Page 20 of The Trouble With Spells
“I can’t.” Michael’s face fell, and I hurriedly explained, “I promised to help my friend, Macy, tonight. She does a guided walking witch tour. I mean, if you don’t mindeating after, you could tag along. Might even learn a thing or two.”
“What time? It might be fun. I’ve never done any of the walking tours of anything here.”
“I need to meet her on Derby Street at seven.”
Excitement raced through my body, and it took everything inside me to not bounce up and down on the balls of my feet. Michael Endicott was taking me to dinner! More than that, he was going on the walking tour with me, then taking me to dinner. Plus, I had actually done a spell and nothing bad had happened. My cards might have been onto something.
Michael took a few steps toward the door, “I’ll pick you up at six-thirty, then.”
“I’m…looking forward to it.” My cheeks were hurting with all the grinning my face was doing, but I couldn’t help myself.
What were the odds my high school crush would walk into our shop, need my help, then ask me on a date? Michael might have been having bad luck, but mine had definitely changed for the better.
“Me too,” he tossed another grin at me over his shoulder, moving towards the door.
And that’s when it happened.
I should have been expecting it.
No spell I ever did worked.
Why had I thought today would be any different?
Michael grabbed his head, cried out in agony and crumpled to the floor.
Chapter Nine
Michael
Pain exploded in my head like I had never felt before. Crying out, my knees buckled, and I landed in a heap on the cold linoleum floor. Grasping my head with my hands, I whimpered, my breaths no more than short pants. Nausea rolled through my stomach, while clammy sweat flooded my body.
The pain was so intense I couldn’t think, couldn’t see, could barely breathe. It was like the worst migraine I’d ever had times twenty. I didn’t know what was happening, but it felt like I was dying.
And then, as quickly as it had dropped me to my knees, it vanished.
“Michael!” Callum’s voice surrounded me, flooding me with relief. Warm handscaressed my sweat dampened jaw, before grabbing my hand. Grasping his fingers tightly, I clung to him like a lifeline.
Blinking my eyes open, I stared dully up into his worried green eyes, taking stock of myself. The pain was a dull memory, barely leaving a trace of it in its wake.
Callum’s fingers squeezed mine, while his other hand hovered over me like he wasn’t sure where or if he should touch me or not. “What happened?”
Shaking my head, I thought better of it, as the movement set off a warning ache and my stomach rose to the back of my throat. Gingerly, I lay where I was, breathing as deeply as I dared.
“Not sure. Migraine, maybe, times about a hundred.” Resting my free hand against my stomach, I admitted hoarsely, “Still a little queasy from it.”
“Do you think you can stand?” Callum questioned, his voice lowering until he was nearly whispering too. “We’ll get you onto the sofa. Better than this hard floor.”
Pushing up on my elbows, it didn’t escape my notice that he was still holding my hand tightly. The pressure was nice, warm and a bit tingly. I couldn’t deny I liked the feel of Callum’s hand in mine. “Yeah, maybe.”
He gently helped me to my feet and my knees were incredibly weak and wobbly, my entire body feeling shaky. Callum slowly steered us across the shop floor and through the curtained doorway. He deposited me onto a plush, soft sofa, but I hadn’t even registered how we’d gotten here.
Resting my head back against the sofa, I closed my eyes, trying to will my body to stop shaking from the intense pain it had experienced minutes before. Adrenaline had taken over and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
“I’ll get you some water and find some ibuprofen or something,” Callum told me, letting go of my hand. Immediately, I felt the loss and wanted to reach out and find his hand. But my need for something to knock out the mild remnants of the lingering headache won out against whatever desire touching Callum brought me.
“Thanks,” whispering, I rubbed at my temples, trying to figure out what had caused whatever the fuck had just happened. Callum moved away, taking his warmth with him.
“Aye!!” Screaming as the pain assaulted me again, I grabbed my head, curling into a tight ball on the sofa.
