Page 153 of Castings & Curses

“You okay?” Ricky rushed up behind her, arriving for his security duties. Although an entourage of Wilde witches and warlocks surrounded her, she needed her warlock in case the lottery went sideways.

“Yeah. Tripping over my own feet.” She forced out a laugh, while someone carved a knife through her internal magic, leaving an aching hollow. A hole devoid of future, hope, and promise.What the what?All eyes in the room shifted to her, and her time to freak slipped into the ether.

Fighting against the crater inside her, she forced the words and motions for the morning’s blessing. Other witches in the room joined in for their parts, sprinkling herbs, and lighting candles at the four points of the compass to signify air, water, fire, and earth.

The last event arrived, and the witch-house filled to the brim. The lottery represented a fun escape to watch the witches bicker over unbonded warlocks and the warlocks getting their rocks off on decisions that guaranteed a profound effect on their life. Witches had a last half hour to spend with the unbonded warlocks to confirm their choices.

Anticipation pervaded the witch-house. They’d cleared out the four long tables and set rows of chairs and smaller round tables in their place that filled up fast.

“Anything?” Jessica asked.

“No. I’m worried. He should be here for the lottery.” Sage gnawed on her bottom lip. “The Helwigs aren’t here either.”

“Are you sure your connection was as strong as you think?” Jessica asked.

“Maybe he played you.” Aspen elbowed inside their huddle, rocking a lovely shade of green. “You know, just to screw your brains out. Hit and run.”

Sage whacked her sister’s arm, a tad harder than playfully. “Shut it. We didn’t have sex,” she gritted out. “I swear to the goddess, I’m not making shit up.”

Mollified, Aspen hugged her sister’s arm, more for her own stability than Sage’s support. “Just yanking your chain. Sorry.”

“Honey, you need to prep for the lottery,” Jessica encouraged. “I’m sorry about Rafael. Maybe he needs time to sort out his head. If he doesn’t return, we’ll find the right warlock for you.”

Sage left their huddle, her senses sweeping one corner of the room to the next and everywhere in between. Still no Rafael. Had she imagined the incredible night they’d spent together? The joy surging through her? Had he led her on? Questions swirled in her bewildered mind. Had she imagined a break in her aether, a scattered piece of herself that already belonged to Rafael?

*.*.*.*.*

Rafael lifted off the bed, his languorous body barely able to obey the commands his brain spoon-fed it. Surely the witch had spelled him. How else would his body betray him? Hope floated in his mind as a few memories lingered. The radiant blonde witch. What was her name? He struggled with the recollection but it slipped away. Guess it didn’t matter. Zelda Helwig promised to show him what he’d missed all his life. She promised him a future of knowledge and power. So what if she wanted him to quit his job and move to Scotts Valley? So what if the witch wanted him in her bed? Although way older than any other woman he’d slept with, she wasn’t bad looking. It’s not like he planned to marry her. Plus, she promised him a job on her covenstead. But the idea of being a quasi-kept man didn’t sit well. He fisted his hands. Everything else in his mind fell by the wayside.

“Come, Rafael.” Zelda kissed him on the mouth, her thin lips glacial. “Follow me to my spelling circle.”

He marched behind her up the stairs to a large room. A painted pentagram decorated the polished cement floor. She guided him to the center of the pentagram and placed unlit candles at each point. Thick, pliant air seemed to imprison him in a cocoon. He listlessly raised his right arm an inch, and the air slapped against him, curtailing his motions.

“Careful, Rafael. I’ve bound you in air. I’ll join you in a moment.” She lit the candles one by one, reciting words Rafael had a difficult time hearing let alone digesting.

The air shroud wavered and thinned. Zelda appeared next to him, holding two candles. She handed one to him, the flame dancing from the air sifting around them. She took his free hand in hers.

“Recite each line after me.” She voiced the bonding spell, words Rafael didn’t grasp.

By rote, he repeated each line after she uttered it. At the end, Zelda blew out her candle and motioned for him to do the same. As the flames sputtered out, a sharp, stabbing sensation ripped through his insides, like someone had thrown a shattering bowling ball into his middle. Fire broiled his internal walls, and he staggered against Zelda. She caught him, but his weight slumped them both to the floor, witch-air cushioning their fall.

A squiggly, rushing sensation up his right forearm left him gaping at the bobcat tattoo blending over his skin. Zelda’s bonding familiar.

Three warlocks joined them, helping them stand and guiding Rafael to a seat on a wooden dining room chair. For the first time, he noticed no cushions or couches in her living room. All the chairs and benches were wood or cement, absent all the comforts of the Wilde home.Wilde?Fruitlessly, he waggled his head to dislodge lost memories trying to cut through the fog.

Every fiber of his being sizzled. An airy sensation flooded his middle, giving him the consuming need to disburse it somehow. Fire rimmed it, but didn’t expand. He needed more magic to fill the voids. Adrenaline pumped through his languid body. Toting a newfound purpose, a sense of hope for the future energized him. The witch-air dislodged incoherent memories. He tried to study them, but his body forced him to concentrate on the sensations creating havoc in every cell of his body.

“You’re feeling my magic, Rafael,” Zelda explained. “As you learn to use my air and fire, it’ll normalize.”

Shock zinged through his chest. The witch had awakened that sleeping giant inside him. He couldn’t say she’d awakened all of it, but his internal eyes had blinked. Concentrating, he stood and forced a ball of air to roll to his open palm.

“You’re a natural.” Zelda beamed and clapped. “You’ll gain in power as you learn to use my magic. We can take over the witchworld.” An evil, eager tone accompanied her words, and with an unnatural exhilaration Rafael believed them.

“It’s incredible.” Gravel layered his voice, and his eyes bulged in awe.

Zelda withdrew a heavy silver chain from her billowy blouse pocket. A carved, silver bobcat pendant hung from it. She looped the shiny chain around his neck. “You’re a Helwig coven member. Always wear it.” Then she tied a leather, beaded bracelet around his wrist. “The beads are a conduit which will help your magic.”

He inspected the trinkets she’d gifted him, tracing the bobcat design.

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