Mirrorlight (8 page)

And she pulled. And pulled.

“Aric,” she panted, wrapping her arms tight around his torso one last time. “I will fight heaven and earth to bring you to me. They’re not taking you from me. Not now. Not
ever
.”

And she gave one last, final tug, putting everything she had—everything she had ever wanted—into this final pull.

Aric fell through the mirror.

They flew backward, tumbling into the small bedroom. Aric fell on top of her, his heavy form limp. Cora shuddered, watching as the mirrorlight receded and the mirror went back to normal in the blink of an eye. The smoke vanished. Her hands clenched around Aric’s shoulders.

He didn’t vanish.

After a moment, he coughed and stirred, and she cried out with joy, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him close.

He would live. He would live and she was here with him, touching him. Feeling his hot skin pressed against her own. She’d found something she wanted enough to fight for, and she’d won him.

A shadow loomed over her, and she saw Aunt Martha looming over her, blocking out the light.

“So,” she said in an arch voice. “That’s what this is all about. You’re hiding a man in here.”

Laughter bubbled up in Cora’s throat, and she just hugged Aric closer.

#

Thirty minutes later, she was standing outside of Stonewood Abbey, her suitcase brimming with her hastily-packed clothes. Aric stood next to her, staring at his surroundings like he’d just been dropped into another world. Which, she supposed, he had.

Now that they were both on this side of the mirror, she felt a little awkward. Just because they’d had sex through a mirror—through a mirror!—didn’t mean that he would feel obligated in any way to her. She’d saved his life, but that was a poor reason to start a relationship. And would he even know what to do with himself in the twenty-first century? What if the shock was too much for him? Worry gnawed at her.

Even worse, what would they do now that they’d been banned from the Abbey? Aunt Martha was so furious she wasn’t even speaking to Cora anymore. She’d tossed her suitcase out on the lawn without even a goodbye.

“Yoohoo,” called a voice. “Over here.”

Cora turned, and saw Muffin heading toward them, waving a lacy white handkerchief. She wore a gold-sequin spangled sweater that dripped with fringe. It was belted atop a pair of jeggings and a hot pink pair of cowboy boots.

“There you two are,” Muffin called. “About time, too. I was starting to get worried.” Aric turned and gave Cora a confused look, then turned back to the elderly woman.

“Marguerite?”

Muffin simpered and waved her lacy handkerchief at him. “Oh you silly boy. They call me Muffin here.”

He looked over at Cora and gestured at Muffin, reciting a litany of gibberish syllables that she didn’t understand.

Cora shook her head at him. “I don’t speak…Welsh. If that’s Welsh, that is.” Maybe it was Old English. She had no idea. Defeat began to settle over her. Even without the mirror separating them, she couldn’t talk to Aric?

“Not a problem,” Muffin said, and pulled out the long pale stick of wood. The ribbon on the end danced as she touched it to his hand, and then wiggled it in the air. It…looked like a wand. Muffin waved it again, and then touched the tip to her nose and smiled. “Try now, my dear.”

“I said, what do you do here in this strange place, Marguerite?” Aric spoke, his words lilting with a sexy accent. He looked surprised at his words, and then looked over at Cora.

“I am speaking your language?”

“Just a bit of magic fixed that right up,” Muffin crowed. “And call me Muffin, dearie.

Everyone in this time does.” She leaned over as if he were deaf and cupped a hand to her mouth, yelling. “M U F F I N.”

“Very well.” Aric smiled at her and then turned to her, his smile growing even broader. “And what do I call you here?”

“You can just call me Cora,” she said softly, feeling suddenly shy. At his nod, something else registered and she turned back to Muffin. “Did you say…magic? Is that a magic wand?”

Muffin gave me an indignant look. “Of course it’s magic. What else do you expect from your fairy godmother and a magic mirror?”

Cora felt weak at that, setting down her suitcase on the driveway. “I’m sorry, did you say fairy godmother?”

“Yes I did. You’re both assigned to me. I’ve been trying to pair that one up,” she waved a hand at Aric. “For centuries. Oh, and speaking of, this is for you.” She held out a wallet to him.

He took the small brown leather square in his hand and stared at it.

“Open it,” she said in an impatient voice. “We haven’t got all night, my dear.” Cora moved to his side and showed him how to flip it open. Inside was a driver’s license—Alaska—with Aric’s full name on it, his age, and his address. Also inside were credit cards, a social security card, and some other paperwork. “How did you…”

“Magic,” Muffin said again, her tone annoyed. “The passport’s over at my house.

You can stay the night before heading back home tomorrow.” She pointed a finger at Cora. “And no making out against my mirrors, you dirty birds. Keep it clean.” Cora’s face flushed bright red. “But…what…does…” she turned to Aric. “Do you want to go with me?”

He moved to her side and touched her cheek, grazing his thumb across the soft skin as he stared into her eyes. Gone was the sad look on his face. A hint of a smile touched his mouth again. “More than anything.”

She returned his smile. “I want that too.”

“I hear there’s a nice company hiring up in Alaska,” Muffin said pointedly.

Cora grinned. “Got it. I’ll check it out.”

Muffin reached between them and took Cora’s suitcase, hiking down the road with it.

“Follow me, you two. The cottage is this way.”

She glanced over at Aric, and he turned to her, his hands moving to her waist. He pulled her against him and Cora’s hand went to his chest. He felt big and real and so
wonderful
against her. Her fingers brushed over his heart and sure enough, his pulse was steady and warm. “This is real, isn’t it?”

He leaned in toward her. “I think it is. If it is real and not a dream, what do we do now?”

She looked up at him, a smile curving her mouth. “Well, I guess we could start with happily ever after.”

And she finally, finally got to kiss him.

The End