He propped himself up on an elbow and reached for her coat and jeans next to them, and draped her coat over her.
‘Here, don’t get cold.’
‘Sorry, I…I don’t know what happened, either. It was like…being possessed.’ She sat up, feeling herself come back to earth, and reached for her jeans.
‘You’ve got nothing to apologise for, except being unbearably sexy, Miss Morgan.’ Rav kissed her forehead, nose and lips and hugged her in closer. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever ravaged anyone on a beach before. It’s not evendark. That was just…’ He blew out his cheeks and whistled. ‘Yeah. That was insanely hot. You…I just felt like we were the only two people in the world. Like I was under a spell.’
Under a spell. Was it a coincidence that she and Rav had just made love under the rising moon, on the beach where Faye and Annie had found the love spell in Grandmother’s grimoire in the first place? Was it at all surprising that the spell had brought Rav to Faye?
I don’t think it was, she thought.
She pulled on her jeans and put her coat back on, shaking the worst of the sand out of the old scarf and stuffing it back in her pocket.
Faye watched the sea as Rav took her hand. She felt odd, suddenly, as if they had wandered into another time and place here, with the way that she had reacted to him, with the smell of roses in the air. The whole thing had been otherworldly; she had seen, or thought she had seen, faeries in the water.
While the sense of being watched had aroused her earlier, now, she felt vulnerable. What if, when Rav had been touching her, they really had been watching? She had seen the faerie folk in his house, and felt the cold they had cast about the place; she knew from the old stories that they were not always pleasant or kind.
She looked around, peering into the dark, but she couldn’t sense any other presences now. Yet, she felt a sudden disinclination to go back into Rav’s house and be among those energies again. In her ecstasy, she hadn’t cared if they watched her pleasure. In a more sober state, she really didn’t want that at all.
‘Actually, thanks but I’m going to go home.’ She turned abruptly, pulling her hand away from his. ‘I’ve got some things I need to do at the shop. Just remembered.’
‘What?’ He turned in surprise. ‘But…we just…I mean…’ He looked dumbfounded.
‘I have to go. I’ll see you,’ she said, feeling stupid but not knowing how to explain. The beach was different now, but she couldn’t describe how; this had been her place of worship for so long, and she was sensitive to its energies. She had often drawn on the elemental power of the beach in working magic, but whatever she had felt just now was different. Sex had brought a different energy, maybe that was all it was. But that feeling ofbeing watched – and of her own wicked, sexual response – had unsettled her.
‘I need to go home,’ she repeated.
‘Okay.’ Rav cleared his throat, as if there was a lot he wanted to say but was choosing not to. ‘Will I see you again soon?’
‘Oh. Yes…’ She felt awful then, but it was too late. The energy had changed between them now. ‘I’m sorry, I…’
‘No, it’s all right…’ He smiled carefully at her, and gave her a little wave. ‘See you around.’
No, no! Not see you around!she berated herself, and watched him take the path up the beach to his house.
Faye turned her back on the sea and started for home, pulling her coat tight against a wind that had whipped up suddenly. And as she stepped carefully around the rocks where the grass met the sand – where, she often thought, the real world met this in-between place of power – she heard strange voices calling her name.Faye, Faye. The wind seemed to carry an echo of someone calling her.Faye Morgan. But when she looked over at Rav’s house, there was no one there.
11
Annie knew instantly when Faye opened the shop door the next day; it took her all of three seconds to look Faye over and make up her mind that something had happened.
‘Morning.’ Faye stood aside and let her friend in; today, Annie was wearing a belted red trench coat over a baggy Breton stripe shirt with flappy pockets, a denim miniskirt and thick orange tights with biker boots. Faye felt dowdy in comparison in her jeans and sweater, though the cornflower-blue colour of her top sat nicely against her auburn hair.
‘Don’ give me yermorning, Faye Morgan, like nothing’s going on. Somethin’s happened. I can tell.’ Annie threw her coat on one of the easy chairs and stalked around her friend like a cat. She peered at Faye’s neck and grabbed hold of the frayed collar of the old sweatshirt, pulling it away from Faye’s skin and scanning her skin.
‘What are you doing, you madwoman?’ Faye pulled away, laughing at Annie’s manic expression.
‘Looking for love bites, my sweet dahhhling,’ Annie trilled in her actress voice. ‘Remainders of the love act. The shadow of akiss.’ She stood back and narrowed her eyes. ‘You’ve had sex. Haven’t you? I can tell.’
Faye laughed out loud. ‘My god. What are you, like, some kind of sex detective? Yes, I did. Happy now?’ She straightened her sweatshirt and tried to look normal, though she didn’t feel it.
‘Yedidn’t. Tell me yer not makin’ this up!’ Annie screeched, lapsing back into her normal accent.
‘I’m not making it up.’ Faye fiddled with a basket of crystals, sliding her fingers between the cool smoothness of the clear quartz.
‘Who? When?Where?’ Annie demanded, letting out a whoop of delight. ‘I cannaebelieveit! This is big.’ She sat down behind the counter and leaned forward, drumming her fingers on the glass. ‘C’mon. Tell me. I want it all. As the actress said to the bishop.’
‘Youarean actress.’
