Page 32 of When Storms Awaken

“About magic?” I asked, my breath catching in my throat.

“And other things,” he breathed, his gaze heated.

Once again, I found myself imagining what it would feel like to have my hands on his skin. He took a few steps towards me. He was so close to me now that I could feel the heat rolling off his body. My eyes met his as he took another step, closing the final distance between us. His hand came up to cup my cheek, my skin hot under his touch.

“That blush is intoxicating,” he murmured, brushing a lock of curls behind my ear, “especially when it’s for me.”

My eyes locked with his as I felt the faint touch of his fingers tracing my jaw, and when they stopped, he ran his thumb across my bottom lip. Was he about to kiss me? Did I want him to?

His gaze was smoldering, threatening to melt me right where I stood. My eyes moved to his full lips, and I swallowed hard, feeling the nervous tension pressing against my chest. He cocked his head to the side with a wicked grin.

Just as I was about to lean in my phone rang, startling me.

“Seven devils,” Nik swore under his breath, dropping his hand back to his side.

I hastily fished my phone out of my back pocket and answered, turning away. The moment had passed,what terrible timing.

“Hello?” I answered, a note of exasperation in my voice.

“Girl, I have texted you like six times, where have you been?” Tess asked on the other end.

“I’m with Nik,” I replied, “not that you didn’t already know that.”

“It’s getting late,” she said, “I didn’t think you’d still be together. I wanted you to ask your little boy toy and his friend to come with us to battle of the bands tonight.”

“I thought you wanted me all to yourself tonight?”

“I decided I wouldn’t mind meeting this mysterious and handsome friend of Nik’s,” she laughed. “Are you going to ask him, or not?”

“Sure Tess,” I conceded, “I will ask.”

“Good,” I could hear her smile through the phone. “You better get your butt back here to get ready, it’s almost dark out.”

I hadn’t realized the time but Tess was right, we had been practicing magic the entire day but it had felt as if only moments had passed. The sun was about to set over the mountaintops and dusk had enveloped the base of the mountain.

“Got it, can I come there to get ready? My mom thinks I’m at your house, remember.”

“Of course, girl, I got you. See you soon,” Tess replied before hanging up.

“Getting ready?” Nik asked with a raised eyebrow. “Special plans?”

“Tess and I are going to battle of the bands tonight at Elixir.” I kept my eyes on my boots. “Do you and Puck want to come?”

“Battle of the bands,” he mused, taking a long time to answer. My eyes raised to his when I was sure he was about to laugh at me. “Sure.”

“Can you drop me off at Tess’?” I asked, relief flooding me. That was easier than I thought.

“Sure, let’s get out of here, firecracker. You did really well today.”

“Will I be able to control my magic like this outside of this place? You had said the magical tether here made it easier, but I’m worried about using my magic away from here.”

“It will be easier, now that you know how it should feel when the energy comes forth and releases. It should be much simpler to replicate,” he assured me as we started our walk back towards the car.

I couldn’t wait to tell Tess what had happened today, about how I had created fire and controlled it. How I was able to throw it like a weapon, and how Nik and I had almost kissed before she had so rudely interrupted.

The walk back to the car was mostly silent. I could still feel the electricity buzzing between us and the heat from our hands nearly touching as we walked side by side. By the time we made it to the car the sun had completely set and the only light in the sky was the faint glow of moonlight against the snow. As I buckled myself in and we started off towards Tess’ place, I caught a dark silhouette out of the corner of my eye. I could see the glow of three pairs of bright eyes in the darkness, watching us.

Nikhadn’tnoticedthepairs of eyes as they watched us pull out and head back onto the road, he had only asked for directions to Tess’ house. We made our way back through downtown and over to the residential district. What were those eyes I had seen? Were those the wolves from my house the other night, the ones who had smelled my magic on me? What were they doing watching us? Nik dropped me off in Tess’ driveway, planning to go pick up Puck and meet us at Elixir in an hour.

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