The Responsible Witch (The Ward Witches) (8 page)

“
They're the epitome of pure magic. The Coven, and in particular that Ward family, has declared war on blood witches. I'm a blood witch, and I always will be.”

“
But you don't practice magic.”

“
It's still who I am. I've killed people, and those Wards will never understand that.”

“
Then you're really going to hate my next statement. The woman I'm bonded to is Dymphna Ward. She's sister to the Duke.”

“
Damn, Gage, you never do anything by half measures, do you?”

“
I told her what you are, and more importantly, what you are to me.”

“
You told her everything?”

“
Everything. And she wants to meet you. I told you, she's an awesome woman. She understands that you've done things you're not proud of. But she understands that you raised me and that I love you. So she wants to meet you. To be honest, I think she's a little intimidated that you won't like her. But don't tell her I said that.” He laughed. “I think you'll like her.”

“
Then I'm happy for you. Let me make my arrangements here, and I'll get a truck to move all of our belongings north.”

“
Thanks Mom. You're helping me more than I had any right to expect.”

“
That's what I'm here for. Now go see your amazing woman, and I'll start packing.”

“
Hugs and kisses.”

“
Hugs and kisses.”

With his heart a lot lighter, Gage left to go join Dymphna downstairs.

“
Good afternoon!' Skylar greeted him. “I'm so glad the spell worked for you.”

“
Thanks Skylar. I even got all my memories back, thanks to Dymphna.”

“
Indeed.”

“
I'd like to see your magic if you get a chance, Gage,” Leo said calmly. “I'd bet that by having multiple types of magic you've got some different ways to achieve the same goals. I know Fiona does.”

“
I don't use my magic,” Gage told them defiantly.

“
What?” Dymphna asked, startled. “You don't use your magic?”

“
No.” He tried to keep up his front, but by the narrowing of her eyes, he could see that Dymphna saw through him.

“
There's more to that than you're saying,” she said, confirming his suspicion. “Why don't you use your magic? What aren't you telling me?”

He sighed. “I don't get any secrets, do I?”

Leo laughed. “Around these two, you never will. If you plan to stay.” Leo's second statement hung in the air. Gage wasn't ready to tackle that one yet.

“
Alright, then, I'll spill. My mother knew that I could never be around elemental witches because she's a blood witch.” When Leo and Skylar weren't shocked, he realized that Dymphna must have told them. Good. That was one less thing to explain. He reached for the plate of food in front of him at the table. He sure was hungry. “She knew enough from her time before she became a blood witch to teach me how to control my magic and prevent any accidents. But she couldn't teach me how to use it. She barely even remembered that she
had been
an earth witch.”

“
Really?” Dymphna asked. But he didn't get a chance to respond before Skylar spoke up.

“
Excellent!”

“
What?” Everyone asked, looking at her. She blushed.

“
Well, I mean, I'm sorry you've been so isolated from your magic. But you can help me. I've been working on making magic manuals. I came to the Ward family similarly, where I needed to learn magic from scratch. I've been putting together handbooks on how to master your magic, techniques that might be helpful, etc. As long as you are where you are, I'd like to take advantage of that and have you be a test dummy for my books.” She looked embarrassed but unrepentant.

Gage smiled slowly. “I'd love to help. I'll admit that I've wanted to use magic. But I didn't know how to find someone to teach me, and my mother was adamant that teaching myself was too dangerous. If you need someone to try to learn magic with your books, I'm your man. I can even try out all four,” he chuckled.

“
Great!” Skylar's grin was worth it.

Dymphna reached under the table and took his free hand in hers. She squeezed in silent support, and he knew that helping Skylar meant a lot to Dymphna. He was beginning to realize that he'd do anything for Dymphna, and this was to his benefit as well as Skylar's.

He watched his bond-mate interacting with her family as he silently ate his late lunch. The things he was feeling over the past few days finally fell into place. It just clicked for him that the reason he was so happy here was because he had fallen in love with Dymphna already. There was no hope or help for him now, he was too far gone for that. But that was exactly how he wanted it.
The entirely new experience had come on in mere days, but that didn't make it any less potent.

She was precious, and he was more determined than ever that he'd make her love him too. Whether that happened in terms of days or years, he didn't care, as long as it happened.

After lunch, Skylar and Leo excused themselves. They said they wanted to spend the afternoon watching TV in their bedroom, but both Dymphna and Gage could tell they were just giving the other couple alone time. Skylar commented that they'd start working on her manuals the next day, and that was just fine for everyone.

“
We're going to have to get you some clothes of your own,” Dymphna said, indicating how Leo's shirt didn't reach all the way to his hands.

“
When I called her, she promised to start packing some of my things up to send to me here
.”

“
I think we need to get you some new clothes faster than it will take her to pack and move your things here.”

“
You're probably right.
Leo's clothes don't quite fit, and I would like to not impose on his generosity any longer than I need to.
”

“
I'm not as much of a shopper as Skylar, but I know where the mall is. Get
one of
Leo's coat
s
from the closet, and we'll head out.”

“
If there's a proper time to move from Miami to Boston, this is not it.”

