“Help Paige! Do something!” he screamed, reaching his hand out to her.
“I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“Yes, you can! Just take my hand…”
“I’m so sorry, Zack. I can’t.”
Zack went so far as to pull her to him and lay her hands on the only dad he’d ever known. Her tears hit his skin as she refused to let her power flow outward.
“Please,” he begged. After a moment, he released her and fell across the body that used to be the person he loved most in the world. When Paige tried to comfort him, he turned on her with tears brimming his maroon-colored eyes. “Get away from me.”
“Zack.” She sobbed.
“Get away and stay away! You’re a jinx on everyone and everything you touch!”
She stood in the small crowd that had gathered, wiped her face, and gave a curt nod before heading to Helena-Marie’s house with purpose. She was hurt, and she aimed to unleash that on someone. Why had the woman even brought her here?
The door of the mayor’s home burst into a pile of splintered wood as she approached. The windows shattered out into the evening as she crossed the threshold.
“Why did you bring me here? Why?” she yelled from the entryway.
“This was how it was always going to be, Paige.” Helena-Marie spoke from the top of the stairs.
“Heartbroken? Did you bring me here to break me down? I didn’t have to come all this way for that! I was miserable where I was!”
“Exactly.” She spoke as she approached Paige with caution. “But now you’ve loved and been loved. True love. You would’ve never had that there.”
“I should implode this house down onto your head!”
“Maybe.” The woman seemed to descend into her own sadness as her chin dipped for a moment before she rounded her shoulders to look Paige in the eye again. “But maybe I’ve shown you something worth having. Maybe you’ve seen too much good to go back to the darkness you resided in before you arrived.”
Paige stared for a moment before she turned and walked out, leaving a mess in her wake. Even through her angered state, she knew the mayor was right. She wouldn’t give up her time with Zack for anything. Even if it was over. She was changed.
“It couldn’t have been any other way, Paige. This was decided by Wayne long before I ever had visions of you and Zack together. Try not to hate me. Despite my absence in your life, I love you very much.”
Paige let the words bounce off of her as she continued out to the street, not sparing a glance for the woman who’d claimed to care for her. She’d left everything she had on the sidewalk with Zack, and there was no way she was going back there. Instead, she made her way back to the B&B for the night. She would get to her car and get out of town at first light. She figured if her car was ready and she drove straight through without stopping, she could be back at her apartment by St. Patrick’s Day.
Just one thing first…
Chapter 9
After a very long and lonely night, Paige showered and got dressed in the same clothes she’d had on the day before. Ironically enough, they were the same clothes she’d arrived in.
“Thank you for having me, Mrs. Applewood. I appreciate everything you’ve done.”
“I heard what happened. Paige, I urge you not to leave things like this.”
“I have no intention of leaving things like this. I can’t. I can hardly bear to think of him…” Tears flooded her swollen red eyes. She’d never hurt so badly. Even through all the teasing she’d endured as a teen, after the incident with her college boyfriend, even when her parents let her walk out of their lives, none of it compared to the pain she was feeling.
“It’s because you love him so much.”
“I know.” A teardrop fell from her lash. “I have to get out of this town. I have to get away from him. Maybe it will ease this…this…aching.” She held a fist across her chest as she spoke the word.
“It won’t, dear. It won’t.” The older woman held her arms out, wrapping them around Paige.
“Don’t you see? Our love was cursed. You said it yourself. It was never going to be fruitful.”
“Is that what you think?” Mrs. Applewood asked. “Dr. Willis gave his life to stop that curse. You aren’t cursed. Neither is Zack. He’s just pissed off. Give him some time.”
“With all due respect, I’m not sure what I did to him is forgivable.”
“Everything is forgivable, Paige. You need only ask. Don’t be like your mother. Don’t let your hurt feelings turn to bitterness and rage. It’s not worth it.”
Paige stepped away from the woman. “Anyway, thanks again.”
