Page 138 of Castings & Curses

“Yes, well, we’ll see how over-stacked the deck is today,” Zelda spat out, mega distaste and jealousy in her words. “Witchworld laws and rules have a mind of their own, and the goddess always seems to favor the Wildes. They’ve been a thorn in the Helwigs’ sides for eons.” She linked her arms again with Rafael and Sammy, inserting herself between them. Her clinch so tight, Rafael felt like a purchased man with no will of his own. He had no choice but to tag along. After all, she was his plus-two with Sammy. A plus-one? Who knew? But she wasn’t the witch he wanted touching him. Not by a long shot.

“Come, gentlemen. I want to test Rafael’s powers. I believe I may want to bond you myself.” She practically drooled on Rafael’s arm. “You’re too valuable for a lesser witch. That blonde twit doesn’t have my experience, or the two elemental powers I possess. She’s not ready for a warlock of your potential.”

Ants crawled up his spine.Didhe have a choice? Or was he trapped? Crazy visuals he could do without. “I don’t understand. How do you know I’m a warlock?” He yanked his arm out of her ironclad clasp and pinned both arms to his sides. He needed her not touching him.

She released Sammy. “Sweet boy, most warlocks don’t know they contain magic until a witch opens the doors. Sammy, tell him how Helena found you.”

“Dude.” Sammy guided him to a cement garden bench in the woods.

Trees stretched toward the sky in the woods surrounding the bench. Leaves and evergreen boughs rustled in the breeze, casting dappled shadows on the forest floor, creating shadows on his thoughts. The sweet perfume of summer pines permeated the air, not enough to overpower Zelda’s cloying rose perfume. The rough texture of the cement bench under him and the solid earth beneath his feet grounded him. He appreciated the beauty of the woods, but he couldn’t ignore the subtle undercurrent of danger around him.

“Take a chill pill. These witches know their stuff, man. You hold magic in your aura and they sense it. Your real magic will come from the witch who bonds you.” Sammy flung out his hand, tossing an invisible band of air around Rafael, binding him to the bench. Rafael struggled against another ironclad hold, fuming, fire roasting his face.

“Helena’s an air witch,” Zelda added. “She found Sammy ready to toss himself off a cliff into the bay last year. The untapped magic inside him languished too long before being tapped. The poor boy couldn’t handle the disorder and depression, not knowing why he felt he didn’t fit within the human world.”

Sammy grinned and released his band, the air whooshing from around Rafael, ruffling the sleeves of his T-shirt. He shook himself like a dog flinging off water and leaped onto the bench, and then into the air. A pillow of air cushioned his landing on a crumbling tree stump.

“Dude, the moment Helena bonded me, I found myself.” Sammy slapped Rafael on the back. “She’s taught me a crap-ton about the witchworld and magic. She’s not a bad lay either.”

“Wait, what?” Rafael wagged his head, sending his hair flying around his temples. “You’ve been seeing Melissa for two years. You cheated on her?”

“No, man.” Sammy gave Rafael the hand. “Sex with a witch is a way for her to gauge abilities since mine weren’t obvious. Also strengthens the bond.”

“It’s time you cut ties to Melissa, Sammy.” Zelda linked her arm in his again, sending another crawl of ants down Rafael’s spine. “Melissa doesn’t fit in our world. If you can’t break it off, Helena can gently turn her against you.”

Zelda’s words registered, and the ants dug holes in Rafael’s skin. He held his tongue, waited for Sammy to blast the bitch a new one.

“Yes, Ms. Helwig. I understand,” Sammy responded, his reluctance evident in the drooping of his shoulders.

Shock suffused Rafael, and he jerked off the bench to his feet. “Do you hear yourself, man?”

“Sammy. Return to our campsite.” Without another word, Sammy strode off, flinging a last pleading glance over his shoulder at Rafael.

“Rafael, my dear.” Zelda gripped his wrist, her fingernails digging into his skin, forcing him to follow her into the woods behind a giant redwood. She rose on her toes and dropped a kiss on his mouth, her sweet berry lipstick shooting heat to his groin. He was powerless to kill the lust barreling through him. Had she spelled him?

“It’s best this way. Non-magicals cause problems, and using magic around them could unintentionally hurt them. Do you want Sammy to harm Melissa by accident?” He shook his head. “This is a price to join the witchworld. In return, you receive powers you’ve never dreamed of. You’ll belong to people who’ll embrace you andneverlet you down.” Zelda squeezed his biceps and rubbed her thin body against him, doubling her efforts at his crotch. An instant erection caused her full-throated laughter. “And you can have all the sex you want. The Helwig witches share our warlocks well. Plus, with the power I sense in you, you can become a warlock leader.” She squeezed her fingers inside the waistband of his jeans and raked her long fingernails down his hard length. “Doesn’t that sound divine?”

Emitting a groan, he unbuttoned his jeans to relieve the pressure, and Zelda slid his zipper down. The zipper’s rasp incited his lust further. Nodding, Rafael pressed his erection into her hand now going to town on him. The shrill screech of a blue jay over his head whacked sense into him. People talking on the pathway forced him to jerk her hand out of his pants.

Horror swamped him, an instant buzzkill. “Stop,” he rasped out. His head spun, and he darted into the woods. He jogged as fast as the terrain allowed until he confronted the edge above a shallow ravine, panting against a boulder cropping out of the earth, signaling the descent. Readjusting his pants, he flinched when his jeans pressed on his now deflating erection.

Closing his eyes, he leaned a hip on the boulder until his breathing leveled out.What the hell was that crazy business?He felt no attraction to the witch! After a year-long dry spell, he was long overdue, but it wasn’t the witch’s hand his mind’s eye felt. All he pictured was Sage Wilde stroking him.

“What the fuck?” He slid down to the ground, nudging aside a rock poking into his butt. He scrubbed his face and stretched out his legs. No telling how long he sat, soaking in the sun filtering through the sparser trees when he heard a rustling in the nearby brush. His eyes shot open.

“Rafael? Are you okay?”

Sage Wilde, goddess personified. The sun shimmered off her hair, haloing her in gold. He rubbed his eyelids and blinked a few times, sure he was dreaming and expecting the scene to fade.

“Rafael?”

He lurched up off the ground, steadying his hip against the boulder. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, holding her head high. A confidence in her stride ratcheted up her attraction tenfold. “Sage, I mean, High Priestess—”

She held up a hand and gave him the most radiant smile he’d ever seen. Her pink-frosted lips spread, revealing a straight line of perfect white teeth. The sun sparkled in her green eyes, disbursing grass-green flecks among the emeralds.

“No need for formalities at our festivals. You’re a witchworld guest.”

“Not what that Helwig witch said.”

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