Page 37 of The Forty-Year-Old Virgin Witch

“I can always take you home if you wish.” I offered, trying to be as diplomatic as possible. She had been the one who’d wanted to come out here, hadn’t she?

Hurriedly she wiped her eyes. “No, it’s fine. I just find myself a bit overwhelmed by everything lately. I’ve lived alone for so long, and now … all of this.”

I nodded sympathetically. “It’s understandable.”

Aggie sighed and lifted those beautiful eyes toward me. The moonlight caught her hair, her voice joining the gentle breeze that played around the edges of our bodies.

“Let’s go, then.”

Resigned, she held out her hands like a prisoner about to be shackled. I chuckled and scooped her up into my arms, trying to ignore how warm she was or how well her chin settled against my chest. To distract myself, I started running.

“Ah!”

She clutched hard around my neck, squeezing her eyes shut as the world blurred around us. I didn’t blame her; I was moving extremely fast—too fast for human eyes to keep up with. As I ran, I wasn’t even conscious of dodging trees and leaping over small ravines. All I could think about was her. I couldn’t even exactly pinpoint why; she just mattered to me.

I’d had my indiscretions as a human of course, though I’d never married or had a family. According to my Elder, it was one of the reasons he’d agreed to turn me; so no one would miss me, and I’d adjust to undead life with little fuss. I’d cared for my mother of course, who’d raised me herself—not an easy job for anyone, let alone a single woman in the 1930s.

When it came to love, I figured I was unlikely to recognize it even if it smacked me on my head.

Or clutched my neck hard enough to leave bruises.

“Nearly there.”

Aggie exhaled in surprise against my neck. “What?! Already?”

I grinned. She had no idea what I could do for her … would give to her!

The lake flashed into view, and I stopped, my arms wrapping around Aggie to hold her in place as inertia asserted itself on her body. She slammed forward into my arms, and I set her down, ensuring she was steady on her feet before letting go.

The lake laid before us in a calm, shimmering mass. Aggie wasn’t wearing any shoes, and I watched as she ground her toes into the earth, falling to her knees and tangling her hands in the high grass.

“You’re sure it’s safe out here?”

Her eyes held mine, and I was struck by the amount of trust held in that gaze. The responsibility slammed into me, and I wondered what I had done to inspire the conviction that looked back at me.

I nodded.

Her eyes closed, and my breath caught as her magick connected with the wilderness around her. Wind whipped through the clearing, tossing her hair around her shoulders as she threw her head back and laughed.

Her magick broke through her skin, and it felt like I was breathing for the first time—as if I’d only been inhaling stale air through a straw my entire life, forced to exist with the small bits I could grasp. Watching her connect with her magick was like stepping out into the fresh air and finally, truly breathing.

“I’m always scared to let out my magick. I’m always afraid, Karl.”

Well, she wasn’t afraid now. The magick felt like a warm spark against me, playful and curious as I let it swirl around me.

“I was afraid as a human. I’m less afraid in death.”

A smirk stretched across her lips. “I would imagine so.”

She flung herself onto the ground, her hair fanning out behind her in a glorious arc of brown, red, and gold. Her laugh was infectious, and I found myself on the ground next to her, leaning over in curiosity. Her arms reached out and seized me around the neck, and I let her pull me down to her. My undead heart stopped in its tracks as she brought her lips close to my ear.

“What were you afraid of?”

There was longing in her voice, and a wish to know that she wasn’t the only one. That fear was something universal and not a dark monster that waited in only her closet.

I sighed back into her, releasing my own demons if only to help hold hers back for a little while longer.

“I was always afraid for others … not so much myself.”

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