healing.”
“How is Curt?” Shay was almost afraid to ask.
The admiral sobered. “Physically, Dale’s progressing. But this scarred more than his body. SOB is too tough to admit it. I’m mandating two months of medical leave.”
He glanced at Dakota. “As his executive officer, you’re in charge, Lieutenant, until your CO returns to active duty. Or I can replace Dale, if all of you wish.”
A rousing chorus of “hell no” from Shay and his teammates. Byrne grinned.
“Thought so.”
Shay flexed his hand, feeling new strength and energy. Kelly laced her fingers through his. “This is the third time you gave my life back to me, Sam.”
“Guess that means I’m committed and I’d better marry you, like the old geezer says.”
Shay winked at the admiral as the other SEALs laughed.
Byrne nodded. “You’ll both be fine. Don’t forget, Shaymore.” His green gaze grew distant, as if peering into an ancient past. “Giving of power willingly to save another means an emotional bond that cannot be broken. Only death can sever it.”
Cupping her face, Shay kissed Kelly, a long, lingering kiss, feeling her breath return with each delicious exhale.
It was the most wonderful feeling in the world.
Sam snapped out the thick blanket, placing it beneath the weeping willow tree. An impish smile touched his mouth as he stretched out and patted the space beside him.
“Come here. I’m hungry for a taste of you,” he teased.
Kelly leaned against the tree. “Trying to compromise me, sailor?”
“In every way I can,” he whispered in a husky voice. “I have three weeks’ leave, and I intend to spend every moment making love with you.”
She considered. “My husband might object.”
Sam grinned. “Not at all.”
Lifting his left hand, he flashed the wide gold band around his finger, proclaiming him as exclusively hers. Six weeks after the fight at the farmhouse, they married. Their wedding had been a riot of flowers and festivity, attended by dignitaries and working-class Mages, both Arcane and Elemental. Curt, still healing but dignified, walked Kelly down the aisle.
Shay’s CO had volunteered to give away the bride, an offer Kelly immediately accepted. Curt had smiled gently.
“An honor, for two people who mean a great deal to me. You both give me hope for the future,” he’d said.
Shortly after the meltdown at the Sweet Valley farm, Admiral Byrne had worked behind the scenes to ensure the veil guarding the paranormal world remained firmly in place. Senator and Mrs. Robert Rogers had a big funeral, with many attendees mourning their deaths in a plane crash. And the Council of Mages had worked to unite Arcanes and Elementals. Now that the truth was out about the Mage book of spells, old fears and tensions had eased. Carl and the rest of the staff at Sight Finders had come out of hiding after the Council of Mages had lauded Kelly and her organization for their dedicated service in saving children.
Billy went to live with his biological mother’s parents. His presence was helping to ease the grandparent’s pain of the terrible loss of their daughter, Catherine, and their other grandchildren.
Now Kelly knelt on the plaid blanket, tickling Sam’s chin with a stalk of meadow grass. They’d moved into the mansion with his uncle, who was overseeing a blizzard of contractors renovating the west wing into offices for Sight Finders and Kelly’s new charity. The widowed Hilda, Kelly’s dear friend, was now president of the foundation that gave interest-free business loans to the poor of Honduras. Sam suggested the first grant go to Rosa, the Honduran woman who’d helped them. Rosa had already hired two local women for her new sewing business.
“What’s for supper?” Kelly asked.
He gestured to the picnic basket. “Fried chicken, potato salad, fresh corn and green bean salad. All at the house, prepared especially by Uncle Al. We have one hour before supper starts.”
“And what’s in the picnic basket?”
“A month’s supply of condoms.”
“Not courtesy of Uncle Al,” she murmured. “I’m surprised you don’t have a cache in the tree. Did you ever hide anything in there?”
He shook his head as he fished in the picnic basket. “Mom loved this tree. She used to sit here while Pete played with his trucks. Sometimes she read.”
A strange expression crossed his face as he pulled out a red leather book. “What the hell? I didn’t put this in here.”
She took the book and opened it. A note fell out. “Sam, your uncle did pack the picnic basket after all. This letter is from him.”
He scanned the paper. “He says this is my mother’s secret diary. She gave it to him for safekeeping because my father was getting suspicious about her activities and if he found the journal, he’d burn it. She knew you and I were in love and wanted me to know the truth about who you are, Kelly.”
Sam flipped through the book until reaching the last few entries.
“Does she say why she teamed with my father to bring justice to my people?”
Shock darkened his gaze as Sam glanced up. “Not your people. Our people. You’re Elemental, Kelly. And Arcane.”
He handed her the red leather book.
Kelly scanned the entry. Her father wasn’t Arcane, but an Elemental who disguised himself to marry an Arcane he dearly loved. Cedric raised their only child as an Arcane to teach about the injustices suffered by her mother’s people, a deathbed promise made to his wife. When Annabelle had learned of his true identity, and how he sacrificed a life of riches to empower Arcanes, she’d agreed to help.
Sam was right. The triskele only amplified her true powers. She was Elemental, and Arcane.
Kelly shut the book, her mind whirling with this revelation.
“It makes sense. Arcanes have red auras. Yours is crimson, shot with the gold of an Elemental. You heal in sunlight, a rare Elemental ability.”
Sam cupped her face, soothing her with his calming touch. “You’re a true hybrid, the first in many generations, I suspect. That explains how you can call the elements.”
Wonder filled her as she leaned into his caressing touch. For a few moments, they said nothing, just held each other.
Kelly pulled away. “It’s really over, isn’t it?”
He nodded and set the diary down carefully.
Tightness filled her chest. “Except for one thing. Back when this first began, you said my memories would be erased. No one’s supposed to know ST 21 is a SEAL team with paranormal powers.”
“Yes.” Sam stroked a thumb over her leaping pulse. “No one except immediate family, such as a wife.”
Her heart skipped a beat as he gave that seductive smile she knew so well. “Love me, wife.”
He kissed her, long and deep, gently brushing away her tears with the edges of his thumbs. Then he sat back and gazed deep into her eyes.
“I told you earlier, life with the team filled all the empty places inside me.” His voice went husky. “Except one.”
Sam placed his hand over his heart. “I didn’t realize how empty it was until you came back into my life.”
“You never left my heart, Sam,” she whispered. “I just tucked you away into a safe corner, where I could try
