Page 6 of Enchanted By the Gargoyle

“Yes, you!” She bats playfully at me, and I catch her hand in mine.

“But, why?” I want to press my lips into the meaty part of her small palm, to capture that warmth. But, I shouldn’t.

“Let’s talk about that tomorrow.” Her smile lights me up, and I want to see her smile like that every single day.

“Tomorrow?” Is there going to be a tomorrow where I get to see her again? I need to make sure that she means it.

“Yes, tomorrow. Come by my shop, and then we can walk around the town, and I’ll give you a little tour of everything you’ve missed out on. I fixed your little binding spell, for now.”

We hear a rap on the office door, breaking us apart.

“Oh. My. Goddess!” It’s the black haired witch, and her jaw is wide open. “Hot damn, Tamsin!”

How did she get here so fast?Tamsin doesn’t bat an eye when she sees her, so it must be a witch thing.

Tamsin rolls her eyes and whispers to me. “I’ll see you tomorrow, around ten, okay?” She reaches up and pulls Beryl off my shoulder. “Come on, Beryl!”

“Hi, I’m Sybil, solovelyto meet you!” Sybil extends her hand out, and I’m about to take it before Tamsin hooks her arminto Sybil's, guiding her toward the door. I hear Tamsin hiss, “Behave yourself!”

Sybil just gives her a wide, tight smile, whispering back, “I always behave myself!”

She turns to me. “Thanks for taking such good care of her. See you around!”

The door shuts behind them, leaving me alone, but thrilled for tomorrow when I get to see Tamsin and the town. But, mostly excited about spending most of the day with Tamsin.

With a start, I realize she wants me to come during the day. Does that mean she fixed my turning to stone?

Chapter 5

Ezren

Istare at the cracked, grey asphalt at my feet. Across this border is where I’ll walk into town. A town I haven’t seen in so many years, I couldn’t even put a number to it. A town where Coldwater Springs has grown and flourished, and left me behind. Today’s sun is warm, while the air is crisp. I close my eyes for a moment, letting its rays warm my stone face and take the first step over the border, scrunching my eyes up in anticipation, but the resistance isn’t there, and my foot falls neatly on the other side.

Elation buoys up within me, and I start walking, setting my pace to a fast clip. As I’m walking, a few cars pass me by, with most people waving to me. With every wave, my smile gets wider, and I start to wave back. The fact that people are seeing me, wanting to say hello to me, is truly a gift.

Before long, I see the buildings in town and I stop in my tracks. There are so many shops along Main Street, with people bustling in and out with their bags or their friends, chatting away. I step aside onto the sidewalk and lean against a building for a moment, letting my breath slow down, trying to close out the hustle and bustle for just a minute to gather my senses.

“Ezren?” A familiar voice calls to me, and I turn to see Tamsin’s lovely face poking out from a nearby doorway. “There you are!”

Without thinking, I reach for her, gathering her into my arms so I can feel her plush, warm body against mine. She doesn’t protest, and instead melds against me. I feel my heart rate evening out, and look down to see her eyes crinkled up with concern.

“You okay?” She asks me, her hands rubbing soothing circles on my lower back, the highest place she can reach.

“Yes, now. It was exciting to see everything, and then, I don’t know. I just needed a second to…” I lose my words, a strange pressure catches my throat, and I don’t even know how to describe what this feeling is.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re here with me. Let’s go inside my shop. Beryl wants to see you.” Tamsin takes my hand, and I feel that warm connection flowing through us again.

I have a brief glimpse of her store sign, ‘The Gilded Geode’ in gold letters on the window before we cross the threshold. On the left are polished rocks of every size, shape, and composition. Everything is ordered and grouped on the walls, supported by clear shelving that fully displays her wares without overtaking the delicate shimmering crystals.

After the impressive display of druzy quartz, tiger’s eye, and labradorite, I see winking in the morning light bins of raw amethyst clusters, tumbled rose quartz pieces, each size in its dedicated clear tub, of course, but it’s the citrine that grabs my attention. Its warm yellow hue is like a mini-sun, its goldenfissures reminding me of the magic that emits from Tamsin’s hand when she touches me.

“You like that one?” She whispers, coming closer to me. This entire time, she’s been watching me, eyes following my gaze as I’ve explored her shop. Her hand closes over mine.

“It’s warm,” I say, looking at her, instead of the stone, because really it's Tamsin who is warming me.

She just nods. “I have it in jewelry too, people love my necklaces.” She gestures to the other side of the shop that I haven’t seen yet, and my eyes widen at the racks and racks of delicate necklaces on chains so fine you can barely see them, rings with stones so shiny they’re almost blinding, and bracelets with dainty crystal charms. This time, instead of citrine, a rose gold necklace with a tiny raw amethyst floating in a circlet catches my eye.

I unhook it from the rack and hold it up to Tamsin’s collarbone, letting it drape down onto her chest so the amethyst is resting in the hollow just above her breasts. The rose gold brings out the flushed tones in her skin, and it reminds me of the blush of a nectarine.

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