Page 19 of Bewitched By the Voodoo King (The Bewitching Hour #7)

Rune had almost kissed me. I was sure of it, and it was the only thing I could think about as I prepared for the full moon in the coming weeks.

Rune insisted I go visit my family and celebrate the baby coming soon, but I knew that I couldn’t leave…

Not now. This coven needed me, and I needed to see that through.

“Halloween!” Adelle let herself into my room. I didn’t mind. It was nice to have a friend who knew no boundaries. I’d never had one like that before. “That’s when the full moon is. Are you ready for it? Do you need anything?”

She eyed me sitting on the bed with my grimoires out around me. Rune had graciously sent me my beloved trunk, and I now had access to all of my precious belongings.

Her question was a loaded one. I needed a lot more than I could ever admit out loud. “Uh, I’m not really sure.”

“How did you prepare at home?” Her eyes landed on my trunk, and I was glad it was magically spelled. I didn’t think she would ever snoop, but I didn’t trust anyone else in this coven. I was almost sure a few had tried already, but I couldn’t prove it with my lack of magic.

My mouth went dry. “I baked.”

It wasn’t a lie. I had baked so that the others in the coven could prepare for the full moon.

“You could do that here.” She looked over at the little kitchenette with a skeptical look.

“Yeah, no, I can’t and don’t get me started on Maggie. She still won’t let me lose in her kitchen.”

Adelle walked over to the tiny half oven and opened it. A puff of dust erupted in her face, and she sneezed. She coughed and waved her hand in front of her face. “Yeah, and I regret everything. That oven looks like it predates magic.”

I laughed softly, but it died quickly. “It’s fine. I’ll figure something out. Baking’s just… how I made myself useful.”

Adelle sat down on the corner of the bed and looked at my books.

“They didn’t treat you badly there, did they?

” When my eyes shot up from the books I was mindlessly staring at, she held her hands up in surrender.

“Rune mentioned me taking you home to see your family, but you’ve been insistent about staying here. You’re never on your phone.”

“They never hurt me physically, Adelle. But some emotional cuts are worse than physical ones. They never knew where I fit in, so I think it’s better for everyone that I’m not there anymore.”

Adelle frowned. “Can I hate them?”

I shook my head. “My parents are great, and they text me and send me pictures, but that’s my old life. This is my new life. There’s no point in staying stuck in the past. I want to grow here.”

She nodded but didn’t look too happy about it. “Fine, but if I ever meet them… I won’t be friendly.”

She flopped back beside me and folded her arms behind her head. “The full moon’s coming—but before that, we have our coven’s biggest event of the year: the Halloween Masquerade.”

I sat up. “Wait, really?”

Her eyes sparkled. “Yes. Which means one thing: shopping.”

I gave her a look. “Rune’s never going to let us leave the compound after the mist wolf thing.”

Adelle wiggled her brows. “Our mother is taking us.”

I blinked. “That sounds like even more reason for Rune to say no.”

She grinned. “Our mother’s a force of nature. You don’t give her rules.”

“Okay,” I said, somewhat excitedly. “When?”

“Tomorrow!” The room was practically thrumming with energy now. You didn’t need magic to feel it in the air. “You’re going to need something show-stopping.”

I giggled. “Why me? Why not you?”

Her eyes cut to me. “I’m pretty sure that’s when Rune is going to hard launch his relationship with you.”

I pressed my hands to my cheeks, which were definitely bright pink now. “Already? We’ve hardly seen each other since the whole mist wolf thing…”

Adelle frowned. “He hasn’t asked you out again.”

After the comment about wanting to taste me… No.

I shivered at the thought. “Not really.”

One of her brows lifted. “He has been busy trying to prepare for the first full moon since our father passed, and we are finally doing a funeral. Plus, the masquerade, but that is all my mother’s doing, thankfully.”

I looked down at my lap. “Do you think he needs help?”

