Page 83 of Witch You Weren't Here

She found she was able to separate them out, the longer she looked, find more colours inside, like opening up the black casing of a cable to find the different wires within. There was even a translucent one, joining the three Ashworths, coming into a knot that had been cut off at the other side. It made Kay think of loss. Maybe that was what happened when someone you loved died. But who had they lost? And why would it connect the three of them that way?

Her head ached and she forced herself to stop trying to figure it out. The point was, Becca had been right. Adrian Ashworth loved and trusted his son.

Thank the Goddess.

Harry’s mum moved to take her husband’s hand, and then looked up at Harry in a way that he seemed to translate as a dismissal.

He came around to Kay’s chair and held out his hand to her. She wrapped her fingers around his. Those long, magical, creative fingers that had changed since they were teenagers. They still had the same tapering length, the agile way of moving, but his knuckles were bigger now, his nails kept square, neat and clean instead of bitten down. The leap in her heart when he touched her was just the same, though.

She thanked them again and allowed Harry to lead her out of the room. She’d controlled her gift. She hadn’t thought that was possible. Just that small amount of concentration had wiped her out, though. She pulled away from him to lean back against the wall between two doors.

‘Are you feeling OK?’ he asked, even though the tightness in his face, the lines at the corner of his mouth and pallor of his skin made him look like the one who was ill.

The hallway was uncomfortably bright after the sick room, and the colours of the bonds between them sparkled at the edges of her vision. But she wouldn’t look. Would try not to, anyway. This wasn’t about them, and with him this close to her, maybe she could avoid seeing what was between them altogether. She told herself it was because it was one thing to pry into his relationship with his father in the hopes of helping him, and another to take advantage of that moment to see how he truly felt about her.

That was what she told herself.

‘I’m fine.’ She put her hand on his chest, above the point where his feelings were visible, covering most of it with her arm. Best to just focus on his face. Even if he looked worn out, he was still the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. She wished she could send something soothing into his skin, the way he’d done for her, but she did the next best thing: ‘He loves you, Harry. There’s no anger towards you. No disappointment. He has regrets, but he’s proud of you. He trusts you.’

‘What?’

‘Becca told me about the tattoo. The reason you think you’ve not become an anchor. And you’re wrong. Whatever the problem is, it isn’t about your dad not trusting you.’

‘What? How do you know that?’ His husky voice broke for a moment.

‘Becca told me,’ she repeated, curling her fingers on his chest, not wanting to drop her arm but also not as comfortable with the way his expression had sharpened.

‘No, about how my dad feels.’

She reached up and pushed her fingers through the holes in her glasses where her lenses should be.

He stumbled back, and Kay’s heart gave a hard kick of fear. Here was the anger. Here was the censure for using her gift on him without asking.

‘Have you … Have there never been any lenses in those?’ he asked.

She threw her arm up to cover her eyes, letting the frames bend under the weight. ‘No, it was Becca just now. She magicked them out before I went in.’

And she’d better be able to magic them back in or she’d be getting the bill for a new pair.

‘So, you’re using your gift right now? I mean, if your arm wasn’t over your face.’

‘I’m sorry. I just wanted to help.’

‘You don’t have to be sorry.’ His fingers touched her wrist, the heat of his body giving away that he’d moved closer again. ‘I’m just trying to process what’s going on. Will you come out? You’re going to have a hard job navigating the reception with your arm over your face,’ he teased her, softly.

‘You don’t mind if I see …?’

‘It’s part of you, Kay, you never have to stifle that against your will.’

Her chest hitched and she took a second to just stay in the dark with that feeling of acceptance. More acceptance than she’d ever given herself.

When she finally lowered her arm, he was close enough she could see the stubble dotting the underside of his jaw.

‘So, you used your gift and you saw …’ he licked his lips, ‘you saw the bond between me and my dad.’

She nodded, keeping her eyes fastened tightly on his. ‘He loves you. He trusts you, Harry.’

He took a ragged breath and tipped his head back, letting out a sound that was half laugh and half sob. She could almost taste his relief on her tongue. Either that or she was having a stroke.

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