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I opened my eyes to darkness the following morning. A little bundle of fur snuggled beside me, preventing me from rolling over to check my phone for the time. As if she sensed I was awake, a loud purr rumbled from Ash. She rose to her feet, kneading the blanket. I scooped her with one hand and checked my phone. Six-ten. Sunrise was somewhere close to six-thirty, and Hannah had told me to cast my spell at first light.
Behind me, Kyle’s eyes were closed, his mouth agape. Holding onto Ash, I slipped out of bed and tip-toed down the stairs to the workroom, where the mirror and the purified water waited for me. The grimoire also put in an appearance, no doubt to help me remember the spell. I set Ash on the table, pointed my phone at the book and activated the flashlight app to confirm the spell was the one I expected. When I confirmed it was for unmasking, I turned off my flashlight to wait until I could see with natural lighting.
Ash rolled on the worktable, forgoing her breakfast and staying close this morning. Would the spell work? Would it help me recognize who was masking themselves from me? And then what? Confront her?
I stroked Ash, until I could distinguish the shapes outside the window as something other than dark outlines. A family of raccoons ambled into the woods—signs the sun was putting in its appearance. My heart hammered. With my history of casting spells, I hesitated, worried about what might go wrong, and yet the grimoire guided me to do so. While tracing the spiral on the mirror, I recited the verse, then closed my eyes and drew a calming breath.
The sense of someone behind me was so strong, I nearly fell off my stool when I turned around. Kyle stood in the workroom doorway, pale in the early morning light.
“I was worried you’d had another nightmare,” he said.
How much had he seen? “No.”
He approached slowly and I waited for the rebuke, the condemnation that came from seeing the real me in action. Instead, he pulled me to my feet and kissed me.
His voice was deep and gravelly from sleep, or desire, or both. “Do you know how sexy you look right now?” He brushed my hair off my face, his gaze fixed on mine. “The way the light catches your eyes should frighten me, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t make me want you—right here, right now.”
A giggle erupted. Not quite a condemnation, but also not the response I’d expected after he’d witnessed me casting a spell.
Fifteen minutes later we moved to the sofa in the living room where we snuggled beneath an afghan to keep warm.
“You don’t know who you’re up against?” Kyle asked.
“No, not yet.”
“Then how do you know they’re against you?”
I twisted to look into his face. “The question was how to help Georgia, but when I went looking for the answer, Hannah told me to guard against a reckless woman.”
“Hannah being this friend of Nora’s?”
I nodded. “And none of this is freaking you out?”
“I think it’s kinda cool.”
I rolled my eyes. “Great. You love me because I’m a freak.”
“No, I love you because you have a good heart. You care about people. You’re strong and brave and...”
I held up a hand to stop him. “Enough, already.”
He laughed. “You asked.”
“Which brings about another thing that has me worried. All of this...” I waved an arm toward the workroom, “you can’t arrest someone and lock them up, or shoot at a bad guy. Narcy was insidious, and there’s no saying there isn’t someone else like her who can circumvent your defenses.”
“But you can, and we’re a team. I have faith in you, Brynn. Have faith in me, too.” He shot a glance at the sun filtering in through the bay window beside the dining table. “And now, I need to get ready for work, and I suspect you do, too.” He leaned his forehead to mine. “You’ll call me if you identify this woman?”
“Okay.”
“We’re in this together.”
For all the times we’d skirted talking openly about my gifts, my heart swelled knowing he had seen me using my talents and not been frightened away. His words meant more to me than I could say.
Kyle left to get dressed, and I returned to the workroom, where I had several special orders waiting to be mixed. By the time I’d finished, packed them, and gathered Ash, I was ten minutes late.
The sun shone bright in a crisp blue sky, icy clouds drew an occasional swirl against the backdrop. Everything in line of sight came into sharper focus, with the exception of the people walking the sidewalks. Each of them was surrounded by colored light. I stopped, taken by surprise at this new development until I realized it was their auras, shimmering around them. Part of the unmasking spell?
No one was waiting when I arrived at the shop. I opened Ash’s basket and put out food for her in the backroom before I readied the store for the day. When Cassandra walked in, the light surrounding her stuttered and changed, like a soap bubble floating in the air.
“Sorry I’m late.” She set her coffee cup beside the sewing machine, tugged off her coat and sat down. Only then did her aura settle into a soft shade of green, reflecting her creativity and practicality.
“I was late, too,” I told her.
Her cheeks were flush with color. She hadn’t yet met my eye. Surely Cassandra wasn’t the woman I needed to be wary of, but it wouldn’t hurt to check.
I hovered beside the sewing machine, watching her work, until she stopped, turned and looked up at me.
“Yes?” she asked.
I smiled, met her gaze. Dark brown eyes exaggerated by black liner and mascara against creamy skin. No tell-tale glow aside from the just left my man radiance. She and Lucas were clearly moving forward. “Noticing the shine around you,” I said.
Her cheeks reddened further. “It’s the cold.”
“Uh-huh.” No secrets to unmask there. I returned to the counter, unpacked my special orders and lined them up.
Cassandra twisted in her seat, watching me. “You’re awfully happy this morning. Dare I ask why?”
I stopped to consider. Kyle’s open acceptance had helped me turn a corner in my doubts. I took a moment to appreciate having him in my life, to find the quiet in the storm.
“I know that look,” Cassandra said. “And no, I don’t need to hear about Sir Galahad this morning.”
I laughed. Cassandra might not share the gifts I’d been born to, but she did have a keen sense of intuition. “Now who’s the witch?” I teased.
She raised her eyebrows and turned to her work.
The day went on uneventfully. The auras surrounding everyone who walked into the shop shimmered without my looking for them. After checking the chart on my phone the first few times, I identified the traits without looking the color up. I didn’t, however, notice a glow in anyone’s eyes.
Hannah called mid-afternoon to ask how my day was going. I told her about the auras and how the world was brighter, as if someone had washed the windows.
“Yes, that’s to be expected. Anyone standing out for you?”
“Not so far. The two people I need to see are the two people I’m least likely to run across,” I told her. “Unless LeAnne decides to come shopping again, and Jason isn’t going to encourage her to do so. Sharon moved to Madison as far as I know, and I may never see her again.”
“There’s one more thing we could try, if you don’t mind driving to the castle this weekend. I have a couple of groups coming in for retreats, so I can’t get away. I’m concerned about the little girl.”
So was I. “How about Friday night?”
“I’ll look for you then. If you run across anything noteworthy in the meantime, let me know.”
“I’ll keep you in the loop.” I’d started out the day hoping for a quick answer to my problem, expecting the reckless woman to make herself known to me. Did I want to track down Sharon and LeAnne, if for no other reason than to rule them out?
“Brynn, I wouldn’t have suggested the spell if I didn’t think it was important,” Hannah said, as if she’d detected my hesitation. “Considering what you’ve already been through, you need to keep your eyes open.”
Flashback time, except all I felt was a twinge of anxiety. I raised a hand to my nose, inhaling the lavender-scented soap I’d used. That, along with the amethyst ring Hannah had given me, seemed to do the trick.
For now.