Page 23 of Dewitched

Tall and slender, with silver hair cut into a micro pixie style, the middle-aged woman behind the counter greeted customers in a girlish voice he hadn’t expected. She didn’t have on a speck of makeup—not that she needed it—but large silver hoops hung from her earlobes, and a heavy crystal dangled from a chain around her neck.

“Dani is a healer.”

“You know her?”He was under the impression his mate had never even been to Colorado before.

“I wasn’t always a Guardian.”

Owen’s cheeks heated. He didn’t know if Fenix had heard his inner thoughts, or if he had simply guessed. Still, it had been a pretty ridiculous assumption on his part to think the guy had never traveled outside of Ireland in two hundred years.

“Wait.” Jealousy swiftly replaced embarrassment as he considered the implication. “Howdo you know her?”

Fenix chuckled and pressed a kiss to his temple. “She’s just a friend.”

He bit his tongue and nodded.

While he could be naïve, he wasn’t stupid. He had no misconceptions about his mate’s past. He just hadn’t considered that he might be confronted with one of the guy’s former lovers.Maybe one day, he would have the maturity to handle such a situation, but this wasn’t that day.

Once the couple in front of them took their order and went to find a table by the windows, Fenix ushered him forward.“Don’t be nervous.”

“I’m not.”

Well, he hadn’t been. Now, he had an inkling they hadn’t just come there for coffee.

“Hey, Dani.”

“Fenix Hohlt, as I live and breathe.” She wore a big smile and spoke in a sweet, flowery voice with a thick Southern accent. Eyes as blue as a summer sky twinkled when they shifted to Owen. “And who is this?”

“This is my mate, Owen,” Fenix answered, his expression filled with pride. “Talei, this is Dani Golightly.”

Owen smiled and dipped his head. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“And you.” Rounding the counter, she came to join them, getting a little too close for comfort. “Let me get a good look at you, sugar.”

When she lifted her hands as if to touch his face, Owen took a step back and positioned himself halfway behind his mate. “I, uh—”

“It’s okay.” Cutting him off, Fenix placed a hand on his lower back and nudged him forward again.

Owen still resisted. “Can’t she look at me from over there?”

“That’s not the kind of looking she means.” Fenix pushed a little more persistently. “Do you trust me?”

Damn, he really wished the guy would stop playing that card. They both knew he did, which meant he really couldn’t refuse. So, with a quiet sigh, he stood perfectly still and waited for the inevitable fallout.

With a reassuring smile, Dani moved closer and bracket his face in her soft hands. As she studied him, her eyes beganto glow, flickering like tiny flames, and veins of golden light shimmered under her skin.

He had never witnessed anything like it, but it didn’t frighten him. Quite the opposite, actually. A strange sensation, like warm water, washed over him, flooding him with an amazing sense of peace and contentment.

The energy that emanated from her held an even bigger punch than his mate’s, but the experience was so different. He recognized the transfer, but he also understood that, even if he’d wanted to, he had no control in that moment.

“Oh, sugar,” she said a few moments later as she lowered her hands. “You haven’t had an easy time of it, have you?”

“You could say that.”

The tranquility he’d felt faded, making both his voice and his legs shaky. This was no witch. At least, no ordinary witch. As such, if he told anything but the complete truth, he knew she’d see right through him.

“Can you help him?” Fenix asked, his tone hopeful.

“I can’t take it away.” Pursing her lips, Dani studied him for a moment longer, then hurried back around the counter. “I might have something, though.” Climbing a rolling ladder, she searched through the clear bottles for a long time before finally plucking one from the shelf. “Ah, here we go.”

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