Page 982 of One More Kiss

The door shuts behind us, sealing us inside, and I swallow hard. I despise small spaces. Reminds me of the cage I spent far too long in, the suffocating loss of control. And despite it being a decade since I was nearly sold in a supernatural black market, it’s not a feeling I’ve ever gotten over.

At the bottom of the stairs, Mags turns left, and we follow a small hallway to a door. One push of it and it swings open. We step through and into a massive living room. Floor-to-high-ceiling bookcases line one wall, heavy leather-bound books filling the shelves. Crimson furniture is centered around an antique mahogany table featuring an oil lamp with a flame burning brightly.

“What the hell is this place?”

“The Astor bunker,” she tells me as she sets her bag down on the couch. “There’s a kitchen, supplies, three bedrooms, and a safe room.”

“What are all those?” I ask, gesturing to the books.

“History of magic, a few grimoires, hunter lineage, they are basically a tell-all about the supernatural world.”

“This is insane.”

“I’ve learned quite a bit while staying here. There are more than a dozen books on lunar magic.”

“The witches born on Halloween?” Rainey told me of them. They were hunted and killed before turning nineteen because the Council feared their power. For some reason, being born on Halloween gave them a second vat—so to speak—so they had more energy at their disposal. It’s what Rainey is—or was before she went to Faerie and had that part of her ripped away.

“No. Lunar witches and lunar magic are different. Lunar witches are born on Halloween; lunar magic is energy derived from nature. It’s all around us, though most witches don’t know how to tap into it because it’s a lost art.” In demonstration, she opens her palm, and blue sparks explode like fireworks.

“I take it you’ve re-discovered it.”

She grins. “I have. And now that I’ve practiced, I can access it whenever I want. My power is not as limited as it was.”

“That’s why you left.”

“No,” she replies. “Or, at least, not entirely. I didn’t know it existed until after I left, but I wanted to master it before I returned. Otherwise, I might get distracted and not focus.” Her gaze lands on mine, making me wonder if she’s referring to me as the distraction. “Anyway, this is where I’ve been most of the time. Rainey let me have full reign of the place.”

Studying the space, I take note of the throw pillows, the cup of coffee on the table between the couches. My heart aches even as I’m fucking pissed off she hid from me. “You live here.”

“I do,” she admits. “Though I do travel quite a bit. I’ve been gathering new books, growing the library as I expanded my knowledge of magic and all it’s capable of.”

Setting my bag down on the floor, I head for a door off to the left. Pushing it open, I reveal a stocked kitchen with brand-new appliances and granite countertops.

Upon further examination of the bunker, I find two perfectly made bedrooms before shoving open the door to a third. Mags’s scent hits me like a freight train, slamming into me and invading all of my senses.

She’s everywhere in here. Pictures of her family on the walls, bright pink throw pillows on top of a snow-white comforter. Not realizing I might be invading her space, I move in farther, and then I see it.

On her bedside table framed with dark wood.

A picture of us. Lifting it, I run my fingertips over the glass shielding our smiling faces. This afternoon is not one I will ever forget. We’d just survived a Council overthrow and ended the supernatural war. To celebrate, she and I went to play mini golf for the first time.

It had been a total disaster because, as it happens, I can handle a blade like the best of them, but give me a club, and I’m all but useless.

“That was my favorite day.”

I look up, surprised to see her standing in the doorway. Light at her back bathes her in an ethereal gold. It stops my heart and sends it into a frenzy all within the same beat. “It was a long time ago.” Setting the frame back down, I make a move to leave the room, but she steps in my way.

“I didn’t leave because I didn’t want to be around you.”

“Sure have a funny way of showing that.” I grit my teeth, trapped with her at my front, her room at my back.

I need air. Space. Before I do something really fucking stupid.

“After what happened in that alleyway, I couldn’t escape the nightmares.” She takes a step closer, so I retreat. “After what I did—”

“Killing that fucker? That’s what this is about?”

“No. It was about what I felt afterward. About the fact that I was supposed to be this all-powerful witch and I wasn’t strong enough to save our friend. You nearly died that night, too, Drex.”

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