by Lia Davis
Pressing his hips into her center, Ayden kissed her neck. He slid his hand under her blouse and up her ribcage to cup one of her breasts.
“Wait, wait, wait. Stop!” The panic she’d expected a few moments ago took her over. Flashes of Liam’s possessive and angry face entered her mind.
Ayden lifted up over her; worry lines formed across his forehead. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head and closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. I can’t…”
Ayden kissed her on the forehead and sat up on the bed next to her. His hands clenched into fists. Kalissa sat up, folded her legs under her like a pretzel, tugged a pillow into her lap, and hugged it to her. He was mad. Embarrassment and guilt triggered her own anger. Why couldn’t she let it go? She thought her fear of intimacy had gone away. Boy was she wrong.
Grow up, Kalissa! She scolded herself. Toughen up and face your fears. It’s the only way to get past them. To heal them. The problem was, she didn’t know how.
“Don’t ever apologize for saying no.” Ayden’s voice was strained, almost a growl, but his aura shone bright blue. He wasn’t mad at her. Turning to face her, he reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek that she hadn’t realized had fallen. His tone softened. “What did he do to you?”
Kalissa looked away from him. There was no way she would reveal that, not yet. She shook her head and was glad that he was empathic. He would sense her pain and fear and read between the lines.
Ayden sighed and leaned into her. His lips gently pressed to hers in a quick kiss. When he pulled back, he said, “I could never hurt you.”
Her subconscious grabbed on to the truth that hung on his words. She relaxed. Ayden was nothing like Liam.
The silence between them started to wear on her nerves. Thinking back on what he’d told her earlier about her visions, she asked, “Why did I not know about our first kiss?”
“We believe you may have had a memory spell placed on you.”
Memory spell? She asked silently in her head, then asked aloud, “We?”
“Khloe, Papa, Zach, and I. Lo said she asked and hinted around, but you would get frustrated, and a headache would come on. She stopped asking questions for fear of hurting you. Papa said not to force the memories because the spell may cause you harm. He said that memory spells can damage the mind.” Ayden got quiet, and sadness infused his expression. “I believe it’s why your visions are misfiring,” he added after a brief pause.
“Because of the past, present, and future thing.” Kalissa’s gift as a seer not only allowed her to see visions of the future but the past and present, as well. If she were under a memory spell to forget part of the past, then her visions would be affected. It all made sense to her now. She couldn’t use her gift to its fullest without terrible headaches. She’d finally had to lock them down.
But who would do such a thing? And why?
Chapter 10
Kalissa glided through the forest, enjoying the beautiful blue sky and warm summer breeze caressing her skin. The birds sang. Trees swayed, creating a melody of their own as the wind blew through their branches. She could hear the wildlife all around, taking advantage of the perfect, not-too-hot, not-too-cool weather.
She loved it here. The forest surrounding her family’s cabin on top of the Blue Ridge Mountains was so peaceful. The air so clean and crisp. All the elements and nature were alive. Regret for not coming here the last two years filled her.
Kalissa walked down a footpath that’d been there for as long as she could remember. The trail split off in three directions about twenty-five yards from the cabin. Left led to the river that flowed through the mountains. The path to the right opened to a meadow where her family had held their rituals. But she chose to go straight, where another seventy-five yards up the path was a cave. She and Khloe had loved to play in that cave when they were little. But something called to her now. Something was in that cave, and she wanted to know what it was.
When she came to the end of the path, the cavern came into sight as she emerged from the tree line. Ayden stood next to the entrance that appeared to be blocked by something. A spell?
He stepped forward, closer to her, and held out his hand. “We were waiting for you.”
We? She looked around. Khloe stood to their right with Zach, Lydia, Jacen, and a dark-haired woman. She recognized Jacen and Lydia from photos in the family albums. Kalissa did not know the other woman, at least not by name. She had seen her before, but couldn’t remember where.
“You are the only one who can open the cave,” Khloe said.
