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Or more likely, I’ve stumbled across the one good soul left.
I stand slowly, cracking the stiffness out of my neck. “I’m guessing that the witch who tethered us here is more likely to live in Grayrock City than in the real world.” I lift my right arm, grateful the sting is gone. “I’m guessing my arm leads me to them, I hand over the water, and then this is over?”
She nods, averting her gaze politely. “That’s the theory. If you’re going in the right direction, you’ll know within a few steps. The pain is your compass.” She shoots me a quick apologetic glance. “I only know what I remember from Fern’s bedtime stories, so I’m not your best source.”
“Stories about tethering charms were your bedtime stories?” I crinkle my nose.
She shrugs. “Among other things. I would have preferred Cinderella.”
I snicker at her cuteness. “You’re not like any witch I’ve ever met. They only want more magic. More power.”
She shrugs. “Well, I didn’t inherit that gene.” She adjusts the lamp on her bicep. “When you find the witch who did this, make sure to give them a piece of my mind. I was having a nice nighttime run before my arm started stinging.”
I motion between the two of us. “Actually, it’s not a bad night I’m having right now.”
When she looks up at me, there’s a preciousness to her features that makes my hand itch to trace her heart-shaped face, to thumb the roundness of her high cheekbones.
I push further, since she’s been so bold as to strike up a pleasant back-and-forth with me. “It’s not a bad night if it brings me to good company and decent conversation. Thanks for being the best part of this whole thing.”
She’s cute in a way that normally is only an inconvenience to my focus, but tonight I can’t look away.
What the hell?
I take a chance and go for honesty. “I didn’t realize witches could be so… normal.”
The corner of her mouth quirks. “I didn’t realize shifters could be so civil. It’s nice when I’m wrong.”
I never know what she’s going to say, but I’m positive I won’t tire of listening and guessing wrong. “I’m not sure I’ve ever said that.”
Her gray eyes glisten in the moonlight. “Being wrong about life is one of the secretly great wonders. Surprises are a good way to learn new things. Meet new people. Bury old prejudices.”
“I can’t recall the last time I was happy about being wrong.”
“Then I wish you many happy moments in your future. Ones where you can learn and be okay with not being in charge of it all.”
I frown at her, unsure if that was a blessing or a curse. “Thank you?”
She fumbles for her footing as she stands, and I have to remind myself not to jump over the creek to offer my hand to her, as if she belongs to me. As if I am supposed to make sure she doesn’t stumble.
She fixes me with a sweet smile that holds no trace of mirth. “Good luck, Leo. It wasn’t so bad, getting lost in the woods with you.”
Precious. That’s what she is. I can’t remember the last time I used that word, but it surfaces again and again when her face fills my vision. My hand moves to my heart. “Anytime, Ivy girl.”
It’s been a long time since I’ve made a woman blush. Even though it’s dark out, I am certain I can make out the faint flush in her cheeks.
As if she needed me to be more attracted to her.
I make to turn and run toward the city, but three steps in, my arm begins burning all over again.
“Ah!” The sound doesn’t come from me, but from Ivy Moon. Panic slices through my composure as I spin on my heel, unwilling to admit to myself that this woman being in pain trumps the burning discomfort in my arm.
She shouldn’t mean a thing to me. She’s a witch, even if it skipped her genetics. Yet my body does what it wants, leaping toward her to fend off whatever it is that’s made her cry out.
3
Leo
“Shit,” I mumble as I clear the brook in a long leap. Do I wish I wasn’t naked when my hands flutter over her form to locate the source of the pain? Sure. But I can’t fix that. “Are you alright?”
