Page 13 of Wandering Witch

The moment that they did, he flung himself at her and tackled her to the ground.

I lunged after them, and as the three of us rolled across the ground, laughter hit my ears. When we eventually came to a stop, I looked down at the pair I had pinned beneath me. The two of them stopped long enough to catch their breaths before locking gazes for several heartbeats before breaking back into peels of laughter.

“He seems like a grumpy bear, but deep down, he is rather protective and cuddly,” she whispered to the ghost. I grumbled as I rolled into a seated position without releasing my grasp on my mate.

Unfortunately, the stalker spirit came with us and when I tried to tighten my grip on her, he remained like a physical barrier. She gasped as I unintentionally crushed the ghost into her.

“What’s this?” he asked as he tried to look up at me. “More happy magic?”

His voice took on a wistful quality and I was torn between wanting to squash it and desiring to encourage it. When I opened my arms, he fell out of my lap and I could trap my Fare right where I wanted her. Safe from his clutches.

She giggled once it was just her that I was holding on to. Before us, the specter scrambled up and twisted around so he was seated with bouncy crossed legs. I swear, if that pest had a tail, it would have kicked up a stiff breeze from wagging.

“Locke, it’s okay. I swear. I don’t think that he’ll hurt either of us.” She soothed me as she patted my forearm.

I didn’t want her to know that it was working when I was still worried about what the being before us was up to. Everything about him came across as just wrong.

Farren

Icouldn’t stop the smile that seared itself across my face. All my life I had wondered about my family curse that rose in power during the fall of the Roanoke Colony, and here was my chance to ask someone who was there about it!

I was so giddy that I couldn’t even begin to decide where I wanted to start with my questions. I wanted to know all of the things.

“Do you recall any witches living in your colony?” I blurted the first sentence to form in my mind.

He paused in the rocking he was doing as his face took on an introspective look.

“Y-yes, I do believe there was at least one family of them.” He sounded very unsure as he cast his mind back so long ago. “There may have been more, but back then people kept those kinds of details to themselves in broad companies. Not everyone was very accepting of differing cultures back then. So forgive me if I can’t be of much help. Did you possibly have any ancestors lost there?”

I tried to hold back my disappointment that he wouldn’t be as helpful as I had hoped.

“According to a family legend, I did. They were the ones who caused the mass disappearance. I’m sorry.” I pulled back into myself as Locke took advantage and held me closer to his chest.

“Really now? Do you happen to know what spell they cast to do so? It’s a mystery that even I myself have been puzzling over forever.”

I couldn’t bring myself to look at him as I answered, “It wasn’t so much a spell as a curse. I mean, I know that curses are types of spells, but she didn’t cast it. It was cast on her.”

“Huh, fascinating. What kind of curse?” His voice remained calm yet curious.

“I don’t know the name, but the women of my line are forever chased by an all-devouring darkness. We can’t stay in any location for any real length of time before it catches up to us and destroys our surroundings. Any living thing caught in its shade is eliminated.

The story in my family goes that the branch that fled to the new world on your ship believed they were finally safe. All except one daughter. The night of the curse struck, she fled.”

Roan nodded along until I finished speaking before commenting.

“I hate to burst your family bubble, love. But I can tell you that there was no dark cloud that swept over us in the night. And I don’t recall there being any talks of any curses like that. That’s something that would have made the rumor mill, even back then, since the trip lasted at least a month’s time.” He attempted to reassure me with a firm hand placed delicately on my arm.

Locke took issue with his touch and growled as he tried to pull me out of reach. I sighed a little as I leaned my head back onto his warm broad chest, while he settled me on his lap.

“Locke, I don’t think he was trying to hurt me or steal me from you just now. And honestly, I kind of needed the comfort. The one thing I thought true all my life, my one potential source for answers just flopped and failed me. Now I really have absolutely no clue how to break this damn curse.”

My bear whined as he banded his arms tighter around me before nuzzling his cheek onto the top of my head.

“Hey, hey, don’t look so gloomy. I swear I will do everything in my power to help you figure this out.”

“Don’t forget you will always have me as well, my mate,” Locke added.

We all sat like that for a long while, me on Locke’s lap with Roan keeping a steady hand on my arm and the fire burned down low.

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