“Why me?” Kalissa asked.
Khloe gave her a sideways smile, almost a smirk. “Not sure. Plus, I already tried.”
Kalissa laughed at that. It was so like Khloe to start without her. “Maybe we both need to be present.”
Khloe came over to stand next to Kalissa at the mouth of the cave. Ayden kissed her on the forehead and fell back with the others. Kalissa linked hands with her sister. Just before they began their chant, a breeze blew through Kalissa’s hair and a whispered voice drifted by. “They’re coming.”
They locked gazes. “Who’s coming?” Khloe asked. Because she could control all elements, she was connected to them the same way Kalissa was connected to air so she’d also heard the voice.
Kalissa turned around in time to see several demons step out of the trees around them. Everything happened so fast as the demons rushed them. Falling into a crouch, she braced herself for impact. Adrenaline raced through her veins in anticipation. Demons weren’t people, so she had no qualms about taking a few out. Her attacker barreled into her, knocking both her and him to the ground. They rolled until she managed to overtake him, then she conjured a silver dagger and plunged it into his heart.
A movement from the tree line grabbed Kalissa’s attention. A larger demon had his arms raised in front of him, palms to the sky, and he was building an incredible amount of energy into a large sphere. With an evil gleam in his eyes, he directed the magical sphere at Ayden and let it go. She screamed and ran toward him, only to have hands grab her arms, holding her back. She couldn’t move. She started to cry, yelling for him to move. She struggled to get free, to get to him. Another scream ripped from her throat as the energy ball sailed through the air. A look of shock and horror masked Ayden’s face.
Kalissa came awake with a gasp. Ayden loomed over her with his hands on her arms. When he released her, she flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She shook as hot tears streamed down her cheeks. The beating of his heart in her ear soothed her as she held him close so she would know that he was alive. It was just a dream. No, not a dream. It was a vision.
Ayden held her as she cried into his shirt. Her panic hung in thick waves around her. Her screams had awakened him. Fear spiked through his whole body until he’d teleported to her side.
He brushed the hair from her face, then rubbed her back in slow, circular motions to soothe her. They sat there in each other’s arms for the gods knew how long, and he would gladly stay like that forever. It felt good to hold her in his arms again. Her hair still smelled of jasmine and fresh rain. Maybe that was her natural scent. Whatever it was, he loved it.
Kalissa finally stopped shaking and fell completely still. At first, he thought she might have fallen back to sleep. Lifting her chin with his finger, he peered into her vivid violet eyes, reddened from tears, and gave her a soft smile. “Better?”
She nodded, pulled away from him, and with a frown, reached out to the wet spot on his shirt. “I’m sorry…”
Ayden cut her off by taking her hand in both of his and placing a tender kiss to her palm. “It’s just a shirt.” He stood up, still holding her hand. “Come on. I’ll fix you some coffee, and you can tell me about your vision.”
Kalissa sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a spiral notebook in front of her. Ayden had found it and brought it to her along with a pen shortly after fixing her coffee. She asked how he’d known about her dream jou
rnal.
He smiled and said, “You told me once, plus, Noah keeps one.”
All seers kept one to keep track of and decipher dreams from visions. Sometimes it was hard to tell them apart. Dreams could be very real and as vivid as visions. On the flip side, visions could be very dreamlike and unclear.
She sat at the kitchen table with the window open, taking in the pleasant morning breeze, writing down as much of the dream-vision as she could remember. Ayden left her to go shower and change. Apparently, she’d woken him up when she’d screamed out in her sleep. He’d thrown on his clothes from the day before and teleported into her room on the first floor. Although, now that she thought about it, she was a little disappointed. It would’ve been a bonus to press her cheek to his bare chest instead of a cotton t-shirt.
