Page 45

“We have to go to the woods. Get dressed.”

Cohen frowned, and though Alana tried to kick out of the blankets to make her escape, he took her in his arms and pinned her down to the bed. “Woman, it is dawn. The sun isn’t even up yet. Wanna tell me why you’re trying to get out of bed? Didn’t I tire you out last night?”

She giggled and wiggled under him. His erection pressed against her hip, and she laughed again. “How can you be aroused again? Didn’tItireyouout last night?” she repeated the question, moving against him.

“You’re a witch.”

“I am,” she teased, rocking her hips again. “A good witch, though. Now, if you get out of bed and get dressed, I promise a repeat performance of last night.”

“We could do that right now.”

She shook her head and disentangled herself from Cohen. “We could, but I know where we have to go.”

“And where is that?”

She riffled through her closet until she found a pair of jeans. She quickly slid them on before grabbing a black zip-up hoodie which she also put on. Cohen watched her get dressed with a grin. “Usually, when a woman as hot as you is in my bedroom, I try to get her out of her clothes. Not into more.”

She pursed her lips at him. “Come on, Cohen. We can finally get to the bottom of this. I think I know how to get the magic spell back up.” Alana went to the bed and grabbed his arm, which she then proceeded to tug on him. “Come on.”

“Okay, okay,” he conceded, getting to his feet. “I’m up, you maddening woman. I’m up.”

Alana left him alone to dress and rushed to the kitchen, where she got two cups of coffee ready, putting them in travel mugs. She also slathered a bunch of peanut butter onto fresh toast and chopped up some apples. The whole lot went into a small bag that she slugged over her shoulder as soon as Cohen joined her in the kitchen. Alana handed him one of the mugs before kissing him.

“Are you ready? Good.” She didn’t stop to wait for his answer.

“Usually, people tell me their plans before we go blazing into whatever we are blazing into.”

She rolled her eyes. “Other people are not all-powerful witches, Cohen.”

“Nope, you’re right. Just shifters.” Laughter danced in his eyes.

“This conversation is very reminiscent of what usually sets us off. Maybe we should go before we start to fight.”

“The best part of fighting is the making up.” He winked at her. Cohen slurped a big gulp of coffee, waiting for Alana’s reply.

“Fine. Let’s fight and make up later. Right now, we need to get to the woods. I had a dream, and I think it might have been a message from the beyond.”

He frowned, his coffee container stopping halfway to his mouth. “A message from the beyond?” he repeated.

Alana nodded. “Just as I was about to wake up, I had a dream where my grandmother and mother were discussing the spell, my father, and the possible consequences. We need to go to the woods where the stones cracked during the earthquake. That’s where they did the spell. The love oneandthe protective one.”

“What? Why there?”

Alana took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she readied herself to speak the words that were sure to hurt her. It was intense, but she would think about the spell and the implications later. “We need to go there because if I understood the dream properly, my family didn’t just take my magic. They didn’t bind me, exactly. They used my magical powers to seal the protective spell.”

Cohen’s eyes widened, and his brows went all the way up into his hairline. “What the fuck? Are you saying that the spell has been your magical powers this whole time?”

She nodded, a ball forming in the back of her throat.

“Oh, love.” Cohen placed his cup on the counter to grab her into a warm and comforting hug. “I am so sorry they did that.”

“It’s okay,” she sniffled.

He pulled away only long enough to look into her eyes. “What? How can this be okay?”

“I just think that they had to be pretty fucking desperate to do that. Magical powers are sacred to witches, and there is no way my family would have severed me from my magic unless they had good reason. It might have been the only way they could think of to save the town. It very well might have been the only way to protect me from my father.”

Cohen moved away from the hug again, but his frown was darker and full of anger this time. “Protect you from your father? What the hell?”