Ezra moved towards me, held out his arm. I reached for him, willed my legs to take me forward. Together, we followed the priest, Orpheus and Gretel from the church and into the weak sunshine.
I felt as though I hovered just outside my own skin. I’d mentally prepared myself to help Angela get through her ordeal, but I hadn’t readied myself for maintaining composure through the vows. And nothing could have prepared me for the further debasing of women’s basic human rights.
As the congregation streamed through the open doors of the chapel and out onto the colourfully decorated grounds that had been prepared for the wedding reception, I glanced down the empty road. I wanted to throw my heels at Orpheus and run for my life, out of this godforsaken town, towards the hidden dinghy…towards Jet.
Every day, I forced myself to think of Jet less, to try and forget my feelings for him. But in unguarded moments like these, Jet would appear from his hiding place and in an instant, I would remember everything. I would crave his solid presence.
‘You okay?’ Ezra asked quietly.
I nodded, no longer trusting my voice.
‘Come on,’ he said, taking my hand and leading me down the side of the church where there were no eyes and ears.
‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ I said when we were finally alone.
Ezra’s eyebrows scrunched together. ‘By this, do you mean getting married to me?’
We had only been a couple again for a short time, but despite everything, every day my feelings for him grew stronger. I sighed and placed my hand on the side of his face. ‘I meant pretending to be someone I’m not – hiding who I really am.’
A spectrum of emotions flashed over Ezra’s face. ‘I’m sorry. I wish it could be different. One day…our lives will be different.’ He removed my hand, leaned forward and kissed the tip of my nose. ‘And then you can turn full witch, okay?’
I smiled and the sun came out from behind the clouds, brightening up what had felt drab only moments before.
‘Try and stop me,’ I said, rubbing my hands together. Before I could think, before I could stop myself, flames released from my hands.
Ezra’s eyes opened wide and I put out my flames immediately. Ezra and I both turned to gaze back towards the congregation. There was Noah, his eyes wide, his mouth agape.
My skin prickled cold and then grew piping hot. Ezra started laughing and said loudly, ‘That’s some magic trick.’
My gaze flickered back to Noah, but he was gone, leaving behind a cloud of doubt that I knew would never, ever go away.
I tried to move, but the ground held me firm.
‘Do you think…he saw?’ asked Ezra finally.
I nodded, my words unspoken for fear of what saying them would mean, for me, for our future, for our lives.
‘I can’t believe how stupid I was,’ I said.
Ezra took my hands in his and whispered, ‘No one will believe him.’
‘They don’t have to believe him – they only have to doubt me.’
Ezra swallowed and gazed back down to the crowd.
‘The only opinion that matters is my dad’s. So long as he believes me, everything will be okay.’
I pictured Noah finding Orpheus, telling him I was a witch. Would he believe Noah or laugh at him, call him a bitter loser?
It was a question that I knew would haunt me, day and night, because if I was being honest, I didn’t know the answer.
Chapter Two
For the first time in as long as I could remember, my lungs filled properly with blessed air and my tension blew away with the wind. The sails were full and firm, and Ezra’s yacht danced steadily forward across the sea, away from Melas.
Ezra, who stood behind me at the steering wheel, pushed my hair back behind my shoulders and kissed my neck, sending chills over my skin. For once, there was only the two of us. Out in the open sea, we saw only the occasional boat bringing supplies into Melas or the coastguard, who took no interest in us. I didn’t have to worry about hiding who I was or about what might happen should Noah tell Orpheus that he saw me produce flames on Angela’s wedding day beside the church.
Ezra kissed the back of my neck again, his hands roaming.
‘If you keep doing that, I’m going to tip the boat over.’
Ezra laughed and pulled me close. ‘What about now?’
I giggled and put his hands on the steering wheel, then turned towards him. ‘I think you’d better steer.’ I placed my hands on his face and brazenly drew his lips down to mine.
He groaned, and it took a large gust of wind ripping across the sails to drag us apart.
‘I love it out here,’ I said, gazing beyond the white sails to the deep blue sky.
‘Me too,’ he said, then kissed me gently. ‘But not as much as I love you.’
The space between us suddenly felt charged with electricity. Every day in the last month since we’d gotten back together, he’d told me he loved me. Every day my feelings towards Jet dimmed, while my feelings towards Ezra grew brighter. But I had yet to take that next step and let him claim my heart.
I searched Ezra’s green eyes. In them I saw the ocean, the sky, the sun – and the man I loved.
‘I love you, too,’ I whispered.
Ezra smiled, his face flushing of joy.
‘I think this calls for autopilot,’ he said, then leaned forward and pressed a few buttons to start rolling the sails in.
‘Do you think that’s wise?’ I asked, a thousand wings fluttering inside me.
‘Keeping us upright and buying us some time together,’ he said, raising an eyebrow. ‘Absolutely.’
‘Oh,’ I said, my stomach curling up along with the sails.
Within minutes, the sails were in, the anchor was sunk, and we
