Page 54 of Magic in the Woods
“It doesn’t work like that. The Coven has scouts.” I ran myfingers through my hair. “They’d find me. I’d lose the freedom I have here.”
Dafni paused. “You call this freedom?” She shook her head. “Before I came, I used to think that maybe I’d like it here. Maybe I’d want to stay a while. But now? Now I want to get out, to help everyone here escape.”
My nonexistent rebuttal got caught in my throat. I hadn’t expected her to say that. Did she truly want that? To help? If I had an ally in this…a partner that wanted the same things I did…
“What are you staring at, Gideon?” The sound of her voice stopped the thoughts racing through my brain. The cauldron clanked against the stove as she put it down.
Had she caught me staring? The real question was, staring at what? I’d been observing everything that wasDafni. The way her skirt moved back and forth, riding up her hips, showing off just a tiny bit of her ass as she walked. The way her white button-up shirt was thin, doing nothing to disguise what lay underneath. Her perked nipples had almost been the death of me in her room as I buttoned up her sweater.
But there was something else I was entirely captivated with that had nothing to do with how she looked. She was brave and pushed for what she wanted. Dafni wasn’t afraid of standing up and speaking. She might’ve been timid when she’d first arrived, but I saw a fire in her that had nothing to do with the flaming color of her hair.
I watched her neck twitch before she grabbed hold of a flask and went over to the sink, filling it with filtered tap water. They filtered everything that came into the potion room. The Coven didn’t mess around with impurities.
Dafni quickly glanced at me before turning off the faucet. After pouring the water into the cauldron, she again pulled open a nearby drawer, looking for matches. Maybe she wasmore flustered than she let on. Just like before, there weren’t any matches. I stalked up behind her, noticing the goose bumps that appeared as I bent over her shoulder, making sure my breath hit her neck.
“Let me help, kitten,” I whispered. I put a hand on her lower back, enjoying the shiver that traveled from her neck down to my hand. Summoning my fire magic, I pointed my index and middle fingers to the burner, adjusting the gas knob so I didn’t light her curls ablaze.
Dafni wiggled out of my hand, setting up another burner.
“Why do you need two burners, kitten?”
She grabbed another empty cauldron and set it onto an unlit burner. “You said I needed to practice, right?”
Color me amused.“You can do whatever you want, Dafni.”
“Can I?” She pulled the drawer open again, this time not bothering to look for the matches.Stubborn witchling.Like I hadn’t just lit her previous burner with my magic. She refused to ask for help.
“The fumes are going to your head,” I whispered. Reaching around Dafni, I caged her in with both of my arms. She wiggled between them, her hair tickling my chin. I pointed my fingers at the burner, lighting the flame and adjusting the knob to a steady blaze.
She turned around to face me, the freckles on her face standing out against her pale skin. My eyes moved around her face, trying to connect the dots, like it would solve the puzzle that wasDafni.
Her hands met my chest, pushing me away from the bench. “I know my red hair and pale skin make me look different from everyone else here, but didn’t anyone at the Academy teach you it’s rude to stare?”
“I’m not staring, kitten. I’m admiring.”
Dafni snorted. “Well, go admire some shelves and findme wild carrot, red rosinweed, and a small jar of asafoetida.” She spun around in a huff, her skirt lifting with the movement, teasing me again.
Water ran in the sink as Dafni began filling another pitcher. “You’re admiring again…”
I turned to face the nearest shelf, pulling my eyes away from her. “Only admiring the shelves, kitten.”
“Mm-hmm. Find me those ingredients, Gideon.”
I dragged my finger along the rows of glass jars, glancing at the labels before they twirled under the press of my fingertip.Wild Carrot. I pulled the jar off the shelf. I’d never paid attention to how many jars were in this room. Shelves and shelves of ingredients. Dafni was weaving around the room, grabbing jars off of shelves without even reading the labels. She could do the job she’d given me in a third the time. But she didn’t want me to stare at her. Like she didn’t know that she was mesmerizing to look at. That all I wanted to do was sit on the stool and watch her work. I couldn’t help but wonder if she had anyone else staring at her like I did.
White Rosinweed,I read.Where the hell was the red kind?
Dafni let her collection of jars fall from her arms and clatter on the table. She got to work, setting them up, labels facing her in a line along the workbench.
I turned around. “So, you know this guy, Luke, personally?”
Red Rosinweed. Finally.The glass jars clinked together as I held them in the crook of my arm.
“I don’t pry into your personal life, Gideon, and you shouldn’t be prying into mine.”
Not the answer I wanted.
Dafni paused for a moment before corking a jar she’d just finished scooping out of. “I know him well enough to trust him.”