Kalissa was still dressed in her pink pajama bottoms with black witch hats and a black tank top. She hadn’t bothered to brush her hair. Instead, she’d twisted the mass of blond waves up in a loose bun on the top of her head. After embarrassing herself by clinging to Ayden and crying in his shirt like a child waking from a nightmare, she was past trying to be impressive.
Ayden had still called her beautiful as he’d kissed her forehead before heading upstairs.
The change in Ayden since he’d told her about the memory spell frightened her. He seemed to fall into the comfortable role of boyfriend, like he hoped to pick up where they’d left off. Wherever that was, she didn’t remember. Being with him, even for the short time of one full day, she felt things for him that she couldn’t explain. Desire flared, warming her entire body when he walked into the room. His husky voice captivated her. She was drawn to him like nobody else.
But hesitation bounced between them—her hesitation. And fear of sex. Gods, she had to get past that. He deserved more than her insecurities.
Willow came drifting in from the living room to the kitchen. Kalissa smiled at her. “How do you feel?” She smelled like the forest. The wonderful earthy and floral scent Kalissa had grown up loving. The healthy and magical glow to Willow’s skin told Kalissa she’d just come back from her burrow. Her underground hideaway had a natural spring that ran deep in the earth. Through the spring, she could travel to the other side. It was where Hecate had gone to live after the Underworld was taken over by Khan. In the Afterworld, Willow could regenerate and heal faster than in the human world.
Willow did a little pose to show herself off and twirled around. “All better.”
“Thank the gods nothing was broken, just bruised.”
“Tell me about it. I would have been down for a couple of days.” Willow wrinkled up her nose at Kalissa playfully, walked over to the refrigerator, and started pulling things out of it.
“What are you doing?” Kalissa knew what she was doing, but she still asked.
“Fixing you breakfast,” Willow said without looking over at her. “You took care of me last night. I’m taking care of you this morning.” She turned around and gave Kalissa a gentle smile. “Where is that man of yours?”
Kalissa grinned and turned to look out the window to hide her flushed cheeks. “He’s not mine.”
“Oh, but he could be,” Willow said with a tiny laugh that sounded like wind chimes.
Kalissa thought differently. Especially after the vision she’d had. There was no way that she could live through another loved one dying. If she gave her heart to Ayden, that’s exactly what she would have to do. She wasn’t sure her heart could take it. Witches could die of a broken heart.
Before she could answer Willow’s question on the whereabouts of Ayden, he walked into the kitchen. His wet hair was towel dried, leaving it in an unruly mass of golden brown waves. Kalissa bit her bottom lip to keep a giggle from escaping. It reminded her of Zach’s normal just-climbed-out-of-bed look.
He shook his head. “Don’t say it,” he said as he walked over to the table and sat down across from her.
Kalissa tried to look like she had no idea what he was talking about. “Say what?”
Ayden smiled at her. “That I look like Zachary.”
“Okay, you look like Noah…with Zach’s hair.” Kalissa burst out laughing. She couldn’t help it. “I’m sorry. I think my sister is rubbing off on me.”
He cracked a sideways smile at her. “Bethany was the first to make that observation when I moved in with them.” He reached over and covered her hand with one of his. Her desire spiked like electricity racing through her body.
His free hand hovered over the notebook. She pushed the journal toward him with her mind to give him permission to read her entry. The horror of seeing Ayden die in her vision was too raw. Words tangled with each other and refused to leave her mouth.
His fingers lightly caressed her hand and wrist as he read. Worry and fear played in the lines of his face. But his touch was soothing and provocative. It was strange how his touch sparked a flame inside her that could spread and consume her like a wildfire. She looked down at his hand and then his forearm, where his rose birthmark lay perfectly etched on his sunkissed skin.
Kalissa drew her eyebrows together. He had two roses. One was a faded replica of the other, indicating that he had found his magical partner. The urge to look at her own arm, or ask Willow if she could see it nagged at her, ridiculous as it was. There was only one way Kalissa would be able to see the faded rose.
