Chapter 2 #2
Malcolm contented himself with staring at her soft, full, kissable lips. Damn, he might just have to give in to temptation and kiss her. She’d probably hex him again, and he’d deserve it, but he was pretty sure it would be worth it.
Glowing streams of purple light spun out from all around her and hovered in the air, weaving themselves into a tight webbing that looked like a cast before the spell descended and wrapped around the skin of his broken arm.
He expected to feel pain, but there was none.
Instead, his body warmed up beneath the shape of the spell.
He did feel the odd sensation of his bones knitting themselves back together.
As the magic flowed through him, he felt more aware of himself and everything inside him in a way he never had before.
The witch’s lips parted slightly. He leaned into her palm, which was still cupping his cheek, wanting to feel that warmth, that sense of strange and wondrous connection that her touch had made him feel.
After a moment, the magic faded, and she opened her eyes.
The bright gold of her eyes softened back to an amber hue.
She jerked her hand away from him, her eyes narrowing.
“Your magic’s not like mine,” she said. “Are you a hedge warlock?”
“No,” Malcolm sighed. “I have blood magic.”
Technically all witches and warlocks had magic in their blood, but his family had magic that came from within themselves. Hedge witches and hedge warlocks were elemental. Their strength came from the elements around them.
Hedge witches and warlocks were not popular in cities and usually not welcomed by those with blood magic.
It was a silly prejudice between the two kinds of magic, but he’d seen it his whole life.
He didn’t have a problem with hedge magic, but his father did.
So he shouldn’t have been surprised that the mistrust went both ways.
“Oh,” the witch said, and pulled away from him.
Malcolm caught her wrist and she sucked in a breath like she was expecting another zap from him. “Wait, I don’t bite or anything.”
She frowned. Her gaze dropped to the hand that gripped her wrist. A delicate English ivy vine tattoo on her inner forearm came to life, real vines magically manifesting outside of her skin to crawl down to her hand as a physical vine, twining around his wrist. He didn’t freak out, although he probably should have.
Then again, he’d had boyhood fantasies about the femme fatale villain Poison Ivy in the Batman comics and this was damned close.
But what did really unsettle him was that he wasn’t used to hedge magic.
Other than being around his father, he avoided magic most days.
But hers felt nice… when it wasn’t hexing him.
“Who are you?” she asked. The vine continued to curve around his skin as though it was exploring him.
“My name’s Malcolm Wellesley. This is my familiar, Hades.” He flashed her a grin that on mortal women had them purring and sidling up to him. But this witch didn’t purr or sidle. She simply gazed back at him, her honey eyes seeing clear through him.
Hades stood up and put his paws on the counter to better smell the nearest pie. The pumpkin one, of course. Hadn’t the dog had enough pumpkin for one night?
“And you are?” he asked. He really wanted to know her name. He leaned in a little. Her pupils widened and her cheeks pinkened with an adorable blush. The English ivy vines still coiled around his wrist, working their way up his forearm.
“Callista Wynter…” she said at last. “But everyone calls me Calli.”
“Calli.” When he said her name, the vines around his wrist tightened slightly, but not in a bad way. It felt more like it was gently hugging him.
“Huh. It’s never done that before,” she murmured.
“They don’t usually hug strangers like that?”
Calli shook her head. “They showed up when I was twelve. They move sometimes, but hardly ever emerge from my skin like that to become actual vines…”
A soft huff from Hades drew their attention. He was licking his chops as he eyed the cookies in front of him. The vines around Malcolm’s wrist retreated into Calli’s arm and vanished.
“Sorry. He’s hungry,” said Malcolm. “We haven’t eaten in hours.”
“Can he have a cookie?” Calli asked.
“Yeah, sure. No chocolate in them, right?”
She shook her head as she removed a cookie from the baking tray and gave it to the dog, who scarfed it down instantly.
“By the way … where exactly are we?”
“This is Moonstone Falls. You said you came from Boston?” Calli asked. He nodded and she said, “We’re just a little north of Boston, about thirty miles or so.”