“I suppose pride is the curse of all mankind. Good luck to you, dear.”
Paige didn’t go straight to the mechanic. She stopped off at Mystic Tides first. She’d never been there. When she walked in, the beautiful redhead sat behind a glass display counter.
“Sweet cheeks! What can I do for you?”
“You’re Grey. You’re a witch.”
“You’re Paige. You’re a healer and absorber. Are we stating the obvious or what?”
“I need help, but I don’t have anything to offer you. Oh, I have this amulet.” Paige reached down and lifted it to show Grey.
“I’ve seen it. I’d appreciate it if you would leave it on in my presence. What do you need?”
“Healing.”
“But I thought you were a healer?”
“I can’t use my powers on myself.”
“I thought you were seeing that handsome doctor. Are you injured?”
Tears stung her eyes. “Heartbroken.”
“Oh… I’m sorry, sweetie. I wish I could help.”
“Make me forget.”
“Don’t ask me to do that. You don’t want that.”
“You don’t know me!” When she shouted, the glass in the case cracked. “I’m sorry, but it’s true. You don’t.”
“I know love, and I know it’s not something that anyone should ‘forget.’ It’s something to be held sacred and be memorized, not forgotten.”
“Please,” Paige begged, full-on crying. She noticed others upstairs as she hit her knees. She cried out to them all, “Make it stop.”
“If you take this road, there’s no going back. Are you sure you want to forget him? Just erase him from your life altogether?”
Paige closed her eyes so she could think. The next thing she knew she was outside, walking down the sidewalk in the light of dusk.
“Freaking pushers,” she yelled “Bastards!” She’d seen some other women upstairs. One of them must have had the power to push because she had no recollection of how she’d gotten to the bar on the corner or how she’d spent her day.
She ran back down to the magic shop where she met again with Grey just as she was locking up the door. “Sorry, sugar. We’re closed.”
“What did you do to me?”
“We gave you some time to calm down. Look at your face,” she said, pointing to the reflective glass. Paige was shocked. The puffiness was gone, and her eyes were clear. It was as though she was well rested and none of it had happened.
“What the…”
“You slept. You slept all day, all night, and half of today in the office of our shop. Then you got up and had a nice lunch with me and my cousins. You weren’t much of a conversationalist, but you told us what we needed to know. You love Dr. Lewis. We decided not to take that from you. Your car is ready so you can leave town if you like, but I know of a pretty good band playing at the bar. You should check them out.”
“Are you kidding me right now? You stole a whole day from me?”
“Yes. It was better than stealing the love of your life. Be grateful that you don’t always get what you want.” She stared at Paige intensely for a moment. “Sometimes we don’t know what’s best for us.” Then, like flipping a switch, she smiled and shrugged. “Anyway, it’s St. Paddy’s day, sweets!”
The witch snapped her fingers, and suddenly she and Paige
both were wearing different clothes. Then she was gone.
Paige looked down at herself. She was wearing a pair of Capri leggings and a sea foam green shirt that flowed to her knees with ballet slippers of the same color. She felt foolish. She wasn’t celebrating. She knew the mechanic would be closed, so she walked back to the B&B. She didn’t know where else to go. Instead of going inside, she walked straight down to the beach and sat down in the cool sand.
She could hear faint sounds of what sounded like a parade behind her, but she had no interest. She just wanted to leave. Get away from this place where dreams came true only to be destroyed.
She didn’t know how long she sat there before she heard a voice behind her.
“You’re missing all the festivities.”
“Zack.” She leapt to her feet, dusting the sand off her bottom. “What are you doing here?”
“I come here to think sometimes.”
She nodded. “Well, I’ll just go then.”
He took her elbow as she walked by him. “You didn’t deserve to be treated the way I treated you.”
“No, I didn’t,” she replied, careful not to let emotion crack her voice.
“I’m sorry things worked out the way they did.”