Don't go there. She couldn’t give her heart to someone only to watch them die. Again. What if he turned out to be as possessive and controlling as Liam? What if she could never make love to him?
The mouthwatering smell of ham and cheese omelets brought Kalissa out of her worrisome thoughts. Willow had brought their plates to the table, set a plate in front of each of them, and went back to the island countertop to grab her own plate of food and the platter of crispy bacon. Just like Kalissa liked it.
“Hmm. This smells wonderful. Thanks, Willow,” Kalissa said, breathing in the different aromas as she snagged a couple of pieces of bacon.
“You’re welcome.” Willow beamed with delight.
“Willow, can I ask you something?” Kalissa asked. She hoped that Willow wouldn’t take offense to what she was about to ask.
“Of course, you can,” Willow answered, taking some bacon for herself.
“Did Mother…owe you anything? I mean, is there a debt to be paid?”
Willow laughed, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I thought the question was going to be more offensive the way you looked. If there is any debt to be paid, it is I who owes it.”
That confused Kalissa. She’d never heard of a nymph owing anyone a favor. As if hearing her thoughts, Willow smiled, patted her hand, and explained. “Your mother raised me as her own child. But you know that. Connie found my mom, Rose, and me in these very woods. Rose was ill and dying. She was attacked by a demon that infected her with some kind of deadly poison. I was only a couple of months old at the time. Connie took us in until my mom passed away. Connie vowed to take care of me as if I were her own child.”
Willow paused for a moment. “I never knew my mother, but Connie made sure that I learned everything about her. She taught me how to use my powers and how to scry so that I could look back on my mother’s life.”
“I never knew. How long ago was that?” Kalissa asked.
Willow thought about it for a few seconds before answering. “I believe I was twenty-five when your mother met and married your father.”
Wow. Kalissa had never known Willow’s age. Her parents would have been married for fifty-two years this year, making Willow seventy-seven.
“Your mother gave me everything. Two beautiful sisters.” She reached over and covered Kalissa’s hand. “And half this mountain to rule as my own.”
“Kalissa said you were half human?” Ayden asked.
Willow nodded and finished chewing the bite of her omelet before speaking. “My father was human, but he did not want a family, nor did he care that my mother was pregnant.”
“Sorry,” Ayden said softly.
<
br /> Willow waved it off. “He was human. Most don’t hold the same family values we do.”
“Not all humans are like that,” Kalissa said.
Willow smiled. “No, not all. Your father was human and the most caring and compassionate man I knew. He loved everything about our world, our beliefs, and our way of life. And he told me once that he felt more at home in our world than his own.”
Kalissa looked down at her plate, pushing a piece of ham around with her fork. Gods she missed her dad. “I know. That’s why he took my mother’s last name.”
Ayden spoke up like he sensed her shift in mood. Of course, his empathy felt the sudden sadness that washed over her, and she was grateful for the distraction. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
She looked up at him, uneasiness making its presences known. “I don’t know. We could explore the mountain.”
Willow tsked, stood, and stacked the dishes together. “Stop worrying, Lis. All five hundred acres are surrounded with wards. What could possibly go wrong?”
Chapter 11
Kalissa had suggested a hike followed by a picnic down by the river, but she really wanted to stay inside the cabin until the others got there. It was unlike her to hide behind closed doors. Something or someone was following her. She felt it. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck rose, and her skin crawled as if an unseen force had brushed against it. The dream-vision didn’t do anything to soothe her nerves. She was a bundle of fear, desire, and distraction. She was a mess.
“Do you sense anything unusual?” she asked Willow as they cleaned up the kitchen.
“How so?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, like a presence of some kind. I have a feeling that I’m being watched.”
“No. Why, hon? Are you feeling okay?” Willow reached out to place a hand on Kalissa’s forehead.
Kalissa let the nymph feel her head because it was something her mother would do. Something she missed. Her eyes started to fill with tears, but she blinked them away. “I feel fine. I guess I have a lot on my mind right now.”
