Page 14 of Magic Pussy

"Sara, meet Luke, my very own shifter bodyguard. Luke, here's Sara White."

He shook her extended hand and felt colder when his skin touched hers. His animal growled. Luke had to ask him to calm down, tell him that here and now wasn't the time for shifting.

The beast obeyed reluctantly but watched Sara with all his attention. Something told him to take Rain and run out of the bar, out of the city, out of the damn state, returning to Lakesides. He really couldn't tell how a small twenty-year-old girl made him that fucking wary, but he knew better than to question his instincts.

"I would never have guessed that you'd come here during the solstice. Has Michelle called you?" she asked, her eyes narrowing a little.

Luke thought about kicking Rain under the table, telling her to stay quiet, but he didn't need to.

"Nope. Long story, I'll tell you when we get out of here. Never mind me, though. You're the one living in the viper's nest, tell me how it's going."

Sara smiled pleasantly. "Well. The vipers have their uses. Erin and Francesca have been helping me with my spells. You'll find that I've improved a lot."

Rain's brows hiked up on her forehead.

"Oh?"

"Why so surprised? I'm also a White, after all."

Rain was now cautious and watching her sister with as much attention as Luke. Good.

"Of course. What do you want to drink, wine? I'll order for you."

"No, thanks. I can't drink before the solstice, you know."

"Why, because you're preparing to channel the ancestors?" Rain chuckled. "Why do you think I'm here? I'll do it. You can knock yourself out."

Sara blanched, all color leaving her. Luke noted that her hands started shaking, and her eyes lost their presence for an instant. It didn't last longer than a fraction of a second, but he caught in nonetheless.

Shit. He knew what was wrong with her. He had never seen it with his own eyes, but he'd heard of it.

He glanced toward Rain, frustrated that they couldn't directly communicate mentally.

"Oh. I...I expected..." Sara caught herself. "Sorry, I need some air."

She turned in the direction of the smoking area. Rain followed her, and Luke reluctantly let them go.

Time to find out what the hell was happening around here.

“Okay, fess up, what’s wrong?”

Sara hadn’t been this closed off, this hesitant the last time she’d seen her. Something was up. Rain understood why she wouldn’t have spoken about it in front of Luke, in a bar, but now she should have unloaded.

She didn’t.

“Nothing. I’m fine, really. And thanks for coming, Rain. I would have managed anchoring, you know—you protect me way too much. But with you, it’s going to be spectacular.”

Everything in her lit up, but even then, it didn’t quite feel like Sara, the Sara Rain knew.

Sara lit up when she spoke of shoes and boys, not rituals, dammit.

"Of course," she said automatically.

"But you're not going to come back every year, are you? I have an idea. We could both anchor the spell. That should take less of a toll on you and that way, I can learn from the best for the future."

Rain didn't ask Sara what had happened to her plan to apply to NYU and leave the clan. She didn't demand to know what had changed and since when.

Because this wasn't Sara at all.

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