Page 32 of Fated Moons
“It’s not just children. Whoever dared to destroy the book, their loved ones would suffer,” her father said. “It was something the witch covens agreed to when we joined with the council.”
“Great. We have a Book of Spells?—”
Amanda interrupted Jackson. “It’s a Book of Shadows. It’s darkness. Evil. We don’t like it and we don’t use it.”
“I think that sounds worse.” Jackson pinched the bridge of his nose. “If your family and the witch council are the only ones who have access, then it’s one of them who cast the spell.”
“Most likely. However, it’s possible that someone else could have peeked inside, though highly unlikely because it would have burned. But we have a second spell to contend with,” her father said.
“And what spell might that be?” Jackson said with a long breath.
“I can’t find it in this book, but it’s a variation of an unlucky spell, and I can’t be sure when it was cast, but based on how Trask said it came out of your aura and what I know about your career, my guess would be after you got the Oscar win. After you moved back here.”
“So, what you are trying to tell me is two different spells cast by two different witches?” Jackson stood, taking his mug.
“Yes, only it’s possible it’s the same witch,” her father said, pressing his hands on the table, lowering his chin, giving her that look he used to toss her way when he was about to punish her.“But I have an idea on how to flush out whoever cast the blocking spell and potentially the other one as well.”
“I’m not sure I want to know,” she said.
“The black magic has been lifted and the imprinting that happened years ago, while it will take a little bit of time to resettle, will firmly take hold of the two of you,” her father said.
“Don’t I have a say in this?” She folded her arms and massive amounts of fairy dust exploded angrily from her body. It landed on Jackson, swirling around his body like a vacuum before circling hers, as if to make a bridge between the two of them.
“Care to have a little private chat now?”Jackson asked.
“No. Not really.”She glared.“And stop smiling. I don’t find this amusing.”
“It’s hard not to smile with this stuff coating my skin like a warm blanket in front of a fire. It’s like it wants us to calm down and accept our fate.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls you imprint on.”
“I can only do that once,”he projected.
“Why do I get the feeling you two have some super-secret form of communication going on that I’m not privy to?” her father said with a chuckle.
“I apologize, sir,” Jackson said. “Only wolves can communicate by projecting. It’s incredibly rare for us to be able to do so with other species unless they are our fated mates. We were able to do it last night when the fake wolves attacked. I was just testing it out.”
“Doesn’t look like my daughter’s all that thrilled, but that brings me to what I think we should do,” her father said. “We need to spin this that you two have been secretly dating for the last few months. That the only people who knew were your families.”
“My siblings won’t go for that,” Jackson said.
“You’re going to have to make them, because whoever cast that spell won’t hesitate to cast something far worse, and the only way I know to draw them out is to make them think you’ve done exactly what they tried to prevent.” He arched a brow. “Trask agrees with me and he’s taking it back to Chaz. He’ll most likely be on board as well since Trask believes the two of you are the first pairing of the Fated Moons that will create witch and wizard wolfairies. Interesting combination, if I do say so myself.”
“I need a drink.” Jackson took a couple of long strides to the kitchen and pulled down a bottle of whiskey. “Anyone else?”
Her father shook his head.
“No. I’m good,” she said, watching his outside aura swell with a dozen different reds, yellows, oranges, and a dollop of brown. He wasn’t filled with rage, which was good, but the confusion and fear… no, it wasn’t fear, at least not the kind that made a man quake in his boots. It was more an uneasiness about something. As if he questioned the validity of one’s actions. Or emotions. Or even existence.
She caught his gaze and realized it was her that troubled him.
“Why are you upset with me?”she projected her thoughts in his direction.
“Because I can feel you looking at me like you did right before you looked inside my aura. I don’t like it. It prickles my skin.”
“Oh. I’m sorry,”she said.“But I’m not looking inside. Just noticing the colors and doing a reading of them. It’s my witch superpower. We all have something we’re good at. I’m good at reading auras. It’s like a tarot card reading.”
“I still don’t like it, but what is mine saying now?”He arched a brow as his aura turned bright red with a white glow.
