Page 53 of Feverburn

Myhearthurt witnessing this claw at him.“Carson, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not like you hurt them. I don’t mean to sound callous, but if it was their time to go, it was their time.”

“You’re a witchy woman; don’t you believe in curses?”

“I do, but they’rerare, especially that destructive. It would have to be some ancestral tie or something.”I looked intently at the moon, racking my brain as to what caused this.

“I don’t want you to fix it. I’m not trying to lay my problems at your feet. I just wanted to be honest with what happened.”He stepped closer, cradling my face with both hands. “I wanted you to know that it wasn’t anything you did. You’reperfect. Soperfectit hurts. I would’ve been devotedto you, worshipped the ground you walked on because you’re so damn special, Rosie. You’re bright and beautiful, and I would be soluckyto have loved you, but I can’t. I’m the problem. I’m the reason we can’t be together, and for that, I am so sorry.”I clung to his arms, entranced by hisconfessionunder the moon. Too many emotions and thoughts weighed me down. As if reading my mind, he added,“I shouldn’t have let things get physical. You pull at me, and all I want is you.”

I tugged at his beard.“You said you had a claim over me in your office last night. Why would you say that if you can’t be with me?”

His face softened. “Because you are mine. You’re my favorite firecracker…mymagissa. You’re my Rosie. I don’t know how to contend with this. I’m cursed and able to hurt you, yet I still want you more than anything. It’s impossible.”He brushed akisson my forehead.“But I care about you too much to let mystupidluckkillyou.”His voice was now thick with emotions.“I’ve tried to fight it, but I can’t. I think the loft fire and this dream were warnings. I have to listen this time; I can’t risk it. I don’t want to live in a world without you, even if that means you hate me.”

My stomach sank at his words. I held onto him, waves rolling against us, each push attempting toknockus out of our reverie. Full of sorrow, his eyes searched mine as he tucked some hair behind my ear. I knew he was trying to say goodbye. He was stealing another moment before walking alone back to shore.

“So thiscurseis the only thing stopping you? Not Harley or the town.”

He sniffed a sad laugh. “I’d set this place on fire if it meant I couldloveyou. I’d tell every person I met how I feel about you if it would change my shitty luck.”

Something snapped me out of my daze.“Let’s change your luck.”

He balked, dropping his hands from my face to my shoulders.“What are you talking about?”

“You said it; I’m a witch. It will take a lot more than acurseor some small-town superstition to take me out. Same with you, you don’t have to let this pattern, or whatever thehellthis is, dictate your life. Let’s change it.”

“What?”he almost laughed.

“I’m serious. It’s obvious the universe wants us together. What if we have to fight for it? Break thecurse.”

“But you could still be indanger. We’d have no way of knowing.”

“I’ve survived somecrazyshit. If you have bad luck, I have good luck. Look at howluckyI’ve been with Tyler not stalking me. And Silver Springs is awildsuccess. I know how to bring good things to myself. Let meworryabout myself. I can protect and bless you. Together, we can fix this.”

I could see the wheels turning in his head. He had never considered this. Typical guy.“How?”he asked.

I wiggled my eyebrows, running my hands up and down his chest.“By doing what we dobesttogether.”

“Are you talking like somecrazy,kinkysexmagic?”

“Yes,”I giggled and tried to sober but couldn’t stop smiling.“Sexmagicis some of the most powerful workings you can do, especially to protect a lover.”

“You’d do that for me?”his brows pinched in disbelief.

“Of course.”I ran my nails up his chest to soothe him. He stared down at my hands with a grunt of distress. It was my turn to retreat. I patted his pecs in assurance.“You’ve been through a lot. And I’m so sorry. Just consider it. Even if it’s not with me, I will find a way tofreeyou from this. You deservelove.”I kissed his cheek and waded back to the shore, feeling his suffering stare.

Leaving him there with the moon was one of the hardest things I had done in a while. The newfound information shed even more light on this man who always appeared from the shadows when I needed him the most. The least I could do was return the favor. I choked back sobs driving back to his store, realizing someone as loyal as Carson living a loveless life sounded like the realcurse.

Chapter Twenty-Two

It was June 21st, the summer solstice and Kaylee’s birthday. A big party was happening, and I was smuggling in her surprise present, an adorablegoldenretriever puppy. The little guy had been at my cabin all day with Kiszka. He showed him all thebestspots to sniff and how to howl for no reason. Now, he was tuckered out in a wooden crate next to me.

I turned down Harley’sprivateroad, flashing a look at the archway that read Stormbound. It was a reference to his time snowed in with Kaylee. I helped him make the sign during the weeks they spent apart. But still, the sight of it put a pang of jealousy in my chest as my foot stepped on the gas to drive faster away from it.

I wished I wasn’t cursed and that things with Rosie could be more straightforward. Her promise to help gnawed at me. It had been three days since my moonlitconfessions, and I still didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t an easy decision; itwas life ordeath. As I saw it, I had two choices:

I couldloveher and possiblykillher with my selfishness.

Or I could deny our deep bond and attraction to shield her and endure alifetimeof silence.

After telling her about the dream andcurse, a third option presented itself, one I never saw coming—much like Rosie. I could let her break thecurseor somehow disrupt the pattern. A new optimistic layer floated above my situation, a lightness I wasn’t used to. Could I be freed of this? Did fate put her in my life for a reason? Was sheprotectedenough to outlive the hex?

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