Page 90 of How to Flirt with a Witch

Sky smiles as if oblivious. “What’s up?”

“What is wrong with you?” Natalie growls, getting right in her face. “Did you even think about the implications?”

Sky plants her feet and crosses her arms, clearly unafraid of her older sister. “You weren’t giving her a chance. She’s got a skill we can put to use, and you know it. Don’t let your anxieties get in the way of—”

“Don’t.” Natalie’s rage is palpable, lingering over the three of us like a storm cloud ready to unleash its worst. “This isn’t about anxieties. It’s about being smart.”

“Isn’t it? Nat, you haven’t let yourself process losing Mom, and now you’re letting it stop you from living your life.”

My heart squeezes. Of course Natalie’s reaction is about more than just keeping me away from magic and curses.

Chest heaving, she points at Sky, her finger an inch from her sister’s face. “If you endanger Katie again, I won’t be so nice next time.”

Sky slaps Natalie’s hand out of her face and turns toward the door. “You’re welcome for finding a way to let her stay. I’m going to have a beer and a nap.”

Natalie glares after her as she leaves the room.

Sky’s comment about Natalie liking me drifts forward. That’s what this is about? Sky wants me to stay for her sister’s sake?

That, or I’m reading too much into her words. It’s like Sky said—I have an ability they can put to use, and she didn’t want that to go to waste.

I shift my balance from foot to foot, my stomach twisting. Do I follow her? I definitely shouldn’t be in this lab right now, interrupting whatever meeting was going on.

I motion toward the door, afraid to meet Natalie’s eye. “I’ll just—”

She grabs my upper arm, sending a jolt through me, and calls over her shoulder. “Back soon, Fiona.”

Fiona waves us away, engrossed in conversation with the others.

Natalie’s strong grip sends my heart fluttering with a confusing mixture of emotions. First, it’s hard to suppress how I feel about her and the way her hand sparks pleasant tingles through me… even when she looks like she’s ready to rip a door off its hinges.

Second, there’s fear over how angry she is. Fear that I’ve lost her trust and messed up what slim chance I had with her.

“We need to have a talk,” she growls as we leave the room.

Shit.

Fear wins out, making my mouth dry. I try to think of something to say to ease the tension.

But I won’t apologize for going after what I wanted. I understand she’s trying to keep me safe, but she can’t stop me from living my purpose.

“You could’ve been killed.” Her voice is clipped as if she’s ready to explode. She’s still holding on as if she thinks I’m going to flee.

“But I wasn’t,” I say, defiant. “In fact, I got through the risks you were talking about, and it turns out, I can handle it.”

We stop at my door, and she lets go of my arm, facing me with a dangerous flash in her eyes. “What do you mean?”

I press a trembling hand to the lock and let us into my room. “There were cracking fish tanks, asphyxiation, the Bee Gees—”

“What?” sheroars.

I purse my lips, stepping around her. I slid in asphyxiation between the other things in the hopes that she’d let me gloss over it, but no such luck.

“It was no big—” Before I can shut the door, a furry white blur darts past and out into the corridor. I gasp. “Ethel!”

My kitten skitters down the hall with her tail up, apparently wanting to get far away from our argument.

Seeing her go, a strange lightness fills me. She’sallowedto roam the halls of CSAMM now, and so am I. She’ll probably find the courtyard in a few minutes and spend the afternoon watching the koi pond.