“Moonstone Falls…” he muttered to himself. “Wait, I know that name. But how the hell do I know it?” He swore he’d heard of this place, but couldn’t for the life of him remember how.
“I live on the far edge of town,” Calli said. “You won’t be able to rent a room at the Moonstone Inn until dawn unless you don’t mind talking to a—” She stopped.
“Talking to a what?”
“I really shouldn’t talk about it. Moonstone Falls isn’t like other towns.” Calli busied herself scooping cookies from the baking sheet onto a cooling rack.
Malcolm got up and came around the counter where she stood, crowding her space a little.
She wasn’t short, perhaps five foot six, but he still towered over her at six foot two.
As he cornered her, her pupils widened, her cheeks darkened with a blush and her lips parted as she drew in a sharp breath.
Damn…there was something hot about catching her a little off guard like that.
“So, this place is magical? It’s not like I’d tell anyone.”
She lifted her hazel eyes. “Yes, it’s a magical town, but it’s more than that.
We live in a concentrated pocket of magical energy.
It attracts all sorts of supernatural creatures, so we have protective wards around the town to keep out curious humans.
Mostly for their own protection. We let some humans in, though.
Those we get to know on the outside that mean no harm to us, or those who already know about the town and don’t have any negative energy toward us. ”
“If this place is warded, should it have prevented someone from opening a witch portal from inside the protection of the wards?” he asked.
“It should have…” She chewed her bottom lip, and for a moment Malcolm forgot what they were talking about.
When he pulled himself out of a daydream about kissing her again, he glanced out the kitchen window at the back gardens, where his bike and sidecar were still turned on their side. “The Moonstone Inn doesn’t open until morning?”
“Yes. Only vampires can call for late-night bookings after ten. They have a vampire on staff to answer those calls. The rest of us are supposed to wait to call until the morning.”
“Ahh…” he cleared his throat. “Not to be a pest or risk another hex, but could Hades and I stay here? Just for tonight? We’ll be gone tomorrow.”
She looked at him skeptically. “I suppose it’s alright. But you’ll need to shower and wash your clothes. You are covered in pulverized pumpkin.” She delivered that with a frown that reminded him that those pumpkins had been important to her.
“A shower would be great.” He could definitely smell the pumpkin still on him and by morning, it wouldn’t smell as good as it did right now. A shower was definitely a necessity.
“All right then, follow me. I’ll show you to a room and the bathroom you can use. I assume you haven’t had dinner?” She turned those stunning hazel eyes on him that sometimes turned a burning amber color when he got too close.
“Nope.”
“Right, I’ll send something up for you and Hades.
” Calli led the way and Malcolm followed, swallowing hard as he climbed the stairs behind her and found himself staring once again at the delectable ass and wanting to strip her clothes off to see it.
He loved sex… but the need to take this particular woman to bed was almost overpowering.
Had her pumpkins been hexed with a lust spell or something?
Get it together, Wellesley, or she’ll hex you again.
* * *
Calli Wynter’s heart pounded like a jackhammer as she climbed the stairs to show Malcolm to a spare bedroom.
A warlock was in her house. Not just any warlock, but a blood warlock.
She was a hedge witch. The two magics were like oil and water, they didn’t get along.
Probably because hedge witches used their magic by drawing from the world around them and using their magic to create beautiful life, whereas those who were born with blood magic tended to have an inflated ego because their magic came from within themselves.
She’d never liked the self-aggrandizing attitude of some of the blood witches and warlocks she’d met.
It would be wise to be careful around Malcolm.
He’d already destroyed her garden, set fire to half of her backyard, obliterated her pumpkin crop and caused a small earthquake.
All of that was the result of his uncontrolled blood magic.
His magic. She prayed he wouldn’t set her house on fire next.
Thinking fast, she started sending anti-flame enchantments to all parts of the house.
“What spell was that?” Malcolm asked as he came up behind her. She nearly tripped on the stairs.
“Oh … it’s just one of my nightly protection spells that I forgot to set up earlier.”
“Is Moonstone Falls dangerous?”
“No, but a town full of magical creatures can be a bit unpredictable.” They’d reached the top of the stairs. When she looked at him again, her heart jolted.