“
No, it's really not. I love this area, but it does get wicked cold. Come spring and summer, though, you'll see how beautiful it all can get.
Eventually you get used to the cold.
”

“
So that means I'll have to stay here in Boston, won't I?”

She clearly hadn't thought about how quickly she had assumed he would be living with her permanently. She blushed red enough to coordinate with her sweater, and she didn't answer.

Gage hadn't thought about it until they got to the cash register, but since he didn't have any form of ID or payment, Dymphna had to buy everything for him. His mother would mail all of
his important documents and cards
to him overnight, but it would still be a while before they got it.
She had been extra-suspicious that something had gone wrong when both his wallet and his phone had been left behind when he disappeared.

He was embarrassed by the whole situation
where Dymphna had to pay
.

“
I'm sorry about that, Dymphna.”

“
About what?”

“
About making you pay for my clothes and things.
I'll pay you back when I get access to my money.
”

“
You shouldn't worry about it. For one thing, I'm sure my lawyer's fees draw more money than your teacher's salary does. And you don't even have a teacher's salary anymore.
It's the least I can do after all you've been through to pay for some new clothes for you.
”

“
You do make a good point that I'll need to call my school and quit. They won't be pleased, though.”
He said it as if they had discussed their future living situation and decided that he would stay in Boston. But they hadn't, and she didn't seem to notice that in the comment.

“
Either way, I have plenty of money. As you can tell, the Manor is only partially furnished, but that's more because Leo and I can't figure out what to do with it more than dealing with a lack of funds. I've had precious little that's needed me to use my bank account
lately
, and buying you clothes is a good cause.”

“
Then I guess I'd better just say thank you and be grateful.”

“
I think that would indeed be the wisest move.”

“
Then thank you.”

“
You're welcome. What else do you need besides clothes?”

“
I don't have
underwear, socks, or shoes yet. And I could use some of my own toiletries.”

“
Then let's keep moving.”

Dymphna hadn't been lying when she said she wasn't as big of a shopper as Skylar was. In fact, if it weren't for Skylar, she wouldn't have a lot of the things in her closet at all. Since her sister-in-law had been so nice about doing laundry for the whole family, Dymphna had taken her up on her suggestion to get some new clothes to replace the ones that were getting worn down. Most of the things that went through the dry cleaners were fine, but she did have a lot of
casual
clothes that
had
needed to be tossed.

Luckily for her, Gage knew what he liked, and shopping with him went by quickly.

“
Since we're here, do you want to look at anything for you?” He asked as they walked past the women's department.  “I hear you're on sabbatical, and maybe you need some more relaxing clothing.”

She looked down at what she was wearing. She had on tan slacks and a business casual blue top. “I think you might have a point. I think I only own the one pair of jeans, and all the casual shirts I have came from some free promotion or other.” When she ever wore one of them, which was rarely.
She just hadn't bothered to get casual clothes because she spent so much time in what she was now thinking of as lawyer-mode.

“
Then let's fix that. I'd like to see you model some clothes for me, if you have no objections.”

“
Alright.”
She blushed. He was awfully sweet in the way he just took so quickly to being comfortable around her. She was still rather unsure how to act around him, but he seemed pleased to be with her, which was gradually wearing down her sense of awkwardness.

Gage clearly enjoyed himself as she tried on outfits, coming out to show him each, even the bad ones. He'd add some to her stack, too. Some of what he had her try was just plain silly, but some of it really did look good on her. It was
nice
to think that he put enough effort into thinking about her that he could tell what clothes and colors would do well with her features.
It was like a compliment that was so genuine he didn't even need to say it.

Dymphna gathered up the stack of clothing she'd be buying and added it to Gage's stack of the same from this store. But rather than head toward the cash register, he pulled her off to the left. Blushing, she realized that he had brought her to the lingerie section.

“
I'm told that a little bit of sexy lingerie can do a lot for self-confidence, and the only ones who would need to know what you've got on under your clothes would be me and you,” he whispered into her ear. “Besides, now you have a strong reason to wear something like that, even though you are stunning no matter what you've got on. Or what you haven't got on.”

Still red, she smiled. It was hard to get offended when he put it like that. “You're more of an expert on this than I am. Point me in the direction of something you'd like to see me in.”

“
Oh no. This is for you. I want you to go in there and choose what you'd like to wear and have them bag it up. I don't want to see it until you're wearing it later.”
That brought back in spades the blush that was starting to fade.

Dymphna nodded resolutely. She could do this. Gage retreated back to the bench near the women's changing rooms where he had waited earlier, and she pressed forward. Since her underwear had previously been bought in packs and her night wear was generally just one of those promotional t
-
shirts
she had mentioned before
, she had a dearth of the kind of lingerie one wore when one had a boyfriend. Or, in this case, a husband.

She eventually decided to try a bit of everything, and she'd see how Gage reacted later. And she had
also
heard from others, including Marie and Jackie, that sexy undergarments increased self-confidence. She'd see if they were right while she was at it. So Dymphna picked out a variety of bras, panties, and teddies that she thought would work well and paid for them. She tied the top of the
opaque
bag for emphasis and returned to Gage, who was waiting patiently.