Page 20 of A Witch-ish Guide to Protectors and Pendulums

Hmm… I supposed Lucwastaking his life in his hands after all. I really couldn’t call it.

“I needed to talk to you, but I don’t have your number.”

“Connor.” Luc admonished the man-dog that I was becoming very fond of. “You didn’t give your woman your phone number?”

It was Connor’s turn to shrug. “I forgot.”

“You’re a terrible boyfriend,” he said.

“Don’t I know it,” I replied.

Luc turned that killer smile on me again. Then myboyfriendsighed, shifting to reach up to cup my cheeks. He looked deeply into my eyes. And oh, lordy… I could get used to that look. This Connor. “What do you need?” he asked.

“I got a vision.”

“A vision?” Apparently, he didn’t expect those words to come out of my mouth. What? He expected me to say I was lonely or something? His brows drew together in confusion, though. That was fun. “Of what?” he asked.

“A woman. I’ve never seen her before but she knew my name. It weirded me out—like really weirded me out, and for some reason you were the first person I thought to talk to about this. Now that I hear myself say it out loud, it sounds incredibly stupid.”

“Simone, of course you wanted to talk with me. Mated remember? So what happened next?”

“Well, I said I needed to tell you—I kicked the door and it opened, then my jeep started without keys. And when I got here, I casually said I didn’t want you to see me, and you didn’t. The door to the mausoleum opened and here I am.”

“I take it these aren’t normal occurrences for you?” Luc asked, leaning in close to our little huddle.

“Nope.” I shook my head. “Not at all.”

“If we can narrow down your origins, then we can figure out what you are. We figure that out, we can figure out why this is happening.”

“You don’t think it’s—” Connor pointed up.

Luc shook his head.

“No. I still play cards once a week with Mike. When he starts winning, he gets chatty. So whenever I need a heads-up on what they’re doing, I let him start winning.”

“What is he talking about?” I asked.

“I’ll fill you in when we get home.”

“Why are these powers coming now?”

“I wish I knew,” Connor said. He rested his forehead against mine. The magic twitched under my skin. When he kissed me, it felt like we lit up the whole room. “Maybe it has to do with whatever you are. Like Luc said.”

“Does magic usually change?”

“I’ve never heard of it doing so. Powers develop, get stronger. But what I know about it, you get your powers at puberty. That’s when I started shifting.”

“But my taser didn’t work on you.” I tried it out yesterday when he kidnapped me. The first time.

“Maybe because I’m your mate,” Connor said. “Try it on Luc.”

“Hey,” Luc argued. “I thought we were friends.”

“We are, but Simone needs to see if she’s still got it. And you know, she’s my mate. I have to side with her.”

“You just want to touch her fun bags,” Luc said.

“I mean, you’re not wrong,” Connor answered. “But it’s more than that. Hos before bros. Sorry, dude.”

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