Page 67 of Lunar Desires
Isaac immediately moved toward us. “I’ll?—”
“After the spell,” Drake countered, taking a step back.
Isaac looked between us, an eyebrow cocked. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Please sort Riley out first.”
Wow. Talk about selfless. I’d bashed my nose plenty of times, never breaking it. His must hurt to merry hell.
Bless his cotton socks.
Putting me first got my juices flowing. Big time.
Protective energy was super-hot.
Erin, Jake, and the Brambles all arrived.
“How is it going?” Erin asked.
Thank God it was nice and toasty in the mansion with how soaked most of us were.
Ollie handed Isaac the dried lavender, holding eye contact with him for a few beats too long. Not in a bad way, either. More like a moment of him seeing my brother for the first time.
Isaac took the dried lavender. “Thanks.” Their hands bumped, and Ollie immediately broke his staring, hurrying over to check on his mum.
Hmmm. Interesting.
He cocked his eyebrow in my direction, then approached the cauldron and tossed the lavender into the flames licking around the iron.
The fire flared purple, quickly turning blue. Azure magical energy wafted upward like smoke, forming misty rings around Isaac’s wrists. Golden threads of light cut through the blue, the same glow reaching his eyes.
Connection established.
“Curse Cleanse!” he called, clapping out the magic.
A puff of smoke exploded from the cauldron, releasing a smell like perming lotion.
Yuck. The stink took me back to when I was a kid, sitting with Mum in the hair salon with my coloring book. The whole place reeked of the ammonia-like stuff for Curly Thursday—the day of discounted perms. It always made my eyes water, leaving a nasty burning sensation at the back of my throat. And I smelled it for days after.
Mum…
I flinched, replaying what the blue figure had shown me and Isaac. Sowing the awful potential that Mum might have done something to him.
To my dad.
OurDad.
“Four minutes left on the potion,” Isaac said, pulling me back into the moment. My brother’s corded neck pointed me to his anguish. I watched his eyes focus on the digital timer in his hand, practically hearing the cogs of his mind whirr.
By the time the potion was ready, my head swam with Dad and Uncle Jonathon and everything else. The pressure was crushing, my chest a tangle of thorns.
Ollie used the pipet to suck up the khaki green liquid, then handed it to Isaac.
Their hands brushed again, but neither of them reacted from what I could tell.
“Ready?” my brother asked.
“More than ready.”
