Every day.Every day. He was planning to come by every single day.
That shouldn’t be a surprise. Every day, for nearly an entire week, Henrik had stopped by at some point during the day, always with a cup of tea in hand, but sometimes also lunch. They never did much more than chat for a few minutes, as she was always busy with clients and he had a short lunch, but to hear him say he was planning to continue, to keep coming back, it made her heart leap in her chest and her stomach flip.
“Stop lookin’ at me like that. I ain’t gonna disappoint ya, Little Witch. Been lovin’ you way too long to stop showin’ up once I find you again.”
And that... that made her heart truly stop in her chest. She sucked in a deep breath, taking a step away from him. Love. He still loved her. Of course he did—they were soulmates. Two halves of a whole. Loving her was like loving himself, only, it was loving the best parts of himself.
It was why she loved him. Loving him was like breathing. It was as natural as thinking to love him.
“Don’t say it back.” He had spoken before she had the chance, before she could even arrange her thoughts into some sort of response. “I can see the look in your eyes. You’re scared of your heart gettin’ broke.”
“No, Henrik, I—”
“I love you enough for the both of us, and I’m gonna keep comin’ back, until eventually, you figure out how to break that spell, and then we’re gonna be together. It’s as simple as that.”
Violet coughed, not knowing what else to say. Really? Simple as that? He made it seem like the spell was a basic equation she simply needed time to work out, when in truth, she was convinced there was no solution. There was no answer. There was no future.
“I still haven’t heard back from my mom,” she awkwardly said, although she should be responding to his declaration of love... or something else. “So...”
“Weren’t it the Autumnal Equinox recently here? Didn’t y’all used to do somethin’ for that?”
Of course he remembered the day and the season. Of course he did. Because he was the sort to remember the little things and the small details.
Like, how she took her tea. The first day, when he brought her a cup before he knew it was her who ran the tattoo shop, he had brought her a vanilla cinnamon tea latte, which was something she enjoyed and ordered frequently, but ever since, he alternated between an earl grey with added lavender syrup or a raspberry hibiscus.
Because he knew. Because he remembered.
“Yes, but I figured she would be back by now. It’s been almost a week and a half since the Equinox.”
“She livin’ here?” The fear in his eyes drew questions, but she didn’t even know how to ask.
“No, no. She lives in... Massachusetts or Connecticut or... I don’t even know where. She’s with a coven. She goes off grid sometimes, but she checks her phone somewhat regularly.”
Of course, she had other ways to contact her mother, but if she went through the normal chain of communication, then everyone would know she was reaching out to her mother for something important, and witches did love gossip a bit too much for their own good.
“Well, I don’t think you need her to figure it out. She placed that spell knowin’ you would break it when the time was right. I’m back now. Magic, or whatever, it led me straight back to you, even when I was thinkin’ about givin’ up on findin’ you.”
“You were what?”
Giving up? He was thinking about giving up?
“It was just a thought, once.” The way his head hung low, like he was ashamed, confirmed her worst fears. He was thinking of giving up on her? Of giving up on finding her? “I searched for fifteen years, Violet...”
Hearing that... hearing him say that he was on the verge of giving up, it really struck hard for her, how long he had been searching... and how little she had done to find him.
Because, whether she controlled her powers or not, whether she could break the spell or not, she knew where Garoureve was. She could have easily returned, at any point in time. She could have done something, or made inquiries if anyone knew where Henrik was, once she discovered he wasn’t in Garoureve.
He had searched for her, and she had, what, tried to move on with her life? Tried to find a new future?
How could she even say she cared for him and loved him when she had all but given up on their life together.
“Do you want to go out for dinner?” Violet asked suddenly.
Look at how much effort he was putting in... bringing her flowers and tea and visiting her and... and what the hell was she doing? She had called her mother once, tried one time to break the spell, and was making it difficult for him to even try to move forward with her! She wasn’t even trying to be welcoming or encouraging.
This was her soulmate! The man she once thought she would spend her life with.
And she was treating him like crap!