Chapter 34
“Cece, you should eat more.”
She lifted her hand, studying her fingertips before waving her hand gently back and forth, smiling happily at the green light that streamed from each finger.
“Cece?”
She made herself focus on Briggs, to ignore the heady rush of magic that flowed through her veins, but she’d never felt her magic this strongly before. God, she felt so fucking good.
“I feel so fucking good,” she told Briggs.
“I’m glad, baby. Eat the other half of your sandwich,” he said.
She studied it before pushing the plate away. “I’m full.”
His lips pressed together in a thin line, but he didn’t argue, just took away the sandwich and the container of raw veggies. As he cleaned up the lunch dishes, Cece wandered to the back door. She stuck her feet into boots and slipped outside, breathing deeply of the crisp, cold air.
She cocked her head, staring at the forest behind the house as the magic pulsed within her. She smiled and started walking toward the trees, but a hard arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her to a stop.
Briggs pressed her back against him, the heat of his body chasing away the cold and giving her system another boost of magic. “You shouldn’t be out here, Cece. It’s freezing, and you’re not wearing a jacket.”
“You’ll keep me warm.” She smiled up at him. “Come with me.”
She took his hand and tried to urge him toward the trees, but he shook his head and pulled her into his embrace again. “What are you doing?”
The magic from his touch sent a shiver through her. “The trees are calling for us. Can you not hear it?”
“No,” he said.
She studied him before turning back to the trees. “They’re so loud, Briggs. They want me to join them. I want to join them.”
“No, baby,” he said. “Not right now.”
She pouted at him. “I’m a green witch, I’m supposed to be with nature.”
“I know, but it’s too cold,” he said.
She studied him before shaking her head. “I have to, Briggs.”
“No, you don’t,” he said. “Control the magic.”
“I am,” she said.
“You aren’t.” She could see the tension in his big shoulders as he stepped away from her and studied the yard. “Cece, I want you to move those logs.”
“What?”
He pointed to the pile of logs still waiting to be chopped into firewood. “Use your magic to move those logs to that part of the yard.”
“Why?” she asked. “It’s a waste of magic.”
“Is it too hard for you, little witch?”
She bristled, green light flashing in her hands. “No.”
Muttering under her breath, she studied the logs, considering which levitation spell she wanted to use.
The trees made their addictive cry, and she forgot about Briggs’s request, staring eagerly into the forest. The branches of the trees at the edge of the forest were bending toward her, and another surge of magic flooded her system when Briggs’s arm curved around her waist again.
“Oh, that’s so nice,” she murmured, smiling happily at the trees. “I’m coming.”
“Cece.” Briggs’s voice was sharp.
“What?” She didn’t want to be irritated with him, but she couldn’t understand why he was denying her what she wanted.
He gripped her chin, turning her face until she was looking at him instead of the trees. He brushed his mouth against hers. “Do as your mate asks. Move the logs.”
“Fine,” she pouted.
He released her and stepped back, and Cece studied the logs before speaking a levitation spell.
The logs shifted and groaned, and her magic flared bright in her veins.
She frowned when the logs remained on the ground.
She held out her hands, the green light radiating from them intensifying when she repeated the spell.
The logs groaned and cracked, bits of bark falling onto the snow, but they didn’t move.
She huffed in frustration as Briggs said, “Try again, little witch.”
She concentrated, chanting the levitation spell repeatedly as her magic spiked and the trees in the forest swayed lightly.
She grinned in triumph when, with a loud crack, six of the logs lifted from the pile.
They hovered in the air, and Cece waved her hands.
They moved slowly across the yard, landing with a heavy thud, and Cece’s smile grew.
She stared at the remaining logs, murmuring the spell over and over as sweat poured down her back and the call of the trees dimmed.
Two more logs broke free, and she moved them to join the others before turning back to the original pile. She concentrated, but the hum of her magic was very low now, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t lift any more logs.
She dropped her hands and took a step back, sucking in a few deep breaths. Her body ached as if she’d been through a few rounds in the boxing ring, and she felt only a soft trickle of her magic.
She studied the forest. Her feet and hands were numb, and she was suddenly ice cold. Why the heck had she come out here anyway?
She turned to Briggs, fear nibbling at her edges. “What… why am I out here?”
“You don’t remember?” he asked.
“The trees were… calling for me.” She stared at him in panic. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing, my mate. Come inside, you’re freezing,” Briggs said.
She reached for his hand, hurt washing over her when he shook his head. “No, don’t touch me, little witch. Not yet.”
