Page 5 of Cursed Sight
“It can’t be,” she whispered for her own ears, dropping her hands to her sides.
The chance of a high priestess and an oracle being soul mates was low. It was nature’s way of preserving the balance. Together, both witches yielded enough power to cause destruction. And yet,the truth had been in front of her all along. The walls around her heart had been too thick and high to recognize his soul. Her mind, thick with its own kind of darkness, had blinded her to what was now two feet in front of her. But her body knew, recognizing him and begging for his touch.
Chapter 4
“Whoa,” Ethan said and cracked his neck.
The weight of the world no longer sat on his shoulders, drowning him in worry and fear. Feelings he had not noticed before were harboring within him instead. He felt so light, his mind clear of clutter.
A low-voltage charge ran along his skin, and he then noticed the state of his member. Carefully adjusting himself, he cleared his throat and stood before he embarrassed himself or Serena.
Ethan’s gaze darted from the empty dirty bowl to the wilted bamboo plant, and the once-white candle was nearly black. His brows pinched together in confusion before he met her eyes.
Serena’s normally dark-green eyes were bright, and her skin pale. The way her full lips parted and closed reminded him of the one time he had gone fishing. The poor animal had begged for the life-giving water it lived in, and Ethan had tossed it back as soon as he could remove the hook from its mouth.
“Hey,” he said and stepped over the bowl to reach her. Ethan cupped her cold cheek in his palm. “Are you okay?”
Serena’s gaze moved over his face, taking in his eyes, nose, mouth, and chin. Her small hand raised to his hair and smoothed it back before running it along the stubble he’d forgotten to shave.
A tightness in Ethan’s chest that he had never experienced before made him suck in a breath. “What just happened?” he asked while trying to clear his throat, unable to process the odd sensation.
She rolled her lower lip into her mouth and bit down before slowly releasing the damp flesh. “How do you feel now?”
“I feel great. Light,” he said, and it wasn’t lost on him that she’d avoided his initial question. “How doyoufeel?”
She cleared her throat, her gaze dipping to his chin. “Fine.”
Fine.
Even Ethan knew that when a woman said they werefine,they were anything but fine. “You’re really pale,” he said, his thumb gliding across the apple of her cheek.
Serena dropped her hand from his face. “I haven’t gotten a lot of sun.”
Ethan shook his head. “You’re paler now than when I came in today. What aren’t you telling me?” he asked, searching her face for any clues.
His chest clenched when she shot him her devastatingly beautiful smile. “Nothing some herbal tea can’t fix. Let’s clean up, and I’ll brew us some, and you can tell me all about your exciting time away.”
He gave her a tight nod and let his hand fall to his side. She was holding something back, but he would give her the time she needed. He had seen his brother, Max, work with wounded animals enough to know he could not get anywhere with someone who did not trust him.
He grabbed the candle and examined it. “Wasn’t this white?”
Serena set the empty bowl in the small sink in the corner and padded back to him. “Yeah, it was. I’ve never seen a candle suck out that much negativity. I think the goddess cleansed us both. I started outside of the circle and found myself inside it.”
“I’m guessing that’s weird?” he asked more than said.
Serena shrugged. “Depends on your definition. Just because I’ve never encountered it, doesn’t necessarily make it a rare occurrence. For all my lecturing you to cleanse, I’ve obviously been neglecting my own to warrant this level of cleaning.” She said the latter as she lifted the wilted bamboo.
“Damn, that poor plant didn’t see it coming. Can’t a witch with earth magic bring it back to life?”
“Yes and no. They can, but we’d risk them drawing all the negativity into themselves. I can’t allow that with good conscious.”
“What do we do with it then?” he asked.
Serena smiled. “We thank it and put it with the compost. Allow the negative energy to be recycled naturally into the earth.”
Ethan nodded. He watched her hips sway with each step she took away from him, then he carried the stool back to its place against the wall. She wore a floor-length skirt paired with a skintight tank top. He imagined her closet was filled with tons of skirts and tank tops in varying colors and patterns. Ethan had yet to see her wear anything else. If he was honest with himself, he found them sexy as hell on her.
“Should we bring the tea back down so you can open shop again?” he asked, following her to the stairs. She’d closed the store a few times when helping him, but most of the time, there had been someone helping customers while she was gone.