“Me too. I really am.” Paige let her voice rise as sadness turned to anger. “I’m truly sorry about your uncle, but that could have been you. We thought it was you when we first saw that vision. It’s not a nice thing to say, but I count us both lucky right now. And even though you may never forgive me, I had my reasons.”
“I know.”
“Wait, what?”
“I know everything. My uncle left a note and a video explaining everything. So I guess the question isn’t whether or not I forgive you, but whether you’ll ever forgive me?”
She thought of storming off but then remembered what Mrs. Applewood had said about pride. She turned and wrapped her arms around him with tears rolling down her face.
“I love you so much, Paige. I’m so sorry I treated you that way.”
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t do what you needed and—”
“Shh. There are only three words I need to hear from you right now.”
She pulled her face out of his chest to look him in the eye. He wiped her face with his thumbs.
“I love you, too. Well, that’s four but—” He cut her off with a kiss.
He pulled her down onto the sand beside him. “I can’t believe you tried to get the cousins to wipe your memory.” He let out a small laugh.
“Well, I was desperate. Wait, how did you know? Are you really a mind reader?”
“We do have telephones here in Magicville, you know.”
They shared a laugh and snuggled up on the beach just as the sky lit up with an unnatural display of dancing green light.
“What is that?”
“It’s a celebration just for those of us touched by magic.”
There was nothing else to say after that. Paige knew she would never be alone again.
The End.
Mystic Heart
Kate Allenton
Chapter 1
“Perfect. The drunken leprechaun has returned.”
Rivulets of energy in colorful streams seeped out from the gutter grates, floating up into the sky and dissipating into the air the way normal people might see smoke from a grill. Not everyone could see the colored energy or how it was encroaching on the town’s spherical baby blue aura, but Lucy could. She’d kept this particular ability a secret, but it wouldn’t be a secret for long.
The baby blue waves of town energy engulfed her like a moldy wet towel, trying to pierce the veil of her shields. Her entire body strummed from the electrical ebb and flow moving like waves on the beach, creating goosebumps on her arms.
The ley lines that ran beneath the town were almost like a living, breathing thing enhancing abilities and psychic gifts. Like yang, there was always a yin, something equally bad, and it was due to arrive on Lucy’s birthday.
She had other abilities, much more noticeable and much more potent, which she’d been unable to hide growing up. Everyone in this town knew it.
Lucy Blansett hefted the strap of the backpack farther up her arm while surveying what had changed in the quiet quaint town of Blansett where she’d grown up. Women sat outside the coffee shop in Sunday morning conversation. Kids on skateboards lingered outside the candy shop, peering in. A work crew was pounding nails into a wooden stage in the middle of town. It was the only sign that the upcoming St. Paddy’s day festivities were in full swing.
Looks could be so deceiving. There was nothing quiet, nothing serene about this magical place where witches thrived in the town that had been named after Lucy’s ancestors.
She’d ignored the vibrations and call to come home that tingled deep down inside her soul for the last few years. Her destiny was her own, not what was written in some ancient family tombs. The only reason she was back was simple. The St. Paddy’s Day celebration and her twenty-fifth birthday all wrapped up in one day that was sure to be remembered for years to come; if anyone survived. It was the one day in her life that she couldn’t outrun who or what she was. A pensive shiver crawled down Lucy’s spine, and the knot in her chest tightened with each breath. She was done running. She’d finish this once and for all.
Lucy ducked into the bed and breakfast and dinged the bell on the desk. It was only a matter of time before her mother, Helena-Marie, the town mayor, came looking. She always knew…everything. Her mother’s gift was Lucy’s curse.
Marcia Dupree smiled as she approached. With Lucy’s luck, the B&B employee would remember Lucy; most of the town would. She was kind of hard to forget. Lucy was the reason boyfriends everywhere had dumped their girlfriends in high school. Marcia’s heart hadn’t been spared.
