He had to explain. He was not insulting her. “I mean, I think best when my hands are moving. I can squeeze the life out of one, and somehow it helps.”
“Yeah, so with a bit of crystal, I see a few weeks into the future.”
“It seems like a useless talent,” he said before the rest of his brain caught up and told him to stop telling the truth.
To his infinite relief, she laughed, and she twisted a little to burrow deeper into the sheets.
“Sorry.”
“No, you’re right. Most magic is pretty useless on its own. When you put all the talents together, we make one functioning coven.”
“I had no idea,” he said, fascinated despite himself. Witches were an undifferentiated blob in his mind. He’d seen one move an object without touching it, so telekinesis was actually a thing. He knew they brewed up potions but was unsure of whether he got that knowledge from a real witch or the legend ofLa Befana,a crazy woman on a broomstick. MaybeLe Befanawas a real witch. “It’s not useless.”
“It has saved my life.”
“I’m glad,” he whispered, suddenly battling the wolf at the idea of her in danger.
Silence fell between them. Logs crackled in the stove, but without the howling wind, his ears felt muffled.
“So what happens next?” he couldn’t help asking again. He hadn’t meant for her to use her talents, but now he couldn’t get the thought out of his mind.
She took a deep breath. “Do you really want to know?”
“Don’t I?”
“What I say will change your life. Even if you change your actions and what I say doesn’t come true, or it comes true perfectly, or you and I never understand what I’ve said. That’s all on the table, but knowing something about the future will stick in your mind forever. I have a sister who has never asked. We’ve lived together for decades, and she has never wanted the answer because she’s seen what it does to people. I’ve had to pull back so hard because witches have gotten completely addicted. They’ve been incapable of moving without asking me. It’s not powerful, but it is dangerous.”
Which made it powerful. Her insistence on her own feebleness surprised him.
“What happens next?” he said and reached out gingerly until his fingers fortunately brushed her temple, and he adjusted his hand to cup her cheek. “There are many things I fear in this life, but you will never be one of them.”
He felt her breath against his wrist and tension leave her neck.
Her eyelashes closed against his thumb, and he took a deep breath, then immediately regretted it, because with the dinner packed away and the stove closed, the scents of the cabin faded in favor of the scent that had driven him mad in a blizzard inthe woods. Now, a foot away from the source, it threatened to overwhelm his mind completely.
He felt something stir within him as his wolf sat up, gazing at the woman.
We’re fine,he said, but the wolf ignored him.
He felt something pass between all three of them, something like the current between him and his wolf, only she was now involved in it.
Her eyes flew open, and he realized he suddenly could see her in the dark. She looked like she was glowing. He jerked his hand away and was immediately plunged into black again.
“What the hell was that?” he asked as he tried to touch her again, this time nearly poking her in the eye.
“Ow!” She batted him away, and their hands connected.
It didn’t happen again. Darkness was still dark. They were both breathing hard, and he was completely warm, like it was a hot New York summer and not a blizzard in winter.
“What happens next?” he breathed.
She surged forward, and her lips met his nose.
She lunged backward. “Sorry, I should’ve asked!”
He could feel, smell, and taste the trace of her lips on him, and suddenly it wasn’t just a New York summer; he was in a blazing furnace, and his wolf was howling within him like it had just brought down a moose.
He closed the distance between them, and by some miracle, his lips met hers. She squeaked, then let her lips soften. He could not tear away even as he fought with the covers to bring the rest of his body flush with hers. There were still a dozen layers of clothes between them, it seemed, but he snaked one arm under her head and the other under her ribs so he could bring her closer.