A slow, mischievous smile bloomed across her face. “Oh, honey. I think you should definitely offer. Especially since you still haven’t figured out how to prep for the full moon. Two cauldrons, one fire.”

I ran my hands down the front of my skirt, nerves bouncing around in my chest. I’d gone for casual—well, casual cute —with a white crop top that dipped just enough to make me second-guess everything.

The fitted skirt hugged my hips before flaring out at my knees, and my black stud earrings matched the wrap-around sandals laced up my ankles.

But it was my hair that had nearly defeated me.

Thankfully, Adelle had stepped in with her magic hands—literally or not, I wasn’t sure—and coaxed my curls into the cutest half-up, half-down style I’d ever worn.

I loved her for it. I even dusted on some makeup.

A swipe of gloss. A bit of mascara. And just like that…

I almost felt like a new woman. Then I remembered I was doing all of this for Rune, and my stomach bottomed out all over again.

Maybe this was silly. I took two steps back toward my room, but Adelle pushed me forward.

“You’ve got this!” She smacked my bum and walked off. I shimmied out my limbs and decided she was right. I did have this, and if I wanted more, I was going to have to take it for myself.

I marched across the compound with a newfound confidence and knocked lightly on Rune’s office door. He hadn’t left that room often in the last week since we’d seen each other.

“Yes?” He called on the other side.

I pushed the door open and stopped short.

Babette was perched on the edge of Rune’s desk like she owned the place. She was leaning in close, her cleavage everywhere, her eyes locked on Rune like she was seconds from climbing into his lap.

The confidence I’d gathered just minutes ago? Poof. Gone.

Rune’s brow furrowed as he glanced up at her—then at me.

No one said a thing.

I stood there, heart jackhammering, sweat pricking my palms, trying to summon something— anything —to say.

Finally— “Hi.”

Rune straightened behind his desk and adjusted the collar on his shirt. “That’s all, Babette, you can leave now.”

Her icy, cold glare slid to me. “I wasn’t finished.”

“I’m finished,” his tone could have cut through glass.

She glared at me as she slid from her perch and exited the room.

I ran my trembling hands down the front of my skirt again and began rethinking everything I’d set out to do.

Babette was sexy, and I was over here looking like I played dress up.

Her top showed off all of her cleavage, and her pencil skirt hugged her curves and left little to the imagination. What the hell was I doing here?

“Close the door behind you, Babette.”

I jumped as it slammed shut. Rune let out a sigh and tipped his head back in his chair. He seemed more stressed than anything else. Maybe it wasn’t like that between them.

“What can I do for you, Maple?”

So formal.

“Um,” I hated how uncertain I felt and sounded. “I was wondering if you needed any help with preparing for the upcoming full moon.”

His expression softened, and I felt myself drawn to him all over again, the tension with Babette dissolving between us. I felt like I could breathe again. “What are you thinking?”

I blinked. Oh, ancestors, I’d come in here without a plan. Tension coiled tighter in my gut. “Anything you need,” I said, swallowing my nerves. “I want to be here for you.”

Rune straightened in his chair, the edge in his posture softening.

He leaned forward and rifled through one of the drawers before pulling out a folded sheet of paper.

“This is a list of everything we’ll need for the full moon,” he said, handing it to me.

“If you could get this to Maggie, she’ll know what to do. ”

I took the list, scanning the neat handwriting.

Herbs.

Spices.

Cow tongue?

Before I could recover, he slid another paper across the desk. “And this one’s for my mother. She’ll be working on the ancestral altar and warding candles.”

Needles. Incense. Silks. More candles than seemed reasonable.

“I can do that,” I said quickly—maybe too quickly.

Then, before I could talk myself out of it, “Would you like to go to dinner tonight?”

The words hung there like magic, shimmering and impossible to take back.

Rune’s head lifted slowly. His eyes locked on mine—and then he smiled. Not the tight, controlled curve of his usual smirk. A real one. A dangerous one.

My heart soared—and stuttered at the same time.

“I’d like that,” he said, voice low and sure. “What time should I pick you up?”