Crest (Book #2,Swift Series) (25 page)

“So are you almost ready to fly back?” he asked.

“Yeah, I hope Collin’s awake and feeling better.”

“If you’re too tired, I can carry you. I know the last few days have been tough on you.” He glanced over at me, his smile and his dimple warmed my insides. Being in his arms sounded really good right now, but now that I knew I could fly, I wanted to do it on my own.

“I am exhausted, but I think I’ll be fine. You’ll just have to promise to catch me if I fall asleep mid-flight and start to take a nosedive.”

When he pulled me up, he didn’t just pull me up to a standing position. He pulled me up against his body, wrapped his arms around me and kissed me lightly on the lips. “I’ll always be there to catch you if you fall, Meredith. Always.”

4 months later
...

After a long day, my favorite place to be sitting was at the top of the Tower Bridge, overlooking the river. Not only was it the most beautiful place at sunset, but it was peaceful and allowed me some time to think. Today, it was easy for me to relax and reflect on all the things I had to be thankful for. So many things had changed over the last few months. Changed for the better.

After a lot of discussion between Abby, Blake and I, we decided to make London our home. Jackie was kind enough to offer us a place to stay in an old family home that sat on the edge of town. It was a fixer upper to say the least, but it was far away from the city and sat on a few acres of land, and not to mention, it would be perfect for training. Luckily, Blake had experience with building and renovating homes. He had helped his dad build their house back in 1905 and had also helped remodel it when they crossed into my time and found it in less than desirable condition. Collin offered to help out and I secretly wondered if he was just being extra nice, or if it was because he wanted an excuse to see Abby every day.

At first, I was surprised that Abby decided to move to London, to this time and be separated from her parents. However, the council kept true to their promise and allowed all the Harpers and I to perform the time crossing spell whenever we wanted, so she wasn’t completely separated from them, I guess.

The council also kept true to their promise of amending the rules in the magical world in order to make it a safer place for witches. They agreed that their biggest downfall was that magic had grown so much and it was out of their hands; not allowing them to monitor everything that was happening.

So after meeting with a few designated witches from each part of the world—and hearing their thoughts and worries—the council began to change a few things. They started by creating a couple new divisions and would add more as needed. So on top of teachers, protectors, and guardians, the watcher division was created in order to monitor the time crossing spell; in hopes of cutting down, if not alleviating, the witches who used the spell without the council’s permission.

Also, after hearing many complaints from those of us who practiced clean magic, the council agreed that witches should be able to create their own spells as long as they were approved by the appointed regulator for their area. The regulator would monitor and control each witch under their care and make sure that no dark magic was being created.

Collin was thrilled when he was appointed as the regulator for the London area. When the council first found out that I had used a spell that was created by Collin in order to defeat Jude, and not one that had been approved by them, I feared that Collin was going to be punished or be accused of practicing dark magic. However, with all that had happened, the council was pretty open minded about it all and decided to reward him rather than punish him.

So now, not only was he a teacher, but he would also be responsible for monitoring the witches in the area and help them create spells of their own. I think that the council was trying to reward him for not only his bravery with what went down with Jude, but also his brains since he was the one who created the energy transfer spell. It was, after all, that spell that saved me and countless others from Jude that day.

The moment Collin found out about his new position, he and Abby immediately began going over plans to build a small school behind our new house on the edge of town. Abby could continue to teach me there and Collin would be able to teach and monitor his students as they experimented with magic—away from the city and the non-magical people.

At first, I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of having a magic school right behind us, but the more I thought about it, the more the idea grew on me. The best thing, I figured, was that I would only have to walk a few steps to school each morning, leaving me more time to spend with Blake; and I had to admit, that sounded pretty nice.

The wind was beginning to pick up and a chill ran over me, causing goose bumps to rise on my skin. Just as I was thinking I should be heading back to the house, a quick flash crossed my line of vision, making me flinch back.

“There you are,” Abby said, landing beside me, totally out of breath. “I’ve been searching everywhere for you.”

“Geez, Abby, a little warning would be nice. You scared me to death coming up on me like that,” I said, grabbing my chest.

“What do you want me to do, fly around with bells on?” she asked, sounding offended.

I laughed and shook my head at her, still holding my hand over my pounding chest.

 “Wow, I see why you love it up here so much.” She smiled, looking out over the river. “This place is pretty spectacular and very relaxing.”

It was relaxing
, I thought to myself.

“Mother and Father are coming over for dinner tonight and I wanted to see if you would help me cook.”

“Sure, I think I can help.” I smiled.

We made a point to see Annette and Samuel once a month, either they would cross time and come to us, or we could go to them.

“So, is Collin coming to dinner, too?” I asked, grinning over at her.

She nodded. “Yes, and I’m so nervous about telling my parents we’re dating... even though we’ve officially been dating for a couple months now. I’m going to tell them tonight, though. I think Collin’s starting to think I’m ashamed of him or something and that’s not it at all.”

“Well, what is it then?” I asked.

