Page 29 of Spirit Witch

They were right.I looked different.Like way, way different.My hair color had completely morphed.It wasn’t that terrible faded brown anymore.It was dark and lush with huge silver white streaks running through it.

And my skin—holy fuck!

It was dewy and shimmering, like I’d used one of those highlight makeup sticks in all the right places.Only, I hadn’t worn makeup in days.I’d been in a tent in the middle of the woods, for fuck’s sake.We didn’t have any running water and the only thing close to makeup was the ceremonial paint Judge had smeared all over my skin.

But more than that, my lavender eyes sparkled with a brightness I had never seen.At least, not recently.My cheekbones looked sharper, my lips fuller.It was like I was looking at myself through one of those social media filters that made everything about my face prettier than it really was.

“This is how you always look to me, Nizhoni,” Judge whispered beside me.“The spell hiding your memory was also working to hide your true beauty.”

“Wait, so someone had her under a spell?”Mabe asked, catching on quicker than I did.

“It would seem,” Judge replied, watching me worriedly.

“But why would someone want me to look different?”I asked.

“Um, I think I have an answer to that,” Enok said.“I’ll let you know once I double check my facts.”

“Okay, well, while we are waiting for our resident geek to figure that out, I have a question.Why didn’t you just tell her all this stuff the first time you saw her?It was in that dream, right, Enid?I mean, if you guys really hit it off with each other when you were kids and she was stolen from you, why’d you wait?”Rio asked.

I turned my head, wondering the same thing now that the water witch had voiced it.

Why did he wait so long?

“I could not tell her for a few reasons.One, it would not have been fair to Enid.She had to find the truth, reach the conclusion, herself, else it could have tipped the scales and upset the balance of our paths.She is my soul mate, but I could not just take her choice from her.Enid had to learn who she is first, then she could choose if she wanted what we had to continue or if she wanted a different path.”

“What would you have done if I chose different?”I asked, confused.

“I was counting on you picking me, Nizhoni,” he told me.

“And if I didn’t?”I countered, wondering how he would react.

“Then I would have used every skill I possess to woo you to my side,” he growled, nuzzling my neck.

“Good,” I returned, knowing I would always choose him.

The conversation dulled after a while and I worried my lower lip, only half-listening to Arlo as he explained his latest findings in some old healer’s annals on hybrids.

“Whoever kept us apart, we will soon find out.Nothing will ever come between us again, Nizhoni,” he said, the last part for my ears only.

His eyes turned dark and glittery, and his magic reached out and brushed against mine.During our time in the tent, Judge had reintroduced me to the ways we used to be with each other.Spiritwalkers were the only beings whose magic could somewhat mirror mine.His ability to cross realms and walk through dreams eventually led him to me.

He’d already told me he’d almost given up hope when he chanced upon me in that meadow dreamscape.Apparently, it was a place we used to escape to together when the human world became too rough on a couple of magical teenagers in love.Disbelief that this was real, that he was here, my dream boy, my first love, that he and I should have found each other after so much time apart came batting at me.Like manifestations of negativity and despair, trying to rear their ugly heads, but I shook them off.

“Come.Let’s go to bed and I will prove how real this is,” he said, a promise in his gaze as he stood with me still cradled in his arms.

Heat filled me at his words, and my body seemed to perk up and pulse with need.I understood completely.I wanted him, too.

He lowered my feet to the ground, until I stood, but still, I leaned on him for support, suddenly weak in the knees.

“I think Judge is onto something there, mo spréach.Let’s turn in,” Brandon told Tana.

Soon, we were all on our way back to 563W, to our respective rooms with our mates for one night of peace and love before the real work began the next day.This was the calm before the storm.The clarity before tomorrow’s confusion muddled our minds.I didn’t know what the new dawn would bring, but I was all for living in the moment.Right then, my only plan was to be with him, to love myCalon.

All.Night.Long.

CHAPTER12

There wassomething about fades that always brought with them a strange chill.It was not the same as the wintry weather that seemed to encompass all of Westwood for the solstice and December holidays.It was different.Like when you applied an ice pack to an injury to help numb the pain.

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