Page 13 of A Touch Enchanted

And pray I’d learn how to live with my choices.

“Donovan!” Violet screamed my name, though it sounded muffled, like a thick wool curtain separated us. “Whatever it’s telling you, don’t listen.”

The dense smoke curled around my ear like a snake.“You broke her heart. She’ll never forgive you. Drown yourself and forget. Drown yourself and let her go for good.”

Violet flung her arms around my middle, pushing every bit of fear, panic, and hope she had into me. Slowly, I began to drag myself out of the dark. My magic pushed against the curse, fought off the lies it tried to pass off as truth. I might’ve broken Violet’s heart, but that didn’t mean she’d never forgive me. Clearly, the curse didn’t know her at all.

She squeezed my face between her hands, her gaze darting between my eyes to make sure I was present. “What did it show you?”

I held her wrists, letting her energy calm the last grinding edges of my memory. That mental attack was no fucking joke. “Just some old stuff from overseas. I’m fine.”

I couldn’t tell her where I’d really gone, then I’d have to admit a lot of things I’d never told anyone. Things she probably wasn’t ready to hear. Because the truth was, I made a big fucking mistake nine years ago. I should’ve told my family I didn’t want to leave, I should’ve fought for Violet sooner, I should’ve told her everything when I came home for good, and I sure as fuck should’ve stayed by her side every minute of every day when we first discovered our magic.

So many things I should’ve done. And once again, I didn’t realize it until it was too late.

Chapter five

Violet

Iturnedmystoolfrom side to side as Kenna popped the top on an Aquarius Ale, my new favorite local beer, and slid it over the bar to me. It was a Tuesday night, no band, but still busy enough since it was tourist season. Most everyone was outside, though. In the summer, Kenna turned the empty parking lot into an outdoor patio and doubled her capacity.

Lots of people found it hard to believe the biggest party girl to ever come out of Zodiac Cove High could be such a smart and savvy businesswoman, but I’d never been surprised by Kenna’s accomplishments. She thrived on doing the exact opposite of what people expected of her, and I had no doubt she could conquer the world on spite alone.

I took a long pull of my beer and tipped my bottle toward her. “Are you going to stay on that side of the bar and ignore me for the rest of the night?”

“Depends.” She wore an uneasy expression as she eyed me. “Are you going to try to talk to me about magic again? Because I don’t have time for that nonsense.”

None of us had time for that nonsense, yet here we were. I still didn’t understand why she was so resistant to talking about magic. We’d all grown up on the island with the legend. Knowledge of magic, the belief in its existence, was baked into our very DNA. And Kenna had always been the most open-minded of my friends, outside of Audrey. I would’ve thought she’d be one of the first people to jump right in, feet first.

But every time I tried to talk to her about the curse, the descendants, and what we needed to do, she shut me down. The last time I came in, she wouldn’t even meet my eyes. She made one of her waitresses take my order, then went in the back until I left like a coward. That wasn’t the Kenna I knew. It concerned me more than anything else.

But tonight, I wasn’t here to push her about magic. I could save that for another day. “I’m actually here for clarity. And beer. Lots and lots of beer.”

She gave me a sympathetic look and moved closer. “Donovan?”

I took another drink and nodded.

She popped the top on another Aquarius Ale and set it in front of me. “This one is on the house. Tell me everything.”

“Are you sure you want to hear this?” I gave her a half-grin. “It’s going to include magic talk.”

She leveled her sea-green gaze at me, full of patience and understanding. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know. I’m always here for you, Vi. You know that.”

I picked at the label with my thumbnail. “Yeah. I know.”

Kenna had been my friend since high school. She was a year ahead of me, but through a twist of fate, she’d been assigned to tutor me as a form of community service for streaking through the library on a dare.

I was failing English. I had dysgraphia, a learning disability that made translating my thoughts onto paper difficult and my handwriting nearly illegible. Instead of setting me up with proper accommodations, my teacher—who also happened to be Paige’s uncle—decided that tutoring me would be a punishment for someone else. Just one more reason, on a long list of reasons, why I couldn’t wait to get out of high school.

Kenna had a reputation back then for being wild and that made me nervous. At best, I thought she’d laugh at me behind my back and wash her hands of the whole thing, but Kenna never did what people expected of her. Ever. She ended up being patient, understanding, and kind. She didn’t treat me like a problem, or a charity case, or a fucking inspiration when I completed a basic task. She treated me like a human who needed a little extra help.

We quickly became friends, and after that, Paige had mysteriously started avoiding me in the halls, instead of seeking me out to drop some new form of torture on me. Audrey told me it was because Kenna had put her in a chokehold in the girls’ locker room and threatened to break her spine if she went near me again. Kenna never breathed a word of it to me, though, and I never asked. She wouldn’t have wanted me to.

Kenna wiped down the bar. “What did the asshole do this time? And how much am I required to make him suffer the next time he comes in?”

“He didn’t do anything bad … exactly.” Except make me question if it was really the magic that made me want him, after I’d spent years getting over him the first time. I buried my face in my hands. “I’m so confused right now.”

Kenna rubbed my shoulder as I laid out everything that had happened in my apartment and on the beach. When I finished, she tucked her tongue into the side of her cheek. “It sounds to me like he’s into you and doesn’t know what to do about it.”

---