I take his hand, and he leads me to an outgrowth of tall grasses with a narrow dirt trail running through them. A small wooden gate blocks the path, and it creaks when I push it open, its weather-worn wood splintered and faded.
The salty sea air is tinged with sweetness, and I look around to see dozens of flowers surrounding me, growing tall and wild. Evening primrose and black hellebores bask in the moonlight, and a single white moonflower grows amidst the night-blooming flowers.
“I was in this garden the first time you said my name at midnight,” Wolfe says. “When I heard it, my heart started racing, and I dove into the water thinking of only one thing: getting to you. And that’s all I’ve thought of since.”
“Wolfe,” I say, lingering over his name, saying it slowly so I can savor the way it feels in my mouth. I take a step closer to him.
“Wolfe.”
Another step toward him, this time close enough to touch. I grab him by his collar and pull him into me, brushing my lips against his ear. “Wolfe.”
He shudders as I say his name.
“You’re distracting me,” he says, his voice low, as if it hurts him to say it.
I raise my hands in the air in mock apology. “You’re easily distracted.”
“Only by you.” He says it in that way of his where he sounds angry, but I know it’s just that he’s frightened by how much he loves me. Everyone on this island knows his weakness now, and it’s a liability he never intended to have.
Perhaps the most unfair thing of all is that I find immeasurable strength in being the only thing that’s ever brought him to his knees. It is my openness, my vulnerability that cracked the exterior of this jagged boy, qualities only the foolish say are weak.
But I know better.
“I vow to use my power only for good.” I say it as a joke, but it’s wrapped in spools of truth.
Wolfe leans into me, his warm breath colliding with the cold air, sending a shiver down my spine. “Use it however you want,” he says, his words causing my insides to stir with desire. “I trust you.”
“I know you do.”
“Good.”
We watch each other for several breaths, and then Wolfe grabs my hand and leads me farther into the garden. He picks the moonflower and hands it to me, the petals brushing my lips when I raise it to my face.
“Every queen needs a castle,” he says, pushing through another gate and releasing my hand. I step through and gasp as I take in my surroundings. An entire field of moonflowers stretches out before me as far as I can see, thousands of them in bloom despite the winter chill. Their petals shimmer with moonlight and move in the breeze, a rolling sea of white in the darkness.
“Did you do all this?” I ask, unable to fully take in what I’m seeing. There are so many.
“I did.”
I turn to face him, still holding the flower he gave me. “It’s unbelievable,” I say. “Thank you.”
I slowly sink to the earth, pulling him down with me. His mouth is on mine in an instant, his breath warming me from the inside out, making me forget that it’s winter. He could kiss me as many times as there are flowers in this field and it would never be enough.
I lie down and he follows, and I commit to memory the way it feels to have his body on top of mine, the way his breaths respond when I touch him.
“Wolfe,” I say, refilling my lungs with the air he stole, “Do you want to swim with me?”
“Yes.”
I rush to the water’s edge with Wolfe right behind me, laughing into the midnight sky as I go. I close my eyes and think of the sun, think of all the hours I spent practicing magic during the day, and I pour it into the waves, heating them just enough make swimming tolerable.
I don’t bother taking off my nightdress. Instead, I dive in headfirst, swimming out far enough that I have to tread water to stay afloat. We swim together by the light of the moon, telling stories and using magic and living. Fully living.
And as we do, I marvel at what it feels like to practice magic at night.
Wolfe starts to make his way back to the shore, but I tell him to wait. I swim up next to him and wrap my arms around his neck, kissing him with all the joy and passion and wonder of the moment. And as I do, I call up my magic. It rises with excitement, getting stronger with each passing moment.
With my lips still on Wolfe’s, I release my magic into the water. Our feet stay planted on the ocean floor as the waves rise up on either side of us, surrounding us in a vortex of salt water and magic and midnights. Infinite midnights.