Page 45 of A Dance with the Fae (Mistress of Magic #1)
‘He’s a nice guy.’ Aisha passed Faye a mug of tea. ‘Funny. And he let me borrow some of his vinyl. He’s got a wicked collection.’
It was Saturday and Faye had a hangover. Annie had got up early for her flight to London; they’d said a final misty goodbye sometime in the early hours before Faye had passed out in her bed. She’d woken up with a headache like a drill.
She’d had to open up, though. Tourists were finding their way to Abercolme for the summer, and Saturdays were her busiest day of the week.
Already the shop was full of customers milling between the scented candles and the tarot card display, leafing through the book where Faye kept sample cards of each deck.
She’d been keen to hear about Rav from Aisha. He had texted again: How are you? I can’t stop thinking about you. But she hadn’t replied. She still wasn’t sure if it was a good idea.
She had been dreaming of him, though. The dreams with Finn had stopped; Moddie’s charm must have been helping. Instead, her nights had been full of longing for Rav.
The dreams were different to the ones she’d had about Finn.
Her dreams about Rav were just dreams, but that didn’t mean they weren’t full of feeling.
The night before, Faye had dreamed that she and Rav were making love on the beach again.
But this time she had been dressed like Morgana Le Fae, in a black gown that was part of the sea behind her.
In her dream, Rav was naked and she had commanded him to kneel before her and kiss her feet.
He did it, and then looked up longingly at her.
How may I pleasure you further, my queen? he asked. She told him to worship her with his tongue, then, and willingly he pressed his face into her. She held his head firmly in both hands, relishing the sweet sensation of his tongue on her, and woke, hungry for satisfaction.
Faye felt jealous of Rav and Aisha: the idea that they might be getting close, sharing laughs, talking about music, all the pleasant, normal things that she could have enjoyed with Rav if she had never got involved with Finn Beatha.
Any number of opportunities could present themselves for Rav and Aisha’s hands to touch, for them to share eye contact for one micro-second too long.
And then, to kiss. To touch. To become a couple.
Aisha was a pretty girl. Rav was clearly a man with needs.
‘He really likes you, you know. You could be a wee bit nicer to him.’ Aisha broke into Faye’s thoughts; Faye noticed a blush rise on Aisha’s cheeks.
‘Who? Rav?’
‘Yeah. He talks about you all the time.’ Aisha looked down, and Faye wondered if Aisha was jealous of her .
‘I like him, too. It’s complicated,’ she said quietly.
‘Is it?’ Aisha drank her tea and looked innocently at Faye. ‘Why?’
‘It just is.’ Faye didn’t want to explain – couldn’t explain – about Finn.
What could she say? That she was learning faerie magic so that if the jealous faerie king who was now obsessed with her turned on her or Rav, she could stop him enacting a brutal punishment on both of them?
For a moment, Faye reflected that she had never before in her life been involved with two men at once (although one wasn’t technically a man).
She smiled ruefully to herself. Wasn’t this what witches were supposed to do?
Enchant men and drive them mad with lust?
Wasn’t that what many innocent women were put to the stake for supposedly doing?
The man had whispered in Grainne Morgan’s ear that she was the devil’s whore, after all.
‘Okay.’ Aisha looked at the door as some customers walked in. ‘I should probably…’
‘Sure.’
Faye washed up her cup and pottered around in the little kitchenette.
No good can come of thinking about Rav , she chastened herself.
You’ve made your decision – now, stick to it .
She unpacked a box of different-coloured little silk bags, herbal resins in small pouches and some new crystals.
The bags reminded Faye that she hadn’t made any new incenses for a while, and the shelf where she usually stacked her pretty glass jars, labelled with her own brand, Mistress of Magic, was looking sparse.
‘Might go for a forage later,’ she mentioned to Aisha, who nodded.
Faye made all her incenses with as many locally sourced herbs and plants as she could; there was no need for some of the strange and unusual ingredients she sometimes saw added to herbal remedies sold to burn or to drink.
Plants worked best in magic when you used what was local to you, wherever you were in the world; different cultures had plants that essentially did the same things.
‘Foraging’s definitely a good idea. We’re low on love incense in particular,’ Aisha sighed. ‘I could do with some of that.’
‘Love spell not worked yet, then?’ Faye said it lightly, but she watched Aisha closely; she couldn’t help herself. To see whether there was a twinkle that meant she might have fallen for Rav, or not.
Aisha avoided her gaze and blushed. ‘I dunno,’ she muttered and turned away to help a woman who wanted to know which colour candle to buy for a protection spell. Faye waited for her to finish her conversation with the woman. Suspicion bloomed in her like a black rose.
‘Aish. Are you sure you’re not into someone?’ Faye asked, her heart was beating hard. Aisha shook her head, but Faye wasn’t convinced. It must be Rav; it must be. She knew it was for the best, but it tortured her, nonetheless. ‘Come on. You can tell me. Wallflowers’ club, remember?’
She was being disingenuous, and she had betrayed Aisha in a sense – she was certainly no longer a wallflower – but she had to know.
Faye had to stay away from Rav, but it would be so hard if he and Aisha started seeing each other.
She knew she shouldn’t ask; that the knowledge would be like sticking her finger in a cut. But she couldn’t help herself.
Aisha smiled awkwardly and motioned Faye towards her.
‘I can’t say. It’s…it’s not the time,’ she whispered. ‘I think we need to talk. Later.’ She gave Faye an odd smile and moved away from her, behind the counter to serve more customers.
Faye turned away, saddened. She knew Aisha and Rav had more in common than she and Rav did. Aisha was beautiful, intelligent, she loved music as much as Rav. But Faye wanted Rav. So, where did that leave her?