She followed Briggs into the house, trying to remember the last hour or so. It was alarmingly fuzzy. She’d been hungry, or at least she’d felt hungry, and they’d gotten out of bed, and then…
She couldn’t really remember anything after that. It was just a haze of magic and feeling incredibly connected to Mother Earth and…
“I lost control of the magic,” she said, the fear in her voice stark and undeniable.
She stumbled to a kitchen chair, collapsing into it as her body shook with cold. She stared at her hands, the low hum of the magic she could still feel, scaring her.
She was a witch who couldn’t control her magic.
If the WWC found out, they would, at best, have her on a watchlist for the rest of her life, and at worst, toss her into a magic suppressed cell, and she’d never see Briggs or anyone else she loved again. She’d die alone and -
“Little witch, take a breath.” Briggs wrapped a blanket around her and crouched in front of her, rubbing her legs through the blanket. “Breathe, my mate.”
She took deep breaths, staring at Briggs as she tried to blink the tears away. They fell down her cheeks anyway, and she swiped them away. “God, I’m sorry. I’m such a crybaby.”
He smiled at her. “One, you’re not, and two, your crying doesn’t upset me, so don’t apologize for it. I love how sensitive my mate is.”
She sniffled and wiped at her face again. “I lost control of my magic, Briggs.”
“No, baby, you didn’t,” he said.
She made a face, and he smiled at her. “I’m serious.”
“I just tried to make you freeze to death in the forest with me,” she said.
“But you didn’t,” he said. “You used your magic differently when I asked you to. You controlled how you used it, Cece.”
“Because you were with me,” she said. “If you weren’t…”
“But I was,” he said firmly. “And I’ll continue to be with you while you learn to control the magic.”
Feeling sick to her stomach - God, she didn’t want to even suggest this, but Briggs deserved to have a choice - she said, “If we don’t touch anymore, if we… we go our separate ways, my magic won’t -”
“No,” he said. “You’re my mate, and I won’t leave you.”
Her bottom lip trembling, she said, “Honey, are you sure, absolutely sure, that what you feel for me isn’t because of the magic or -”
“Everything I am, Cece,” he said softly. “Always.”
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you too.” He leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her forehead, sending a spark of magic into her veins. “I built up the fire before we ate. Go sit on the couch, and I’ll bring you a tea, okay?”
“Okay,” she said.
“Are you warmer, my mate?” Briggs took Cece’s empty tea mug and set it on the side table.
“Yes, thank you.” Cece smiled at him, and he had to suppress his urge to pull her into his arms and warm her in a different way.
Already, he wanted her again, but they needed to talk, and he wanted her clear-headed when they did.
Like the magic doesn’t mess with you, too.
His inner voice wasn’t wrong, but the high he got from Cece’s magic had dissipated by the time they showered and went downstairs to eat. He sat down on the couch beside her, and she smiled again at him.
He gestured to her phone. “Did you find anything?”
“Yes. So, apparently, powerful green witches have heard the trees calling to them, but they say it’s more of an overall connection to Mother Earth. Like, if it were spring or summer, I would hear the flowers and stuff like that, too.”
“Wow,” he said.
“Yeah, it’s something I had no idea was possible, but to be fair, I haven’t been a witch for very long, and because I thought I was an apprentice witch, I didn’t really research a lot into what it was like to be a blood witch, you know?”
“Makes sense,” he said. “So, do they recommend ways to help?”
“I guess you get used to it,” Cece said. “There have been some recorded cases where witches couldn’t resist the call of Mother Earth, and they end up a bit… kooky is the gentle way to put it.”
She studied him. “Will you still love me if I start wearing plants as accessories and living full-time in the forest?”
He laughed. “Yes, but that won’t happen, baby. You’ll learn to ignore it.”
“I hope so,” she said.
“We need to talk about earlier,” he said.
“I’m sorry. I know how damn weird it was for me to start begging you to walk into the forest with me,” Cece said.
“It’s fine, but we do need to work on controlling your magic when it’s stronger.”
He could smell her embarrassment coming off of her in waves. “You don’t need to be embarrassed, Cece.”
“If I can’t control my magic, the WWC will put me on a list or in a magic suppressed cell,” Cece said.
“That isn’t going to happen,” Briggs said. “You’ll learn to control the magic.”
“By constantly moving logs around the back yard?” Cece asked in a defeated tone.
“Maybe, if that’s what it takes at first,” Briggs said.