Chapter Nine #3
“I’m sorry, Nettie,” Rowena interrupted, clearing her throat as if to get rid of congestion. “It’s just… difficult to talk about Aster. Her death had a major impact on our community, and it’s not a topic I want to revisit right now.”
I nodded. Wolfish curiosity aside, Rowena had firmly stated her boundaries, and I needed to respect them.
Even if the newfound tidbits of information sent my mind reeling with more questions.
I decided to give Rowena space for the rest of the afternoon.
The kitchen was already cleaned, so I threw myself into custodial duties in the front of the café.
I grabbed a broom and dustpan from a supply closet and spent the next twenty minutes sweeping every bit of dust in the café into a neat little pile.
Aria was still in my pocket, and I could sense her frustration. She could easily have the whole place swept in a matter of minutes, but I still wasn’t willing to reveal her to Rowena.
“Nettie?”
I snapped to attention as Rowena’s voice pulled me out of my cleaning frenzy.
“Yes?” I replied.
On the other side of the counter, Rowena had also been busy cleaning. But now, she had the pastry case open and was tugging on the heavy glass shelves.
“Can you help me pull these out so we can clean them?” she asked.
“Oh, yes,” I scurried over to the pastry case. “Of course.”
The thick glass panels were heavy and cool, and I curled my long fingernails around the edges as I pulled them out so I wouldn’t drop them. I delicately set each shelf on the counter, spreading them several inches apart and wiping cookie crumbs off the glass. They really did get dirty fast.
But just as I stepped around the counter to grab the last panel, I realized Rowena already pulled it out. The problem was I realized this too late, and we collided chest-first into each other.
“Oh, sorry!” Rowena blurted out, clearly frazzled by the interaction.
But as startled as I felt – since we both nearly toppled over – I couldn’t deny the trickle of warmth that the collision sent through my belly.
In that brief moment, I’d been able to feel the thick purple fabric of her corset pressed against me, bosom to bosom, with her elegantly curved torso just inches from my own.
It made me want to hold her longer, closer , and those feelings sent me into a lust-filled panic.
My face burned. This was no longer just werewolf hormones.
I had a crush on Rowena.
But I didn’t have time to dwell on the attraction bubbling to the surface. Because once we both collected ourselves, I had a new problem.
When I’d bumped into Rowena, Aria had let out a squeak as her little breezy body was crushed between us. Now she was quiet, still tucked into my pocket, but I could feel little wisps of cold air blowing up from my chest and tickling my nose.
“What was that?” Rowena pointed at my chest pocket.
I cocked my head, pretending to be oblivious. “What do you mean?”
Rowena stepped towards me, and I stepped back.
“Nettie…” Rowena’s tone was low, serious but not punitive. “It’s okay. You don’t have to hide anything from me.”
Except the fact that I’m a goddamn werewolf. I could feel nervous sweat dampening my temples.
Rowena stepped forward again, and I felt the warm, prickling heat that always consumed me when she was close. My stomach twisted, and my heart thumped like a drum.
Her dark eyes are so gentle, I noted as she came closer.
She stopped right in front of me, our chests less than an inch apart. I ached to close the gap, to reach out and touch her skin…
But she did it first.
I flinched as she reached up, settling her hand against my neck. Her fingers were small, slender, and cold, and I wondered if the flushed heat of my skin could warm them. I let out a long, slow breath, sinking into her touch and letting my attraction lull me into a trance.
I had no idea what was going on.
But this was heavenly.
She brushed my long, thick hair away from my neck, tucking it behind my ear and pressing her fingers against the skin just below it.
Wait.
Fear coursed through my veins like electricity as I remembered the night before. Aria. The tornado. The stinging sensation on my neck.
The mark I saw in the mirror.
I tried to pull away, but Rowena’s previously gentle touch hardened from an embrace to a grasp. I winced as she rubbed her fingers over the mark that I knew was still there. It still stung a little bit when touched.
“I…” Rowena was speechless. “I don’t understand.”
“W-what do you mean?” I replied. Partially because I was still playing dumb, and partially because I was confused. I still didn’t know what the mark meant or why I had it.
Rowena removed her fingers from my neck, instead grabbing my hand and dragging me back into the kitchen. She settled me in front of the mirror, pulled my hair back, and pointed at the mark.
