She tried to move, but couldn’t.Her legs refused to obey.Panic surged; disbelief flared.“No, this isn’t real.This can’t be real.”
Ursula took her arm and the invisible barrier lifted.“That, darling, would be the magic you don’t believe in.Welcome to the truth and your new reality.”
Willow stepped down, reeling.Her chest tightened.The world was no longer what she thought it was.And she wasn’t sure where she fit in it—or if she even wanted to know.But the whisper of fate clung to her, dangerous and alluring, promising that this was only the beginning.
****
Marcus slammed a fistagainst the barrier, fury clawing through his veins.The witch’s magic shimmered against his skin, repelling him each time he tried to cross.He could feel Willow’s presence inside—so close, so achingly his—and yet untouchable.The cursed barrier mocked him, humming with a power older than his bloodline, daring him to break it.
He paced like a starving predator, eyes burning, breath coming sharp.She was meant to be his.He had waited, plotted, crossed oceans and centuries of patience and now fate dangled her a hair’s breadth away.To have her stolen by a meddling witch?Unthinkable.He remembered the visions, the promises, the endless hunger that only she could sate.The Fates themselves had whispered her name into his dreams and now he could almost taste her fear—and her soul.
Beneath the fury coiled something softer, twisted but undeniable: desire.Willow wasn’t only a key to power or prophecy—she was warmth, completion, the missing note in a song he’d been chasing across lifetimes.His.Always his.The thought of her with anyone else sent shards of rage through him.She would learn to see it too, he told himself.She would understand once she surrendered.Once she stopped fighting what was written.
His hands spread against the wood, palms hissing as the barrier scorched him, but he pressed harder, relishing the pain as proof of his devotion.His jaw clenched, teeth grinding until they ached, yet he didn’t pull back.
He whispered her name like a vow, like a curse, like a prayer twisted with obsession.“Willow.”
Visions swam before his eyes—her lips trembling as she breathed his name, her body yielding, her destiny entwined with his in the way it was always meant to be.He could already imagine the moment she would finally stop resisting and admit the truth.It was inevitable.Fate was inevitable.
The barrier thrummed again, searing deeper and the scent of his own burning flesh filled his lungs.Pain ripped through him, shredding the last scraps of control.His body bowed under it, every vein lit with fire.What tore from his chest was part man, part monster, part broken lover—an unholy roar that split the night, shaking the silence of the street with the sound of his denial and his hunger.
Chapter Three
Willow remained silentas she followed Ursula down from the rooftop terrace and into the lower floors of the building.The place smelled of lavender and other herbs.For Willow, it was very comforting.When they reached the first floor, the scent changed slightly and there was more of a lemony citrus scent in the air.
Looking around, she spotted loads of plants around the room.Up against one wall was what looked like a medical examination table.It had parts that moved so that limbs could be lifted and held.A rolling table surrounded the bed.It had what looked like dentist drills attached to the side of it.
“What is this place?”she asked quietly.
Ursula stepped out of the back room she had entered, dressed in a black apron that dropped over her clothes.“This, my lovely, is Fated Ink.Only those I trust know where it is or how to access this space.It’s a tattoo parlor, a sanctuary when people need it and a place for old lovers to be reunited.”
“Why do I get the feeling you think that you and I have met before?”Willow moved to a large black leather couch that lined one of the walls and flopped down into it.“Look Ursula, I know you’ve done a lot for me tonight, but I feel like the world has suddenly started spinning in the opposite direction and I don’t have a ticket for this ride.You knew my name before I could tell you.How?”
Ursula nodded as she moved to sit down next to her on the couch.“Because you and Ihavemet before, but not in this life.”
Whatever Willow had thought the answer might have possibly been, this one had not featured.“What the hell does that mean?”