It was the main reason Lucy had moved. Helena-Marie Blansett, Lucy’s mom, had the gift of know-all. No one could explain how it worked or the extent. They just recognized it for what it was. Lucy, on the other hand, was the embodiment of be-all. Everyone saw in her what they wanted. They all had a yearning desire to be her best friend, her boyfriend, her everything. It was her curse.
Lucy rubbed at the amulet around her neck that warded against that particular ability. The spell on the fire-red smooth stone had been a present her mother helped organize.
“Can I help you?”
“I have a reservation.”
Marcia’s fingers hovered over the computer. “Name?”
“Lucy Blansett.” Lucy cringed, holding her breath, waiting for the tar and feathering to commence.
Marcia’s fingers flew across the keyboard, and she wore a determined look. Lucy couldn’t read Marcia’s expression to know if she remembered Lucy. She couldn’t feel any air of emotion. Nothing.
“I’m sorry. Your reservation isn’t in our system.”
Lucy had her answer. Of course Marcia remembered. I should have used an alias.
Lucy’s smile tightened. Resting her backpack on the counter, she unzipped the pockets to pull out the printed confirmation. She slipped it free and held it up for Marcia to see. “Do you need my confirmation number?”
Marcia rested her laced her fingers together on the counter and kept her look of neutrality. She would have made an excellent poker player. Lucy couldn’t read her thoughts. “No need. Your reservation was canceled.”
Lucy gave a terse nod as she refolded the paper and shoved it back into her pack, trying hard to squish the fire itching in her fingertips. “Care to clue me in on why?”
“Your mother canceled it. She said you’d be staying at her house.”
Lucy clenched her eyes closed. The fire gathering inside her body was strumming to life and needed a quick output. The fountain in the town square would have to make due. Water was the only way to douse the fire raging in her soul. “Of course she did. Are there any rooms available now?”
Marcia made a few more keystrokes on the computer before meeting Lucy’s gaze. “I’m afraid not
. We’ve been booked months in advanced for the St. Patrick’s Day festivities. It’s a huge deal around here. I’m sure you remember and understand.”
“Of course you have nothing.” Lucy’s slung the backpack onto her shoulder, fighting the urge to wring her mom’s neck. Why on earth would she ever think it okay to cancel one of Lucy’s reservations? She was twenty-four years old for cripes sake. She was a damn adult in the eyes of the law, even if not in her mother’s.
“I can call you if there’s a cancellation.”
I won’t hold my breath. Lucy wrote down her cell phone number and slid it across the desk. “That would be great.”
Lucy left the B&B and headed back down Main Street. It appeared her mother already knew she’d be coming. Lucy trailed her fingers into the fountain in the square and released some of her heated energy as she stared up at city hall. She wasn’t ready to visit her mother. Not yet.
Lucy scanned the street and surrounding shops, looking for other things to keep her occupied while she calmed down. Avoidance? Probably, but she wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be sweet to her mom. Lucy’s gaze landed on the Mystic Tides sign. She jogged across the street to her favorite tourist trap and headed inside, keeping her head down to surprise whichever magical cousins were working inside. She walked around the shop, running her fingertips over the items, feeling the energy that vibrated in each. Crystal balls, tarot cards, sage, candles, and big green Buddhas and other spiritual and mystical figurines filled the shelves. Her gaze landed on the numerous fire extinguishers hanging on the walls. Lucy smiled. She knew exactly the urgency to have those in this shop.
“I didn’t agree to that,” her old friend, Grey Sinclair, the town fire starter, argued from a loft area upstairs.
“You didn’t have to agree. Beck agreed for you both,” Sydney, one of the other cousins, called after Grey as she jogged down the stairs.
“Can I help…Lucy, is that you?”
Lucy lifted her head and smiled. “Surprise.”
Grey walked around Lucy as if appraising her appearance when, in reality, Lucy knew what she was dong. She was looking for any tendrils of Lucy’s energy, which she needed to block. The whole town knew what Lucy was capable of, even though they were useless to fight it.
Mystic Luck (Mystic Tides Book 2) Page 24
