Page 68 of A Touch Charmed

Though the legend hadn’t been specific about when the cave appeared, we’d all assumed it had been created to trap the curse. But what if it hadn’t? What if it had once been used for something else? Something built out of love that the curse corrupted, just like it corrupted Nirah. Because there was no way the curse had anything to do with that cloak.

“I think so, too.” Finn swiped the last of the wasps from his arm.

Nirah got to his feet and faced us. My muscles gripped my spine, preparing for whatever he’d throw at us next. His handsome face turned gray, and his skin became loose and scarred as oily wings ripped from his back. Twin black snakes replaced his legs.

His sharp talons reached for me, but I gripped his wrist. He couldn’t stand my touch. The screech he let out sounded like bits of Styrofoam rubbing together. My teeth snapped together and he disappeared into the smoke that continued to pour out of the cave.

More rain fell, but the acid had been nullified. It couldn’t hurt us anymore. Nirah could still attack us physically, but not with the deadly, fast-acting poison. Between me and Finn, we’d have time to reach whoever needed healing.

The funnel of smoke swirled in the sky, gathering strength and speed. It shot downward like a bullet, but didn’t aim for us. It plunged into the hole where the cave had stood. A wave of salt-scented water gushed out of the crater and washed over our feet.

The smoke cleared. Sounds of nightlife in the woods rang out all around us. We’d burned out the curse for the time being. But it would be back. I had no doubt.

I tilted my head upward as an owl flew over the clearing. Free. That was the end goal, and we’d just gotten one step closer to making it there.

Chapter 20

Finn

Makingitbacktotown took longer for us because Thora wanted to play with her new power and I’d never been able to tell her no. In everyone else’s reality, it took five seconds. Speed didn’t wear me out like it used to. The healing power combated the energy drain, which made the curse’s physical attacks even more useless.

It would still try to weaken us, no doubt, but we’d taken something essential from it today. Thanks to that golden cloak, we’d reached the man under the curse, and that cost it the ability to wield the deadly poison. Its best weapon was gone.

I had no idea what had happened by the cave with the song and the cloak. We tried combining our powers again on the cliff behind our house, but other than the burst of starlight and giving the neglected garden a fresh shot of healing, nothing similar happened. There were no sunlit orbs, songs, or golden cloaks. Thora thought the song and the cloak’s magic had come from the cave. That we released something when we brought the dead zone back to life.

It was possible the cave had been used for some other purpose before it became a prison for the curse. Whatever formed that cloak had magic far more powerful than anything Thora and I could produce. But there was a chance we’d never figure out where that magic came from or why the cave had originally been formed. Not even the legend we all grew up with had been able to escape the warping of time.

Now that the cave had shattered, we had even less of a chance of discovering where that sun-touched magic had come from. And without the birthstones, we were no longer in a battle to hold on to our magic. From now on, it would be a fight to the death.

I still really wanted to go fishing.

“Here’s the plan.” I stopped us at the edge of the forest and dropped my duffle bag so I could wrap her in my arms. “We’re going to rent a boat and go fishing. We’ll lay in a hammock on deck and drink margaritas and forget about this bullshit for the next few days.”

Temptation lit her eyes as she walked her fingers over my chest, but she hesitated. “Aren’t you supposed to start working again tomorrow?”

I should’ve started yesterday, but I’d pushed back things again when I realized I’d have more important things to tend to than Arla Everett’s bathroom remodel. “That’s the awesome thing about being my own boss. I can call the shots on when I go back to work.”

She rubbed her fingers over my scalp in that way that practically had me purring like a cat. “Why the hell not? We deserve a break. Let’s do it.”

The final bit of tightness in my chest loosened. We released our speed magic and exited the woods from behind Audrey’s shop. Moonlight glowed on the concrete. The streets were quiet and empty, not unlike the night I came down to this side of the island after the first earthquake. Not knowing at the time that Thora had come back.

I pulled her closer to my side. Needing that reminder that the last seven years were behind us now. She snuggled into me, understanding without me having to say a word. It was well after two in the morning. All of Zodiac Cove was asleep.

Well, almost all of Zodiac Cove.

Two familiar figures stepped out of the mist. Wes and Audrey were dressed in hiking clothes. Their hands glowed golden green as they charged their power between them.

Audrey rushed forward and threw her arms around Thora, sending her stumbling backward. “You’re okay. We felt the rumble and saw the cloud over the cave. We got dressed as fast as possible, but it looks you handled it.”

“The cave is gone.” I shared a grim look with Wes. He understood right away what that would mean. “Nirah put up a good fight, but we kicked the curse’s ass, nullified the poison, and saved the day. Thora and I are going fishing.”

“Who the fuck is Nirah?” Wes asked.

I kissed Thora’s temple. “Any chance you could get your cousin to open the bar late just this once? I think we’re all going to need a drink for this.”

“Considering that the only thing she’s less interested in than putting her business at risk is being anywhere in the vicinity of magic talk, I’m going to say no.”

“I’ve got whiskey back at the house,” Wes said. “We should probably get Donovan and Violet out of bed for this too, if it’s that big of a deal.”

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