Page 87 of This Witch Is Not Wicked

“Oh, you’ve got it bad,” Father said with a smirk.

“I really just wanted to eat a good meal.” Wolfe put down his fork, half his plate uneaten. “And now it’s cold.”

Niamh shushed him.

Mother nodded, blue eyes so intense. “You love her, Nevan. So go after her.”

“She just told me it was over.” My heart split open at the thought of not seeing her every day, of never kissing her again, never holding her, never hearing her snarky commentary, never getting those rare, precious smiles she only gave when I broke through her walls enough to earn one.

Niamh tsked. “She loves you, too, Nevan.”

“She does?” Wolfe asked, and Niamh rolled her eyes.

“Yes,” Mother said, exasperated. “Please keep up.”

My mother reached over and put a hand on mine. “I’m sorry I pressured you so much. I was worried about you. Worried you were going to work yourself to death. I thought if you met the right woman, maybe you’d slow down, but it turns out we should’ve been paying much closer attention to your needs. You have no reason to believe me now, but I want this to work out between you and Enid. Not for me but because I saw the way she just stood up for you, and that is everything you deserve in a partner. Someone who understands what you need and will speak up for you when you don’t speak up for yourself. She loves you, and if you love her, too, then you owe it to yourself to go after her.”

Niamh was nodding along, and I started to believe maybe they were right.

“What am I doing here?” I asked myself.

“I don’t know, but go!” Mother shooed me.

Father smiled. “Go get your woman.”

CHAPTER 34

Nevan

Stars twinkled in the dark sky, painting the bog in a silvery shimmering light. I ran out of my mother’s cottage and down the dirt road toward the city. I wasn’t sure what direction Enid had gone, but I knew that I had to find her.

Tonight. Now.

I needed to tell her how I felt, and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realized it sooner.

It shouldn’t have taken her ending this for me to wake up to the fact that I loved her. That I wasn’t too busy to be in a relationship. I just was too busy to be in the wrong relationship—and Enid wasn’t wrong for me. That much was clear after spending so much time together over the last month.

I got to the cobblestone road of the city and sprinted around the bend and straight to her cottage. It was completely dark inside, none of the usual candles flickering and lighting the windows with warmth.

“Enid!” I shouted. “Are you in there?”

There was no answer.

“Enid! Please, answer me!”

“Hey!” Mr. Porter stuck his head out the second-story window. “Some of us are trying to sleep here.”

I wrinkled my nose. “It’s barely after dinnertime.”

“I have to be up early! And I’m trying to get some shut-eye.”

I sighed. “Okay, okay. Sorry. I’ll stop yelling.”

He harrumphed and slammed his window shut.

I debated barging into her cottage. I didn’t want to force my way into her home if she needed space, but the main problem was that I didn’t want to give her space. I wanted to hug her and kiss her and tell her how much I loved her. I wanted to grab hold of her and never let her go.

I stared at her cottage, frozen by indecision, when Vine poked out of the front window.