Page 13 of Cursed Sight
It had been two weeks since she’d seen him last. He had canceled their session when something came up, and she was already wondering when she would see him next. Now he was admitting that he looked in on her from time to time, like he did with his siblings.
Serena: Why are you checking in on me?
“Ryan is pretty excited you said yes,” Brandy said, drawing Serena’s thoughts from the strange texts.
“Really, I’m happy to do it,” she said, hearing the flat tone to her own voice.
Brandy’s excitement fell at the sound. “Hey, are you okay?”
For a split second, Serena debated telling Brandy about the texts. Clearing her throat, she forced a smile. “I am. Tell me what you’d like in the ceremony and when, so I can block it off on my calendar. Will you want to invite the entire coven?”
Brandy studied her for a moment before leaning on the counter and divulging all her plans for the ceremony. Serena’s excitement returned once she could push her annoyance aside.
She was not one to confide in anyone, and right then, she wished it were different. Maybe if the man driving her insane—the one it seemed the goddess had chosen for her—was not Brandy’s brother, she would have asked for her input. But Ethan was Brandy’s brother, her closest one at that, so Serena could not allow the words to form.
For now, Serena would set aside her polar feelings where Ethan was concerned. At least, she would do her damnedest to do it.
Chapter 9
He mindlessly pressed the lock button on the key fob until he heard his car beep. Ethan’s eyes were narrowed on the closed sign. Normally Serena waited for his arrival before locking the doors to get their lesson started.
Ethan rapped his knuckles on the glass door as he looked around. The magic he sensed in the air belonged to Serena, and it was common around her shop. In the distance, he spotted a strange figure. The hair on his body stood to attention as he cloaked himself from view.
He was thankful Ryan had showed Brandy and him how to hide in plain sight. Without telekinesis, Ethan was forced to rely on his knowledge of spells. His oracle status was not exactly a defensive power. In the heat of the moment, he did not know if he would remember the right spell in order to protect himself.
He turned at the sound of the shop’s bell bumping against the glass and spotted her dark-green eyes as they scanned past him before rounding. Her gasp was faint on the other side of the door when he dropped the cloak.
The moment she flipped the lock and pushed the door open, he slid inside, pulled it closed, and set the lock once more.
“What the hell, Ethan!” Serena yelled. “Why would you scare me like that?”
Placing a hand on the door, he gasped. Instead of searching the vicinity for the strange figure, he found himself in a vision.
Serena lay on the ground, a hand clutching her side as blood seeped between her fingers. A bloody knife sat discarded next to her. Pale-green eyes, unlike her normally dark ones, looked on in shock. Her lips parted in pain.
“E?” Serena whispered, the single breath fanning across his mouth. Her breasts pressed against his chest when his arm banded around her waist, then held her off the ground and to him.
The vision blurred with the image of the Serena before him. Concern filled her eyes as she raised her fingers to his jaw. It didn’t matter that the pained expression of his vision didn’t match the one of the woman in his arms. His hand still roamed her side, looking for the warm sticky blood. When Ethan found her clothes to be dry, he exhaled and pressed his forehead against hers. His heart still thundered in his chest as he focused on the woman before him.
“Ethan?” she whispered. “What did you see?”
He gave a small shake. The image was still too real. His nose flared as he drew in her scent, willing it to fill every crevice of his mind. Ethan could not get enough of her smell, and his fingers dug into her flesh as he held her tighter.
Serena cupped the back of his head, pulling him into the crook of her neck. His lips inadvertently touched the soft skin, and her indrawn breath made him stir in his pants. Afraid she would notice it, he drew in another breath before setting her down.
He was still unsure why she had been in his arms in the first place. The comfort of the embrace had been exactly what he’d needed to drive out the cold that clung to his bones from the gruesome image.
Serena cleared her throat, her eyes widened at the outline in his pants. “I’ll make us tea and then you can tell me what the hell just happened,” she said in her authoritative voice.
Ethan verified the door was locked before following her through the shop and up the stairs in the back. Unlike before, the sway of her hips reminded him of her conscious state rather than the temptation they normally posed.
He leaned against the doorframe as she moved around the kitchen, grateful that what he saw was a healthy Serena flitting about. He could not keep his eyes off her. A fierce need to protect her overwhelmed him.
“E…” Serena whispered. “I need you to go in the other room.” Her hand was wrapped around the tea kettle’s handle on the stove, and two tea bags floated nearby. His brows drew together as he wondered why she was levitating the bags. “Ethan! Go!” she snapped a few seconds later, drawing his attention to her face.
When he opened his mouth to speak, her brows drew upward and she tipped her head toward the living room. With a short nod, he did as she asked. He dropped onto the couch with no grace and rubbed his hands over his face.
“What the hell was that?” he muttered to himself.