Since it was broad daylight and this mirror wasn’t shattered, I could now clearly see the mark on my neck. It was small, less than half an inch across, and black as charcoal. It depicted a loose, cone-shaped swirl.
Almost like a tornado.
“Okay, okay,” I pleaded, holding up my hands. “I’m sorry. I knew this was there. I was just afraid to bring it up. Because, well… the truth is…”
A squeak interrupted my stuttering. Before I could react, Aria burst out of my chest pocket, lowering herself to the ground on a strong gust of wind and gazing at Rowena with remarkable intensity for such a little creature.
“You bonded with an elemental.” Rowena’s voice was a half-whisper, laced with disbelief.
I frowned. “I did what?”
Rowena stepped forward, positioning herself in front of the mirror so we were shoulder-to-shoulder.
She slid a hand up her neck and brushed her short, thick black hair away, revealing two marks just below her ear.
They were the same size and color as mine, but the symbols were different – a plump flame and an ice crystal.
“Fritzi and Mavro are bonded to me,” Rowena explained, putting her hair back over her ear.
“Elementals can bond with a witch that they deem exceptionally kind and trustworthy. They then ‘mark’ you with their element, and you can use the mark to summon them whenever you’d like.
But the elemental must choose you of their own will, and while the bond is meant to be lifelong, the elemental can choose to break it if they are mistreated. ”
At our feet, Aria squeaked again, and Rowena smiled softly as she knelt down and scooped the little mouse into her palm.
“It’s considered a rite of witchhood to bond with an elemental.
Most of us bond with at least one. I’m lucky to have two.
But these bonds can also be our downfall, when pride sinks its claws into us.
Some witches want to be the strongest, the most powerful…
and they see bonding with the biggest, most ferocious elemental to be a status symbol. ”
Rowena turned her attention back to Aria. The little mouse stood up, huffing and bracing herself like she was trying to be intimidating. Big and ferocious, like the elementals Rowena had mentioned.
“A lot of witches will overlook smaller elementals. Especially ones as small as this little mouse,” Rowena sighed and patted Aria on the head with a single finger.
The little elemental happily crawled into her palm, giving Rowena the same adoring smile she always gave me.
“But real strength isn’t determined by size.
This elemental chose you because you believed in her. ”
I smiled. “She helped me. You should see her in action, Rowena. She’s incredible. She blew the dust out of the entire cottage in just a few seconds.”
“That’s the thing…” Rowena’s eyes dimmed, and her smile disappeared. “It shouldn’t be possible.”
“What do you mean?”
“When we first met, remember how I mentioned that this village is warded so only witches can get in?”
“Um, yes?”
“At first, I thought you being here was a fluke. That maybe the barrier wasn’t working properly.” Rowena turned to me and pressed her palm against my chest. Heat flushed my face again, and I swore I saw Aria smirk at me as she scampered off Rowena’s hand and back into my front pocket.
“But now I know that’s not true,” Rowena continued. “You really do have witch blood, Nettie.”
“But how do you kno–”
“Because only witches can bond with elementals.”
I froze, my mouth snapping shut. The spiraling panic of Rowena uncovering my werewolf identity returned, and it made my chest tremble and my throat lock up.
I couldn’t possibly be a witch. My mother and father were both werewolves. As far as I knew, my entire family tree was made up of werewolves.
Unless… the witch ancestry was further down my family line.
Some great-great-great relative who got swept up in a forbidden romance and popped out a love child.
Offspring between different magical beings did happen, but they were highly frowned upon, and the existence of foreign blood in a magical person’s ancestry was usually kept under wraps.
Maybe there was more to my family history than I realized.
Or maybe… werewolves could bond with elementals, too.
But that theory didn’t make a lot of sense.
I’d spent my entire life in a community of werewolves, surrounded by my own kind, and our island was littered with wild elementals.
If bonding was possible, someone on Hollenboro would’ve bent the rules and done it by now.
But the thought still made me quake with fear. Because every time Rowena pried into the mysteries of my ancestry, my alias of being a runaway human who accidentally stumbled into a witch village began to unravel. I worried it was only a matter of time before the truth seeped out.
I thought back to my lustful thoughts from earlier, when Rowena’s hand brushed against my neck, and I felt nauseous with guilt. Rowena isn’t interested in you. Even if she was, could you possibly think anything would ever come of it?
You sick, pathetic, lonely little mongrel.
“I mean… it could… it…”