The trees made their addictive cry, and she forgot about Briggs’s request, staring eagerly into the forest. The branches of the trees at the edge of the forest were bending toward her, and another surge of magic flooded her system when Briggs’s arm curved around her waist again.
“Oh, that’s so nice,” she murmured, smiling happily at the trees. “I’m coming.”
“Cece.” Briggs’s voice was sharp.
“What?” She didn’t want to be irritated with him, but she couldn’t understand why he was denying her what she wanted.
He gripped her chin, turning her face until she was looking at him instead of the trees. He brushed his mouth against hers. “Do as your mate asks. Move the logs.”
“Fine,” she pouted.
He released her and stepped back, and Cece studied the logs before speaking a levitation spell. The logs shifted and groaned, and her magic flared bright in her veins. She frowned when the logs remained on the ground. She held out her hands, the green light radiating from them intensifying when she repeated the spell. The logs groaned and cracked, bits of bark falling onto the snow, but they didn’t move.
She huffed in frustration as Briggs said, “Try again, little witch.”
She concentrated, chanting the levitation spell repeatedly as her magic spiked and the trees in the forest swayed lightly. She grinned in triumph when, with a loud crack, six of the logs lifted from the pile. They hovered in the air, and Cece waved her hands. They moved slowly across the yard, landing with a heavy thud, and Cece’s smile grew. She stared at the remaining logs, murmuring the spell over and over as sweat poured down her back and the call of the trees dimmed.
Two more logs broke free, and she moved them to join the others before turning back to the original pile. She concentrated, but the hum of her magic was very low now, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t lift any more logs.
She dropped her hands and took a step back, sucking in a few deep breaths. Her body ached as if she’d been through a few rounds in the boxing ring, and she felt only a soft trickle of her magic.
She studied the forest. Her feet and hands were numb, and she was suddenly ice cold. Why the heck had she come out here anyway?
She turned to Briggs, fear nibbling at her edges. “What… why am I out here?”
“You don’t remember?” he asked.
“The trees were… calling for me.” She stared at him in panic. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing, my mate. Come inside, you’re freezing,” Briggs said.
She reached for his hand, hurt washing over her when he shook his head. “No, don’t touch me, little witch. Not yet.”
She followed Briggs into the house, trying to remember the last hour or so. It was alarmingly fuzzy. She’d been hungry, or at least she’d felt hungry, and they’d gotten out of bed, and then…
She couldn’t really remember anything after that. It was just a haze of magic and feeling incredibly connected to Mother Earth and…
“I lost control of the magic,” she said, the fear in her voice stark and undeniable.
She stumbled to a kitchen chair, collapsing into it as her body shook with cold. She stared at her hands, the low hum of the magic she could still feel, scaring her.
She was a witch who couldn’t control her magic.
If the WWC found out, they would, at best, have her on a watchlist for the rest of her life, and at worst, toss her into a magic suppressed cell, and she’d never see Briggs or anyone else she loved again. She’d die alone and -
“Little witch, take a breath.” Briggs wrapped a blanket around her and crouched in front of her, rubbing her legs through the blanket. “Breathe, my mate.”
She took deep breaths, staring at Briggs as she tried to blink the tears away. They fell down her cheeks anyway, and she swiped them away. “God, I’m sorry. I’m such a crybaby.”
He smiled at her. “One, you’re not, and two, your crying doesn’t upset me, so don’t apologize for it. I love how sensitive my mate is.”
She sniffled and wiped at her face again. “I lost control of my magic, Briggs.”
“No, baby, you didn’t,” he said.
She made a face, and he smiled at her. “I’m serious.”
“I just tried to make you freeze to death in the forest with me,” she said.
