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With her pulse dancing, Ella wrote about Mananan. Being hypersensitive to touch, Ella wrote in detail about the feeling of her hand on his chest, the roughness and warmth of his palm, how she could close her eyes and still imagine his pulse dancing under her skin.
She touched her lips, still feeling him on them, the softness and slight scrape of his stubble sending a tingle through her. She’d never kissed someone before and had no flashes or visions. Had he enjoyed it? Did he do it just out of practicality? Did he want to do it again?
For the first time ever, Ella had no idea. It was frustrating and thrilling at the same time to be in the dark about how someone felt about her. She thought about what his stubble would feel like against her throat, and she shivered. Mananan could probably make a woman come just by growling into her ear. Ella rubbed the goosebumps away on her arms and cursed her imagination.
She picked up her phone and stared at his number. Was he back from destroying the altar yet? Did he find it at all? Was he okay?
“None of your business. He’ll contact when he’s ready to and wants you to find the other altars," she said and put the phone down again. She wasn’t going to get all moon-eyed over him. That was a sure-fire way to get her heart broken, and she was still trying to scrape together what remained of its bloody pieces.
Unlike Dan, who she knew deep down was wrong for her, Mananan had the potential to break her. She knew it as soon as he’d looked at her with so much belief shining in his impossibly blue eyes.
It took Ella a long moment to recognize the ache in her chest. She was missing Mananan’s presence. He had been in and out of the lighthouse for the past three days, and it was strangely empty without him.
That wasn’t a good sign.
Ella shut her journal and switched off her light. The storm roared overhead, and she pulled her pillows close about her, feeling more alone than ever.
* * *
Ella wokethe following morning with bright sunshine coming through the curtains. The storm had blown itself out. She picked up her phone to check the time and noticed she had a message from Chrissy.
Mananan and Bayn are back at Kian’s castle in Salisbury. Mananan was hurt, but the altar is destroyed.
Ella sat bolt upright, panic burning through her sleepiness. Her fingers flew across the screen.Is he okay??!
She held her breath as the message bubble began to dance.
Taran got to him in time. New type of sea monster stung him pretty good. He is healing and is asleep. I’ll tell him to message you when he wakes up if you want?
If he wants to, that would be nice, she replied.
More than nice. She fell back against her pillows and tried to breathe through the panic that Chrissy’s message had sent through her. The altar was destroyed, and Mananan was fine. She had no reason to feel upset, so why did she feel like someone had kicked her in the guts?
“Get up and get to work,” she told herself out loud. She didn’t have time to lie about in bed. With a groan, she dragged herself out from under her warm blankets and shuffled to the kitchen for coffee. She put some bread into the toaster, and her phone vibrated against her counter. Ella’s heart skipped double time when she saw it was from Mananan.
You okay? I woke up with a weird feeling.
I’m fine. Chrissy said you are hurt?
Nothing bad. It just knocked me about. Different kind of beast with jelly fish tentacles and shark heads.
Sounds disgusting.Ella bit her bottom lip.When do you want me to try searching for the other two?
Better give me a day to recover. If that altar was guarded, the other two will be as well.
Ella blew out a shaky breath.Let me know when you want me to scry again. Will you come and watch over me? I’m worried I’ll start drowning in the vision if someone's not here to pull me out.
It was partly true. The magic of the altars scared her, and she didn’t want to try and touch it again without someone.
If you do get lost in the vision, I might have to kiss you again. Will that be a problem?
Ella laughed awkwardly and was glad no one was there to witness the goofy smile that spread over her face.
I’m sure I’ll live through it if you have to do it again.
Live through it. Ouch. I’ll try harder to leave more of an impression next time.
You are sure there’s going to be a next time?Ella was burning hot, her skin getting hypersensitive the more she thought about it.
