Page 77 of Enchanted Shadows
“Marriage?” I asked. “It altered my natural musk.”
She snorted. “No.” A few steps. “You always smell—” another few steps. “Nice. Today yousmell different.”
“You sure you don’t have a third Enchantment? Enhanced sense of smell?”
“Owen,” she groaned.
I had to admit, I liked my name on her lips. “I put some ointment on my neck. Turns out sleeping on couches is not advisable in your thirties.”
She considered that for another few steps. “You’re not a small man. You should have let me sleep on the couch.”
“Not a chance,” I fired back.
From behind us, I heard Molly offer, “You could sleep in the same bed. Just saying. It would only solidify the cause!”
The fact that she and Wren were keeping up with us meant that they were there for one reason only. Eavesdropping.
Kessara smiled at me. “Those two are going to be terribly disappointed—when you do not really fall madly in love with me.”
I laughed. “And when they find out I’m not your type.”
“Because you aren’t a prick?”
I laughed even harder. Between the interference behind us and the constant conversation, I was getting damn winded, and it was only the start. “I wasn’t going to say that.”
“Don’t kid yourself,” Kessara said under her breath. “You’re everyone’s type.”
Not sure what to do with that compliment, I decided we should pick up the speed before the rest of them thought this was going to be the new normal. “All right, let’s go, Princess.”
My magic flared once and the next thing I knew I was in a massive ball of shadows. I felt a cold pressure along my neck, almost as if ice settled there. I could see nothing. My footsteps slowed. I couldn’t see my own hand, let alone know if I was going to run into a damn tree.
I released my magic to move around in the mass of shadows, my green bouncing around the mass, weaving throughout. To light my way.
Before I could figure out a way to break through it, Kessara released the shadows.
“I told you,” Kessara snapped. “Don’t call me that.”
“Okay, honey. Message received. Do try not to kill your husband on the first day of marriage.”
Behind us, Sam yelled, “That wasfantastic.”
I smirked. It kind of was. Kessara had sarcastically referred to herself as a powerhouse, but her dual Enchantments were both lethal and efficient. Add that I was training a water wielder and a shadow wielder on this team, and I was a little giddy about the possibilities this team held. The raw potential.
“Who knew,” Sam yelled again. “The only thing missing for this team was a little shadow magic.”
“Yeah, Kessara,” I joked. “Who knew?”
“Me,” she admitted. “I knew.”
“Enough chatter,” I barked at them all. “Move your asses.”
Later that afternoon, I wasn’t all that surprised that the women shoved the two of us together for strategy practice. Was it the mission? Or their side mission of wanting us to actually fall head over heels for one another?
Kessara took a deep breath and blurted out, “Does being around my Enchantments bother you?”
I cocked my head. “What?”
“My shadow Enchantment. If it bothers you, reminds you ofhim, I can switch to just my palm magic.”
