Page 45 of The Soulmate Bakery

‘So?’ I asked, when we were finally alone. ‘What’s the lesson for today, Hawthorne?’

Orion was leaning against the counter, texting on his phone. A smile pulled half his mouth up. At my words, he looked up, pocketed his phone and pulled out the pendant from our earlier sessions.

He didn’t move but beckoned me closer. I went to him, arms folded over my chest, making sure there was still distance between the two of us. The necklace dangled between us, almost tauntingly.

‘Cast the spell,’ Orion commanded.

My hand gripped the necklace, and with all the conviction in the world, I called upon my magic. The warm buzz grew beneath my skin, and the words of the spell were perched on my tongue. But then it just fizzled away. Like every other time I’d tried.

‘Reverie,’ Orion growled, snapping my focus back to him. ‘I keep losing you.’

Frustration leaked through his voice, and I tried not to feel hurt.

‘You’re getting lost in your thoughts, and it’s blocking your magic.’ He waved an arm around to gesture at the bakery. ‘Getting stronger at spellcasting isn’t just about feeling safe physically – it’s also about being calm in your mind.’

My throat felt dry, and I wanted to push him away. No one had ever seen me like he did; how I struggled with silencing my mind, like I was driven by fear, when everyone else was driven by determination and confidence.

‘Am I ever going to get this?’ I asked, feeling defeated. ‘Because, if you think I can’t do this, we need another plan –’

‘Turn around,’ Orion said. His voice was stern, but he still added, ‘Please.’

I did as he asked. ‘What are you doing?’ My voice shook as I heard him step closer to me. ‘Hawthorne, if this is some weird game, I will kill you.’

‘No games,’ Orion murmured, and then I felt something brush against the nape of my neck – cool metal – and the drop of the pendant down the front of my shirt. ‘Just humour me. I want to try something.’

I felt him fiddling with the clasp, his warm breath making the back of my neck erupt into shivers; I wanted to be unaffected, but I was too dizzy to be anything but unsteady.

‘Grab the pendant,’ Orion said, and his voice was closer now. Close enough that I could smell the faint sweat that came from working in a hot kitchen all day, mixed with that campfire scent that was so distinctly him.

My hand scrambled to grip the pedant, my limbs entirely independent of my mind, which was saying, Leave. Don’t do this, don’t fall again.

‘Close your eyes, Reverie,’ Orion murmured, and I felt my eyelids shut.

He’d spelled me, compelled me, made me compliant. Or maybe it was that part of me that always responded to Orion – menacing, or soft, or authoritative. The part of me that I’d tried to bury deep, but clearly not deep enough.

‘I want you to visualize things that make you feel protected,’ Orion said, and a protest rose on my lips. ‘I know, visualization is a tool used when you’re just starting to learn magic. But we need to rewire the way you use your magic, and this is the best way.’

I sighed, feeling childish. But I did what he asked. I imagined all the things that screamed safety to me. I inhaled deeply and let my mind flit through images. They started off abstract: a lock clicking shut on my door, a seat belt, before they turned personal; the feel of a whisk in my hand, the interior of the Wishing Well Bakery, my bay window, my mother, my sister. I felt my body loosen, and my magic hummed to life under my skin.

‘Say the spell,’ Orion murmured, and his voice felt like he was tracing his index finger around the curve of my ear.

‘Guard from evil, day or night, protect the wearer from every fright,’ I said, and my whole palm felt warm.

‘Good, you’re doing good,’ Orion said encouragingly. ‘Keep thinking of those images.’

More thoughts flashed through my mind, like my brain was attuned to follow his every command.

‘Guard from evil, day or night, protect the wearer from every fright.’

And then, with my palm hot and the pendant pressing against my flesh, another image came into my thoughts.

Orion Hawthorne. That summer. Driving me back home in the dark. That night he caught me. That night I got the second point on my licence. The terror in his eyes, the fear that I was disappearing right before him. My anger but also my relief at being stopped – no matter how deep it was buried.

‘Guard from evil, day or night, protect the wearer from every fright.’

‘You did it, Reverie,’ Orion said, and his tone was downright gleeful.

My eyes flew open, and I saw that the pendant in my hand was glowing brightly. The illuminated rubies cast red shadows across my face. I lifted my gaze away from the pendant, disbelief coursing through me, and met his eyes. There was that self-satisfied grin on his mouth, and a glimmer of something akin to pride in his eyes. It made my heart glow.