Page 44 of A Touch Enchanted

“Why don’t you jump in the shower and I’ll get a pot going.”

She grabbed my shirt off the floor and pulled it over her head, then tugged on a pair of my briefs and headed out to the kitchen. I groaned and planted my face in my pillow. It was still too early, but I had a feeling she wouldnotbe interested in staying in bed all day.

Half an hour later, we took our mugs out back. Violet wanted to watch the sun rise over the trees, and I had to admit, it was a great view. Her eyes darted to the porch swing and she smirked. I’d never be able to sit on that thing again without getting horny as fuck.

“So.” I took a sip. “About this harebrained idea of yours to go up to the dead zone.”

She stiffened. “It’s not harebrained. Audrey thinks it’s a good idea too.”

I loved my soon-to-be-sister-in-law, but Audrey was not what I’d call a rational thinker. She ran on emotion, feeling, and intuition almost to the same extent as Violet. “And what made you and Audrey decide it would be a great idea to check out the curse’s old stomping grounds, in a place where you can’t do anything with your magic, right when it’s gaining power?”

“You’re making it sound so much worse than it needs to be.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “That’s not an answer.”

“It has to do with that dream I had about the gates. I was in a cave, and Audrey said it could be the cave where the curse was bound. But I don’t think it was a dream.” She tapped a finger to her lips. “I can’t explain it, but it felt more vivid. Like a memory.”

“I’ve had plenty of vivid dreams.” Several about her, in fact. Every time, I woke up with my cock in my hand and a fucking mess in my sheets.

“It’s different. I just need you to trust me on this.”

That was the only request that could make me reconsider. If I wanted to show Violet I was serious about her, I’d need to take a leap of faith and trust her when she asked me to. She’d done the same for me by agreeing to talk to her parents about the shutdown, even though she hadn’t been fully on board with the idea. “Okay.”

“Okay?” As her sky blue eyes lit up, I knew I’d made the right call. “Are you serious? You’re not going to fight me on this?”

I pulled her against me and kissed her temple. “I trust you.”

I would’ve thrown myself directly into a pit of electric eels if it meant seeing that soft smile again.

“I’ll get supplies together so we can go.”

As she went inside to pack up trail mix and water bottles, I turned my face skyward. To the west, over the beach, dark clouds continued to gather and swirl above the water. The eels were just the beginning. At least we’d still be able to use my magic in the woods, but I didn’t know what good an army of chipmunks would do against whatever the curse tried to throw at us.

Guess we’d find out, though.

Violet ran home to change and pack up some things to have on hand at my place. She claimed it was because she had so much fun torturing my neighbors, but I liked the fact that we were starting to bring pieces of ourselves into each other’s homes. It felt like getting one step closer to where I ultimately wanted to be: her living with me.

I put on the backpack full of supplies and some sturdy hiking boots, and then headed into the woods with Violet. Taking her hand, I let her energy flow into me, heightening my magic. One of the nice things about having the power to communicate with animals was having a limitless supply of lookouts at the ready.

Violet watched in fascination as I made several different sounds that blended with the melody of the forest. “What are you saying to them?”

“Just asking them to keep an eye on things up ahead.”

“Have they said anything about the curse?”

I spoke to a few birds and a handful of rabbits. “They said the smoke is gone from the cave, but it’s occasionally carried into the woods on two legs.”

“Why are animals always talking in metaphors?”

I laughed. “They’re not. They just don’t have the same language that we do.”

She gave me a skeptical look and kept walking. Every so often, I’d check in with the animals, but all appeared to be quiet. The curse must’ve been using the whole of its energy keeping people off the beach with those eels.

It had been a while since those of us with magic had been able to safely walk through these woods. It felt strange. Like it should’ve been dangerous.

A few hours later, we arrived at the ring of birch trees that grew around the dead zone, though I wasn’t sure if it could really be called that anymore. For as long as I could remember, the center of the island, where the curse’s cave was located, didn’t have any sign of life. The grass was brown, fires wouldn’t light inside the circle, and birds refused to fly overhead.

Now, it was teeming with life.

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