the end of things. Didn’t want to hurt his lover.
“That one,” Zelda said, pointing her skinny wrinkled finger at Winter, “decided so many years ago that my prophecy was foretelling his death. I knew it. I’ve watched him for decades and could see how his brain worked. He was merely holding on until his brothers were happily settled. Didn’t even consider there were other possibilities.”
“What other possibilities could there be with ‘silence divine’?” Winter argued.
Zelda waved one hand at Fox. “Silence. Fucking. Divine.”
And she was right. The silence Fox blessed him with when they were together was absolutely divine. It was the best gift.
Maybe part of him had known it for days, but he’d been afraid to believe it, to reach out and fully grab it. He’d needed Zelda to actually say the words. He’d found his peace, but it was more than silencing the voices in his head. Fox was the peace he needed to soothe his soul and face the world with new energy. Fox was his hope. His heart. His everything.
Joy exploded in his chest, and Winter’s knees nearly gave out. It was over. He had everything he wanted in this adorable, red-haired witch.
But Fox didn’t look pleased.
“What? That mean you had a fucking death wish? Were you running around risking your life so it would be over?” Fox snarled at him.
Winter tried to pull him into his arms, but Fox planted his hands in the middle of his chest and shoved. “Fox, please. I was tired and hurting. It had been so long. I was afraid of the ghosts driving me insane like my mother. I refused to hurt my brothers the same way she did.”
“I don’t give a shit! You keep fighting. You always keep fighting. You’re too important and too wonderful for this world to ever lose you!”
“Fox—”
“If you ever thought you were gonna be rid of me, you can think again, buster. I am never leaving your side. You obviously need someone to watch your back and tell you when you’re being a fucking idiot.” Fox grabbed his side and pulled him in for a brutally tight hug and Winter happily went, joy bubbling over in his chest.
“I never want to be rid of you,” Winter whispered. “You are my happiness.”
“Damn straight. Stupid vampire,” Fox murmured against his chest. “I can’t live without you anymore. What would I do if I lost you?”
“You won’t ever have to find out. I’m not going anywhere.” Winter closed his eyes, soaking in the feel of Fox in his arms. He needed this man, his witch, more than he needed anything else in the world. Fox had truly become his everything. He was his hope and his happiness. He silenced all the other noise and clutter, letting him focus only on what was important. And it was divine.
Winter looked up from where he held Fox to find Zelda standing in the middle of his kitchen, sipping tea from her china cup with the delicate floral pattern. The expression on her face was so damn smug.
“This is it. This is why you made up that prophecy and told Damon about it. You pointed him toward Fox,” Winter said.
“And you would then steal Fox from him, keeping your witch locked away with you,” Zelda finished.
“But he could have killed me!” Fox cried, which only made Zelda laugh.
“No, I couldn’t have,” Winter admitted before Zelda could speak. Fox looked up at him, and Winter could feel his smile become a little lopsided. “I took one look at you and just knew I had to take you home with me. I might have thought of killing you, but I truly doubt I could have done it. Not really.”
Fox hummed happily. “You know how to say the sweetest things to a boy.”
Winter kissed him soft and slow. He loved those lips and that taste of Fox’s happiness on his tongue. He wanted to spend years learning and memorizing this mouth. He wanted to spend a few lifetimes making Fox happy.
“Come along, boys. I know I’ve got your attention for only a little while, and I have other irons in the fire I need to attend to,” Zelda said, breaking them apart. Fox and Winter followed her into the living room, where she settled on the couch with Fox next to her while Winter was waved over to the chair. So they would both focus, according to the old witch.