Page 58 of A Witch-ish Guide to Protectors and Pendulums

“Thank you, you know, for being here with me.”

“Wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

“I know. This was all set up by the universe; it’s not that you particularly like me—but thank you.”

“Hey—” He twisted my chin to get me to look at him. “It might’ve been set up by the universe, but I like everything about you, sweetheart. The universe gave me you because it knew you were the exact woman I needed in my life. The woman I’d have the most fun with. The one I’d care for the most. The universe was just our matchmaker.”

“If you don’t kiss me now…” I whispered until he pressed his lips to mine.

“Damn,” said a woman’s voice somewhere behind us.

“Where can I get me one of him?” another asked.

“Sorry, ladies,” I called out over my shoulder. “He’s one of a kind.”

The women laughed as they went about their business.

And, in my humble opinion, to get me to believe that he really cared about me, he ate—gasp, horror!—cake. The kind with coconut frosting. Tender and moist. He piled berries on top, but he ate it.

If they’d given us a private room, Connor and I would’ve had time to play several rounds of slap and tickle before Victoria finally showed up to retrieve us. But thank the good universe, she did.

“Come on up to my office again,” she said. “I can go over your results with you.”

Phew!We hopped up from our seats to follow her out of the cafeteria. The elevator ride felt like it lasted forever. When we walked into her office, Connor and I dropped into the same seats from before while Victoria rounded her desk.

She turned her computer screen for us to see. “This,” she said, “is your genetic profile.” Victoria pointed to one column. “These”—she pointed to another section on the screen—“are your closest relatives.” We looked closely at the names. “But this is curious.” She clicked on one of the names. “See?” Victoria pointed out a string of horizontal lines in a column that I figured had to be a section of my genetic profile.

“What am I looking at?” I asked, squinting my eyes because everyone knew that if you squinted your eyes, you understood things better.

“You and she share a common ancestor. But you’re here.” She again pointed to my column of horizontal lines. “She’s here.” Victoria pointed to a different column of horizontal lines. And that was when it clicked. “It appears as if you’re cousins. But she has all this as part of her genetic profile, but you—yours stops. I don’t know what to make of it.”

Well, I promised I’d fill her in on everything even with Connor literally breathing down my neck in full-on mated protector mode. Clearly, he’d changed his mind. But Victoria deserved to know.

Why was keeping this secret so much easier than spilling it? The truth shall set you free and all that. I was pretty sure thepeople who said that didn’t have demons or whatever out to kill them, though.

“This might sound crazy,” she said, sounding a little sheepish. “But to me, it looks like she’s your first cousin hundreds of generations removed. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but the DNA doesn’t lie.”

My heart seized up knowing what I was about to do next. Understanding clicked in for Connor through our bond. I not only felt his emotions, but he gave my shoulder a squeeze and when I looked at him, he raised his eyebrow while nodding his agreement.

I sensed goodness in Victoria. I sensed her family lineage. An old family. Powerful. Of course not as old or powerful as mine, but considering my grandmother wasthe firstwitch, we sort of had to count me as an outlier.

“What I’m about to tell you isdefinitelygoing to sound crazy.”

“Okay…” she answered, drawing out the ‘kay’ to like five syllables worth of unsure expression.

“The reason I’m here is because a powerful witch had me connect with an even more powerful ancestor?—”

“You spoke with an ancestor?”

“A couple of them,” Connor said, giving my waist a reassuring squeeze.

Her mouth dropped open, as it would have. Communicating with the ancestors wasn’t something your average witch could pull off. And even though neither said, I got the feeling that those who could manage it only talked to relations. But again, considering where I’d come from, it seemed that I belonged toeverywitch’s family.

“They sent me to the witches’ archives in the Orkneys,” I continued.

She jerked her head back. “You went to the archives?”

“Yes. Connor and I spent hours inside.”

---