Page 43 of Witchful Thinking

Diana's heart pounded in her chest."And?What's your conclusion?"

"That I'm still in love with you," Alarick said simply."Without magical fusion, without extraordinary resonance.Just me, loving you for who you are—brilliant, dedicated, occasionally infuriating."

A laugh escaped her, half joy and half disbelief."Infuriating?"

"Completely," he confirmed with a smile that made her heart race."Especially when you take six weeks to figure out what I realized after three."

"Which is?"

"That magic may have brought us together, but it isn't what kept us together."His voice dropped lower."The fusion enhanced what was already there, Diana.It didn't create it."

"The garden gnomes told me you'd say that," she said, a smile breaking through despite her attempt at seriousness.

"Garden gnomes," Alarick laughed, "are surprisingly insightful for creatures that collect shiny buttons."

"More insightful than me, apparently," Diana admitted."It took seeing you again, working with you again, to understand what I've been missing wasn't the fusion—it was you."

Alarick closed the distance between them, his hands coming up to frame her face."I've missed you too.Every day."

"Even though I'm stubborn and ten years older and occasionally berate you for rearranging my healing supplies?"she asked, only half joking.

"Especially because of those things," he assured her."They're part of who you are.The person I love."

When he kissed her, there was no magical glow, no extraordinary resonance between their cores—just the very human connection of two people who had found their way back to each other through loss and adaptation, through professional respect and personal longing.

It was different from before, yes, but no less powerful for being purely human rather than magically amplified.

"I've been offered a permanent position at Grimm Mawr," Alarick said softly when they finally parted."Heading a new department focusing on integrated magical security."

"You have?"Diana pulled back slightly to study his face.

"Headmistress Raven seems to think my adapted warding approach has significant educational value.Especially after today's incident."He smiled."The fact that it keeps me near you is just a very fortunate coincidence, I'm sure."

"Raven does love her matchmaking," Diana laughed."Almost as much as the garden gnomes."

"So," Alarick said, his thumbs tracing gentle patterns on her cheeks, "what do you think?About me staying?"

"I think," Diana said deliberately, "that I've spent six weeks trying to convince myself that what we had was just magical compatibility.And I've failed spectacularly."

"Is that a yes?"

"It's an 'I love you,'" she corrected."Even without the fusion.Even with your constant sleeve-rolling and your garden gnome fan club.I love you, Alarick Blackthorn."

His smile was radiant."Even with my tendency to reorganize your perfectly arranged supplies?"

"Let's not push it," she warned, though she was smiling too."I reserve the right to be occasionally irritated by your organizational improvements."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Alarick assured her, pulling her close again."After all, we established long ago that you're magnificent when flustered."

As his lips met hers again, Diana reflected that some things hadn't changed, fusion or no fusion.Alarick still had an uncanny ability to see through her professional facade, to challenge her precisely where she needed challenging, to support her in ways that made her stronger rather than dependent.

Their magic might have changed, their professional approaches adapted, but the fundamental connection between them remained—stronger, perhaps, for having been tested and consciously reclaimed rather than facilitated by extraordinary magical compatibility.

And that, Diana decided as she wrapped her arms around Alarick's neck, was a different kind of magic altogether—one that no broken fusion could ever take away.