Page 48 of Witch of My Heart

“What will they do?” I asked my mate as he stuck the candles into their holders and sat them down on the center of the table. “I mean, I like the idea of a candlelit breakfast and all, but this is a first, even for me.”

“They’re for soothing and peace of mind. Shades have a hard time shaving off when a place is peaceful. It’s as if the quiet or the ingredients that make for a peaceful home wash out whatever shades are made of before they form,” Blithe said before sitting down next to me. “How’s breakfast coming along, Duke?”

“About there,” Duke said. “The woods look clear today. Seen a few of the dragonfly men swooping around out there.”

“The dragonfly fay are always around. We have a treaty with them,” I chimed in, glad for something to say.

A few minutes later we all sat at the big cherry wood table in chairs right next to each other. The guys put me in the middle as if I might run away or be attacked. Before Ginger Barrel murdered my carrier, I would’ve taken offense. Now, with my only blood family gone and my world view turned upside down, I was grateful my mate and his family wanted to keep me safe. Sandwiched between them at the table was akin to being inside a den. Their auras squashed in on me as if they meant to hide me from the world.

“Comfy?” Blithe asked.

“You both have big auras,” I nodded. “They’re thick-ish too. My cat thinks he could walk on them.”

We ate in silence for a few minutes. Blithe rested his hand on my knee under the table and I pondered the wisdom in the amount of ketchup Duke put on his eggs, but kept it to myself.

“Did you see it beforehand?” I asked Duke.

“Not exactly, but would you like to hear my theory?” Duke asked.

“That’s why we’re crowded around the home fires, cousin,” Blithe nodded to the candles.

“Yes, you made hearth fire candles,” Duke nodded and took another bite of his eggs.

“I don’t disagree with Starry that you were part of what set off his dragon’s eternal alarm system,” Duke said, measuring each word as if uttering the wrong one would break his entire theory apart. “I don’t have any doubts that your magic,” he pointed his fork at Blithe, “sought out every drop of Cord’s magic. That included the shade. Only you’d never met him before. So, I don’t think you realized it was a shade. Not consciously at least. Only, I think your magic did. You went wild. You’re always a bit unruly – comes with the Hemlock/Moonscale blood. Except it was more than that. At first, like Bobby, I put it off as part of the true-mate response and maybe it was. Maybe I’m adding that in because of hindsight. I’m not positive.”

“Okay,” Blithe nodded, tilting his head forward thoughtfully.

“Let me finish. You said you were glued to the spot when you were waiting outside the house with Daniel the first day we got here. What did you mean by that?” Duke asked Blithe.

“I couldn’t leave. I figured it was my wolf, my magic, or maybe the true-mate response, but I would’ve punched someone if they tried to drag me off.”

“I think your magic picked it up,” Duke nodded.

“But did you see it?” I asked Duke. “I kept seeing this floater like thing. Maybe a smudge is a better way of describing it, but it really felt like it was just my eyes playing with me. I was ready to see Dara about it. Thought maybe I needed glasses or something. Only now, I know what it was. I only caught glimpses of that thing, but whenever I did – I spaced out for a second or so. Sometimes longer.”

“Not see it, in the way you mean – not like that. Not like the omega sight or future sight either” Duke shook his head. “If I had seen it that way I would’ve said something. If I saw it that way – you and the other witches here would’ve seen it before we arrived. I’m not really a witch. I have some magic from both sides of my family, but I’m not a witch in the sense you and Blithe are.”

“Did you sense it?” I asked my question a different way.

“Not exactly, but sort of,” Duke said, setting aside his fork. “I’m not being vague on purpose. What I say about this will stand in memory for a long time and I don’t want to say it wrong. I knew something was off. My inner dude certainly knew something was off. That’s why I slept in bed with you the first night we were here. I was going to bunk on the sofa, but he insisted I share a bed with you guys. I didn’t feel the ‘off’ in the witch room. I figured that was because Starry or you had put some ultra cleansing spell in there or something, but I think he warded it out or maybe you did. Hell, Xi could’ve done it.”

“The others didn’t sense it, because it wasn’t doing anything trauma didn’t already do,” Blithe cut in. “At least I think that’s why. It made you sad. It made you spacey. It made you afraid of Ginger Barrel. Those things were already in place. It just amplified them. It wasn’t a fighting shade. It didn’t try to fight me at all. That damn thing was afraid or at least as afraid asa shade could be. I think it took on that woman’s face to keep others away from it.”

“That’s sorta sad,” I frowned and set down my fork. “That’s actually really sad.”

“If I could offer some half-draconic wisdom from my inner dude,” Duke looked at me.

“Okay,” I nodded.

“That empathy and kindness you feel for the shade give it to yourself,” Duke said. “That’s who it belongs to. That was your fear. A fear you couldn’t process. You lived with it day in and day out even before it was a shade. That’s why you didn’t notice the difference. Don’t feel bad for the shade as an entity. They’re just big balls of energy that people can’t hold in.”

I nodded and let his words sink in. After everything that had happened the last few days I could see why Starry and my friends worried about me so much. I knew what had happened to me was horrible. My dad was dead. My sire planned to execute me as a sacrifice to her hate group. I knew it was bad, but it wasn’t until I sat between my mate and his cousin that it all sank into my bones. It wasn’t just bad. It was fucking terrible. It was a fucking tragedy in the making. No wonder I was angry. No wonder I was always on guard. How the hell had I even survived this long?

“Mate?” Blithe’s words sank into my pores pushing away some of the pain so I could speak.

“I’m here. I’m in this moment,” I nodded. “I’m just wrapping my head around everything. I think I was in survival mode for --- Well, since it happened.”

“Probably,” Blithe said and squeezed my knee. “How do you feel now?”

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