Page 35 of Rebel Spell
We descended the stairwell and entered the confining space. The darkness seemed to permeate each crack in the room, searching for places to hide, and I shuddered.
“You’ve got this, Nova.”
This time I felt the power in Diego’s words. His belief in me amplified my ability to conquer the darkness in this room. It could have all been in my head, but I didn’t care. It invigorated me with bravery to continue. A magical tingling seemed to glow and spread inside me, extending out towards the walls of the room. I repeated the process to cleanse the area until all the darkness and negativity had dissipated.
I faced Diego and smiled. “We’re done here.”
Diego cocked his head. “Two down, one to go?”
I nodded. “Exactly.”
After he was safely out of sun range, I opened the shades to let the light illuminate the room, casting out whatever was left of the darkness. We descended to the main floor.
On the third attempt, the steps came to me from memory. Compared to the bedroom, this process went quickly.
When I completed the final ritual, I blew out the candle. “Thank you.” I walked counterclockwise and thanked the elements before closing the circle.
Since I didn’t sense any of the darkness on their side of the house, I didn’t think we needed to cleanse over there. The negative energy seemed to concentrate in my aunt’s bedroom, but I’d extended the cleansing to the floors above and below to capture all of it.
The magic inside still lingered with a potency. It was electrifying, making me feel more—alive. I couldn’t believe what I’d accomplished. Me, a hapless witch, had cleared a house of dark magic.
“We did it!” I declared.
“Youdid it,” Diego said.
“I couldn’t have done it without you.” I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him. “Thank you.”
The press of my body against his flooded me with heat and awareness. I pulled back and stared into his eyes, captured by them.
“You’re welcome.” The proud elation of his expression morphed to something else. Hunger.
My gaze remained locked with his, breasts against his hard chest. He moved his focus to my mouth, and my lips parted. My breath came quicker, heart thundering with anticipation.
I stood on my tiptoes as I closed the space between us. My lips brushed his. Although I wanted to melt against him, feel every inch of his body against mine, a voice in my head screamed,what are you doing?
“I’m sorry.” I stepped back and glanced away. Why the hell did I do that? I had no business kissing my tenant. It had to be the high of successfully performing magic for the first time spurring me to be bold. “I got swept up in the moment, but shouldn’t have done that.”
When I summoned the courage to meet his gaze, he appeared conflicted. “No worries. I get it.”
I exhaled with a shudder. We had the ball coming up on Saturday. Would I be able to dance with him and pretend to be his girlfriend without remembering how good it had just felt to be in his arms? That whisper of a kiss ignited a yearning for more.
“It was a terrible idea,”I told Gianna.
We were in the women’s section of a department store at the North Shore Mall, shopping for an outfit for me to wear to the ball tomorrow.
Gianna searched through a rack of dresses in my size with the finesse of someone who knew exactly what she was looking for. That was good, since I didn’t have a fraction of the fashion sense and style that she possessed.
“You kissed him, so what? You’re both clearly attracted to each other. No big deal. It’s not as if you slept together.” She winked and added, “But you should.”
I should have expected her reaction. She could be right. Maybe I was overthinking the whole thing. But it didn’t seem right to kiss one of my tenants while I was in the process of figuring out what to do with the house. Why add any complications?
I had spoken to a real estate agent that morning, and she was going to come by to look at the house on Monday. A part of me felt guilty about doing so as it would affect the guys, but it wasn’t as if I owed them anything, right? I mean, I liked them, for sure. I enjoyed hanging out with them. And Diego—well, I wasn’t sure how to interpret my strange attraction to the vampire.
My desire did not seem unrequited. The way Diego glanced at me with hunger left me flush. Whether it was for my body or my blood, I wasn’t certain, but the hunger in our kiss left me yearning for more. Why did I have any reservations?
We were both adults. Why shouldn’t we hook up? If I sold the house, we’d never see each other again, so no strings would be attached. It would just be a fling. Why not break my dry spell with someone who’d made me feel more in his arms with a stolen kiss than any of the men I’d met in the past few years?
I pictured what it would be like had Diego and I continued our kiss and went into the bedroom. What would it feel like as he buried himself inside me? Would his fangs emerge? Would I let him bite me? I bent my neck and touched my throat. A dozen more questions followed. Would it hurt or feel good?
