Her smile tempted mine, pulling it into being. “Yes. This is very real,” I told her. Her eyes bounced between mine, fell to the mask, then snapped back to my eyes. I smiled, she couldn’t see. “Is this the part where we kiss? Because you’re looking at me like you want to kiss me, and I don’t want to fuck up all the hard work I put in—”
“Yes.” Fallon laughed.
I covered her eyes, slid down my mask, and grabbed her lips with mine.
As soon as my tongue hit hers, a moan rattled in my throat, and Fallon’s lashes fluttered against my palm like feathers. At first, the kiss was delicate and deadly, like a rare white moth landing over a bomb. Then it was enduring and full of grit, the kind of kiss to survive in a world like ours.
I pulled her into my chest to place my mask back on. I wished things could have been different. I wished I could give her more. I’d seen the way my father and mother had lived, and I didn’t want that for us, but I also couldn’t let go. It was already too late.
On our sides, we silently stared at each other for a long time, her gaze hushing my manic mind.
“Tell me a story,” Fallon whispered. “About your coven.”
“About my coven?” I asked, my brows raised, surprised she was interested. Fallon nodded, and I closed my eyes briefly. “My coven isn’t what it used to be. It’s changed a lot over the years. I’m starting to believe many lost their way. It’s devastating.”
“What did it used to be like?”
“I’ll tell you the story of how it all began,” I said, remembering the story Agatha had once told me. “But I’m not very good, so you have to be patient with me.” Fallon nodded, and I felt the nerves pile as if I were revealing a journal entry. Something personal.
“Once upon a time, a boy fell from the sky, called Njord, the air element. Njord was satisfied being alone, but boredom was never his friend. He was much like Zephyr, independent yet curious. Had to know everything and fill the air with his words. And during this lonely time, Njord had no one to hear him. Every morning, Njord looked to the sky and pleaded for something big to happen. He was disjointed, confused, and in a way, lost. Then one day, a collision happened in the sky, and Ægir and Jörð appeared. Water and earth.”
“Who are they like?”
“Beck embodies the water element, and the last earth witch who lived was Foster Danvers,” I replied, loving the way she was interested in my coven, in the story of the Norse Woods. “The three of them crossed waters and land and journeyed through seasons. When winter came, they built a fire, and by morning, a boy named Loki emerged from the ashes.
“Loki was dramatic but fun, always impulsive in how he talked, how he lived, but he was quickly accepted by the others. They were brothers. All very different, but stood by one another despite their differences. The four made a pact,” I said, brushing the tip of my finger over her temple. My gaze caught the scar in the palm of my hand. “No matter what happens, they’ll always be there for one another. So, they cut their flesh and combined their blood in a pit they had formed in the earth.
“And from the pact, twomoreboys appeared from the pit filled with their blood. Baldr and Höðr, light and darkness. But Njord refused to keep them both, said there could only be room for one more. Ægir, the one who felt deeply, disagreed, accepting both for what they represented, and could not part with either. So, Loki and Jörð forged a plan to meld the two together into one. And from the blood of all elements, and the love from the heathens, Vættir was born. The spirit element.”
“You,” Fallon whispered, her eyes growing heavy, fluttering close.
“Yes, and the five honored the elements from where they came, their Mother Nature and Father Sky, but something was missing. They needed unity with female energy, so they set out to find it. And they each did, becoming the Norse Woods Coven. The coven respected the natural world, the cycle of life and death, and the freedom of choice. They put all above themselves and no one above all. They celebrated the change of seasons, performed ceremonies to honor their magic. As long as it harmed none, they did as they wished. And they were happy. Centuries passed, and they survived through the toughest of battles, judgments, and ridicule. All because they had each other…until now…” Fallon slept still, quiet, peaceful. “Now, it seems as if everyone has forgotten what it’s like to be a Norse Woods Wiccan.”
I stayed up for a long time, watching her.
And I laid with her a while.
Chapter 26
Fallon
“What in tarnation is that?”Gramps asked, his eyes fixed above his bifocals, fork mid-air, looking into one green eye and one blue. Casper meowed from the windowsill, staring back at him.
“That’s a cat, Gramps. You’ve seen him before.”
“I don’t remember no cat … I wouldah remembered a cat … I don’t want a cat.”
“Too bad, you got one, and he’s been here for two months now.”
Gramps grunted. “It bettah not piss in my shoe, Moonshine,” he grumbled, going back to his breakfast and the crossword puzzle. “Off her kadoova … comin’ home … turnin’ inta … arfarfan’arf …”
I smiled. “Glad to see you got your ‘tude back.”And his appetite.
For the first time in days, Gramps had the energy to make it out of his room and into the kitchen. It was late morning, but it meant progress. I’d suffered a concussion and stayed in bed for two days, but maybe jumping off the cliff had worked. Maybe I had turned our luck around, and Gramps would be okay.
Last night, I’d fallen asleep with Julian. He’d fallen asleep too. Every so often, his hand moved over my back, my arm. It was nice. This morning, he was gone.
I didn’t expect Julian to stay until sunrise, but I still woke with a smile.