“It’s just that we dropped such a bombshell on them a few months ago when we told them that we were moving here. I don’t want to overwhelm them.”

“C’mon, Abby. Collin’s great—annoying at times—but he’s a good guy. Your parents are going to be thrilled when they find out about the two of you.”

When we got back to our house, I could see Blake and Collin still working on the school house out back. It was coming along well... really well. Actually, I was impressed with all the progress they had made since this morning.

“Hi, guys,” I called as I made my way across the yard.

“Hi,” Collin said, smiling. His smile grew the closer I got and I began to wonder why he was looking at me like that... like he wanted to come tackle and kiss me or something. Then I glanced behind me, seeing that Abby was trailing just a few feet behind.
There is no way they can give Blake and I crap for being too lovey-dovey anymore,
I thought to myself.

“I think a few students will have their first day of school here tomorrow,” Blake said as Abby and I approached.

“Really? That’s great.” I smiled, taking a closer look at their handy work. “It looks amazing. The students are going to love it. I would know, since I’m one of them.”

I knew Collin was excited to have passionate students again. Once the local witches found out that they could create their own spells, and not just learn the boring old ones, their interest in learning magic returned.

“It’s not a hundred percent done,” Collin said. “Blake and I will continue working on it at night after the students leave for the day.”

Abby cleared her throat, bringing all of our attention to her. “Sorry boys, I really hate to break up all your hard work, but dinner will be ready soon and—”

“Oh, no!” Collin shouted, interrupting her. “I totally forgot. Your parents are coming, aren’t they?”

Abby nodded, smiling timidly.

“Well, I guess I better go get cleaned up then,” Collin said nervously. He gave Abby a quick kiss before he was in the air and flying back home.

“I’m going to start on the spaghetti,” Abby said, turning around and heading back towards the house.

“I’ll be right behind you,” I told her.

There was just one thing I wanted to do before I got started on dinner. When Abby was safely in doors and I didn’t have to hear her make any repulsive, mocking noises, I pulled Blake close to me and gave him a long, hard kiss. Even though I knew we still had a lot of hardships ahead of us, knowing that there was still dark magic out there lurking, I understood how lucky I was to have all the people I cared about safe and sound for now. So from now on, I never wanted to waste a second showing the ones I loved how I felt.

Abby and I sat down for lunch at the picnic table in our backyard, watching Collin teach a small group of students. He looked excited and full of energy as he spoke about magic and how cool it was to be a witch. I couldn’t help but smile seeing him so happy. It was hard to believe that only a few months ago, we had kind of started off on the wrong foot. I couldn’t help but be grateful that we had become good friends, because there was no mistaking that without him, I wouldn’t be sitting here today.

 “It’s really coming along, isn’t it?” Abby beamed as she looked towards the small schoolhouse that Collin and Blake had built.

 “Yeah, it’s amazing.” I smiled and then took a bite of my sandwich.

“Yeah,” she sighed and looked over towards Collin, “he is, isn’t he?”

Uh, that’s not what I said exactly
, I thought to myself. I laughed at how her eyes glazed over when she stared at Collin.

“So dinner went well last night,” I said. “Annette and Samuel seemed happy for you and Collin. Just like I thought they would.”

“I know. I’m not sure why I was so nervous. My parents love him.” Abby smiled, still staring at Collin. “He’s such a great teacher, isn’t he? Look how attentive he is with those kids.” She took a bite of her sandwich and chewed slowly, still gazing over at Collin.

I couldn’t help laughing at how she was acting, but this is what I had always wanted for her and thought she deserved. Collin, too. They were both great people and they were perfect for each other.

The next morning, Blake and I were sharing a nice and quiet breakfast when Abby bounced into the room with a huge smile on her face.

“Good morning, Abby.” I glanced over to her. “I’ll be ready to start training in a few minutes.”

 “Oh, don’t rush. We need to start enjoying these wonderful, peaceful mornings a little more often,” she said.

“Well, what has got you in such a good mood this morning?” Blake asked his sister, a curious expression on his face.

“Why wouldn’t I be happy? I get to wake up to the two of you every morning. I have an amazing boyfriend. My favorite student is going to go down in the history books as being the most powerful Astoria to ever exist, and possibly one day, she will be my sister as well… officially, that is.” She glanced towards me, a large smile spreading across her face. “I already consider you a part of the family.”

My mouth fell open at her comment; I couldn’t believe she would say such a thing, especially right in front of me, right in front of Blake. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced over at Blake and I could tell that he was trying to hide his annoyance with his sister.

“Oh, come on, Meredith, Blake, you both look like you’ve seen a ghost. Meredith, I was only joking—about the becoming my sister part—that is a decision only you and Blake can make, but you are my favorite student and you are going to be the most powerful Astoria to ever exist.” She sighed. “Love is grand, isn’t it?” She left the room and practically floated back down the hall.

Blake and I laughed. To say that I think she’s in love would be putting it mildly. She had it bad... real bad. It would be easy to tease her about it, but we were both so happy to see her this joyful after everything she had been through with Isaac in the past, that we didn’t dare.