Love Charms by Multiple Page B

due to past events. If you break the
vow of secrecy, any of your new knowledge is going to disappear. Also, our
relationship will dissolve. You’ll vaguely remember me as a previous partner,
but not as someone you love. I, however, will retain the memories. Nothing will
bring it back for you, not bumping into me at the store, not seeing a picture
of me, nothing. I’ll just be some girl you randomly dated, even if I’m
your wife. It all just ends, goes away like it never happened.”
    He never looked away, never flinched,
took it all in. Finally, he spoke. “What will my family know?” His family was
another part of the equation. All this time he’d only thought about how it
would touch his life and Raven’s. But what about his parents, his sister, and
aunts and uncles… would they know?
    “Nothing. They’ll know I’m your
girlfriend. They’ll know I’m your wife after we marry. They can’t know more. If
you slip and say something, it all goes away. You have to understand, this is
how we protect ourselves. It’s built in security. We take this very seriously.”
Her voice changed. This wasn’t a game. This was for the wellbeing of the witch
community. “There will be a spell involved; it’s not just you saying okay. Once
you sign the spell will be cast, and from that moment on your vow is on
record.”
    “Will I be hurt or something bad happen
to me if we fall apart, like a divorce?” At times it sounded daunting. It
seemed so serious, and not knowing what the consequences were made him a little
nervous.
    “It’s not like that, it will simply
dissolve. Dotted lines that hold signatures both in your world and mine will
dissolve; it never happened, it all goes away.  It will be painful splitting
up, but not physically, and nobody comes after you or anything scary like that.
It’s not about revenge, it’s about keeping our villages and witches safe. If
you want out, you can get out, but once you’re gone – I’m part of what
you lose.”
    Derek picked up Raven’s hand. “Whatever
it takes to stay by your side, I’m there.”
    “Let’s discuss what else you need to
know.”
    He cut her off. “I am aware of the risk
I’m taking, but I want you in my life. I’m a stubborn guy like that. I get what
I want.” He grinned, trying to keep the tone light. “Let’s just do this, okay?
I don’t want to lose you. I’ll take the vow of secrecy.” The more they talked
about it, the more nervous he got. He was only certain of one thing-- he wanted
Raven in his life.
    “You really should hear all of the
details.” She hesitated. “Derek, there’s a lot involved.”
    Derek waived his hand. “Bring it on.”         
    Raven shook her head. “Stubborn boy.”
    “What do I have to sign?” He was curious.
It was all new to him.
    “Just to let you know, it may freak you
out a little bit. You’re going to see things you haven’t seen before. It’s kind
of cool, but I still wanted to warn you.” This was going to get dicey. He’d
probably never seen anything like this before.
    Derek’s smile slid from his face. “Raven,
what happens if we end up getting a divorce and there are kids involved?”
    She looked down, not knowing what to say.
“It won’t be fair.”
    “What do you mean, ‘it won’t be fair?’”
His tone shifted. He didn’t like the sound of that.
    “Listen, if you’re worrying about
divorce, maybe we should rethink this. You can walk away at any time; it’s just
that once you do it’s all over, completely over. If we have kids, you’ll still
get to see them, but you’ll lose some of your memories of the past where it
comes to our family, as will any friends and family who know us in the mortal
world. Like your parents will still recognize us, but it will be foggy –
the details of our lives. It’s hard to put into words. It’s very complicated.
It’s for their safety, my safety, the community’s safety…” she trailed off.
    “It’s all or nothing. This is