Page 63 of A Witch-ish Guide to Protectors and Pendulums

“What?” Lily Joy asked him.

“Simone changed it. She changed the spell. Her skin started to glow and then I felt her inside me. She made me remember the tenderness I felt toward her. The bond from being mated.”

“Can you teach me how you did that?” Lily Joy asked excitedly.

“If I knew how,” I said. “My powers were bound. They’ve been coming back more and more since I connected with Connor. I had no idea Icoulddo that before it happened. And I knew it was a spell that you put up. But…”

“So your parents were killed by Adam. Now you show up at my door. As much as I like this ‘hey, cuz’ get-to-know-you type of visit, I think Lilith led you here.”

“I mean, I wish it was just a ‘hey, cuz’ visit. I like you,” I said. “But I think Lilith led me here, too. I sort of have men—possibly demons—trying to kill me.”

Lily Joy’s mouth dropped open. “Demons?” she asked. “You couldn’t have said shifters? I have tons of shifter repellent. Easy-peasy.” She ended with a flip of her hand.

“Have you ever heard of a person, man—witch or demon—named Beetle?” I asked.

“Beetle?” she asked. “No. Never. But the name doesn’t fill me with warm fuzzies.”

“Me either,” I replied. “He killed my fiancé. Connor’s sure Jeffery and I never would have married?—”

“You wouldn’t have,” he cut me off.

“Testy,” Lily Joy teased.

“It’s a trigger subject for him. But the gist of it is, Beetle got to Jeffery to get to me. I met Beetle once in a bar. He’s a bad dude.”

“Tell the truth,” Connor said. “You met him because youwentto meet him. Get this,” he said to Lily Joy. “She thought it was smart to hunt down herex-fiancé’skiller.”

“He wasn’t an ex when he was alive.”

“Can westoptalking about him?”

“You’re jealous?” Lily Joy asked Connor.

“It fucking guts me whenever she brings him up. Physically guts me. I can’t handle thinking about her being with another man.”

“I think the universe put a little too much punch in the destined mate mojo,” I replied as I stood from the chair that I occupied to drop down on Connor’s lap, surprising him. Then I grabbed a hold of his cheeks, turned his head, and planted a big, ol’ kiss to his lips. “I’m sorry,” I said low. “When we’re alone again, I’ll do that other thing you like, you know—” I ran my nose along the side of his face. “To make it up to you.”

“Do yourself a favor, Lily Joy.Don’tfind your mate,” he said this right before kissing me hard again.

“I think that means he forgives me,” I said after he tore his lips away.

“Nope,” he said. “Though I think I’m ready to try…”

Lily Joy huffed, clapping her hands together once. “Right. Let’s get you two a room. We need to work on finding all your powers. Or at the very least, getting you to understand the ones you’ve already harnessed so you can recreate them.”

She stood and stretched. Lily Joy held a great deal of power. The house felt protected. Coming here had been the right choice. If we were going to be safe anywhere, it was here. I made a mental note to ask her more about the wards and charms she put around the property tomorrow. The day had finally caught up with me and I felt exhausted. “If you’ll follow me,” she said, leading us upstairs to a hallway. She pointed. “That’s my room.” Across the hall, she pointed out another room. “That’ll be yours. The bathroom is at the end of the hall.” She finished by pointing out the last room. “It’s getting late, so I’m heading for bed. We can start first thing in the morning.”

Connor pulled me into the room and shut the door. “I believe you promised me thatotherthing I like.”

A shiver ran down my back.I believe I did, Connor Baghest… I believe I did.

Chapter

Sixteen

As I lay naked and blissfully asleep in Connor’s arms, I became aware of the fact because I saw my body. My disheveled hair. Sated smile spread across my lips. My mate holding me protectively. I looked down on us. Connor rolled into me, pressing a kiss to my neck without opening his eyes. I reached up to touch the spot and I couldn’t touch it because I had no arm to manipulate. No body to make contact with.

My body was in the bed.What’s going on?I silently asked the universe and a door opened up out of nowhere. Not a physical door on the ground, but ethereal, in the air, like me. The pull to move through proved too strong to resist. I glanced down at Connor one more time and gave in to the urgency. As soon as I passed through the door, it clicked shut but stayed floating, as if waiting for me when I was ready to return.

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