Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Breena smiles sweetly and then gets to work on her simmer pot.
“It’s convenient to work in a green witch’s kitchen,” Lorelei says thoughtfully as she pulls herbs and flowers out of containers for the spell she’s working. “She literally has everything a witch could need. Oh, she even has calendula. That’s not easy to find, but then again, if someone’s going to have some, it’s our Lucy.”
“I called my mom when you were upstairs, Jonas. She and Astrid are working some magic of their own tonight to help us.”
“Thank you.”
I sit in a chair and drag my hand through my hair, suddenly more exhausted than I remember being in a long, long time.
“Part of me is surprised,” Lorelei says, and I glance up to find her watching me, her eyes filled with speculation.
“About what?”
“Well, it’s still really early in your relationship. Like, it’s a baby romance. But it’s not all sex and fluff. I saw that tonight with all this creepy shit going on. It’s so much deeper than that between the two of you.”
“There has been sex and fluff.” I grin at the words. “But we’re not children, Lorelei. If you’re asking whether or not I’m in love with your cousin, I don’t think there’s any question that I am. I enjoy her. I’m completely fascinated by her. And I worry for her because something—or someone—is trying to hurt her. I won’t let that happen.”
We all turn our heads at the sound of Nera’s whimper. Standing next to him is Lucy.
“You’re awake,” Breena says with surprise.
“Come.” I take her hand and kiss it, searching her face. Her eyes still look tired, and she’s lost all the color in her cheeks. Still, I can see that it’s Lucy standing here with us. “Sit down.”
“I’ll make some tea,” Breena announces and gets to work.
“Peppermint, please.” Lucy swallows hard. “I’m still nauseated. What happened?”
“I was hoping you’d be able to tell us,” I say as I sit next to her and tuck her hair behind her ear. “What do you remember?”
“I felt so odd.” She swallows hard, and Nera lays his head in her lap. She strokes his long ears as she continues talking. “I wanted to celebrate. To be carefree and silly. And it was an addictive feeling, which is so odd. I don’t like to drink too much, and I’ve never done any kind of mind-altering drugs because I’m afraid of what my magic would do under the influence of something.”
“Not to mention, you hate wine, and you might have given your right ovary for a bottle of good red tonight,” Lorelei says.
“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Lucy asks, shaking her head. She smiles gratefully at Breena and accepts the cup of tea her cousin offers her. “I definitely wasn’t in control of what was going on. And then, all I could do was cry and throw up.”
“Do you think that whatever possessed you left at that time, and the sickness was your body’s reaction to the possession?” Breena asks.
“I wasn’t possessed,” Lucy replies.
“Then what do you think it was?” I ask her and make her look into my eyes. “How would you explain it?”
“Maybe I ate something bad,” she says, thinking it over. “It could have been a weird reaction to something.”
“You’re not allergic to anything that grows,” Breena insists. “And we all ate the same things. It came in on that.” She points at the broken agate.
Lucy’s face pales even more when she looks at the crystal, and then she’s on her feet and backing quickly away from it.
“Get that out of here.”
The fear is palpable as Lorelei takes the crystal and hurries out the back door with it. I watch through the window as she takes it through the garden, out the gate, and into the trees.
“Honey,” Breena says, rubbing Lucy’s back. “Something had you tonight. But don’t worry, we laid so much protection on this place, literally nothing can get inside without your consent. It’s so strong, you might even have to give written consent.”
Lucy gives her a shaky smile. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Lorelei comes back into the kitchen and washes her hands. “I took it halfway home. I’ll take it the rest of the way when I go in a bit and dispose of it in the ocean. It won’t ever bother you again, Lucy.”
“Okay.” Lucy takes a long, deep breath. “Okay.”
“Oh, and by the way,” Lorelei continues, “your mom is here, and she’s not leaving you again until this whole mess is cleaned up. She says you can try to make her mad enough to storm out, but it won’t work.”
Lucy presses her lips together, and her eyes fill with tears.
“Good. I could use my mom right about now. But tell her to stay out of the bedroom, or she might see some stuff she’d rather not.”