Page 22 of Jade Lion and the Witch Boy (Haunted Hearts: Season of the Witch #5)

THE NEXT WEEK is bliss. No wizards, no exes, no strange coven conspiracies, just me and Kai, hanging out whenever we can.

We go to work, he goes to the library, and he hangs out at Brew-Ha as my shift ends.

He occasionally shoots me meaningful looks, purposefully trying to distract me with his sexiness, and I try not to get flustered while I make lattes for patrons.

Then we walk home and hold hands, and I can’t stop smiling.

On my day off, we go shopping and buy him clothes the normal way.

He looks hot in jeans, and I resist the urge to get freaky in the dressing room.

Later, we take documents with Kai’s new information—magically forged, of course—to get him a government identification card.

He’s officially part of the twenty-first century, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

Part of that might be from the hot sex we’ve been having.

Lisbeth loves that we’re spending all this time together, but I don’t want Kai to know that Boysen House wants his powers. I should tell him, but why burst our happy couple bubble? He’s not even wearing the protection bracelet, so no harm done, right?

Every day and night, Kai looks at me like I hung the stars.

His passion for me hasn’t died down. He might be falling for me, and despite trying to take things slow, I’m falling for him, too.

I’ve never felt this healthy before. Magic or no magic, he’s enchanted me, and I don’t want to build a future without him.

One night, I’m finishing up an experimental cookie dough mix for tomorrow’s shift when I hear someone behind me. I know it’s not Kai—we can sense each other’s presence—so I take my time putting plastic wrap over the bowl.

After placing it in the fridge, I turn to see my best friend smiling at me. Taina’s placing her scrying bowl, a candle, and other divination accessories on the kitchen table while she looks at me expectantly.

“Hey, you.”

“Hey, girl,” I say. “What’s up?”

“It’s a full moon. You know what that means.”

“Ah.” Witches are at their strongest during the full moon, not that I’ve needed to do anything solo. These are the evenings when Taina’s divination is most efficient. I haven’t asked her for a reading in a while. “You scrying for Ashley or something?”

“No, silly. You.” She lights a candle and beckons me to join her. “You haven’t had a reading in forever.”

“While I do appreciate you helping me avoid dog poop on the sidewalk all those times…” We both chuckle, and I lean on the kitchen chair. “I think I’m good, Ty.”

“Pleeease, Seb. We haven’t done this in ages.” She walks to the sink to fill her scrying bowl with water. “In fact, we haven’t done anything together in weeks.”

My smile falls—she’s really laying on the guilt this time. To be fair, we used to hang out non-stop, so she might have a point.

“It’s the first time I’m seeing you without Kai since he moved in.” She sits down and gazes up at me. “Where is the chosen one, anyway?”

I snicker. “He’s going for his lion romp in the woods. Stretch his claws out.”

“Scary stuff,” Taina murmurs, lighting the candle.

“Not really.” She doesn’t need to know I find his lion form just as sexy as his human guise. I sit down and prop my left elbow on the table, allowing my hand to hover above the bowl. “Alright, witch girl. Divine my future.”

“Very well, witch boy,” she replies. We giggle at the quirky nicknames we coined when we both discovered we were mages―that is, spellcasters of any kind. The friendship bonds formed in college are unlike any other magic.

Taina closes her eyes and gathers smoke from the candle to her face.

The calming aroma of jasmine and patchouli invades my nostrils.

She takes in a deep breath, and I try to center myself, focusing on my witchcraft connection to the moon.

After several seconds, Taina takes the sterile needle package—one of the perks of being a nurse—and opens it up.

All the while, I take the alcohol pad and wipe my smallest finger.

Just because we’re witches doesn’t mean we shouldn’t adhere to scientific safety when it comes to blood-letting.

At last, Taina pokes my finger, the way she’s done dozens of times before, and squeezes out five drops of blood into the bowl.

The red fluid disperses in the water, like the roots of a tree, reaching deeper and deeper into the six-inch-deep bowl.

That tiny bit of pain is a small price to pay for accurate fortune-telling.

I cover my finger with a cotton swab and allow my best friend to get to work.

She peers down at the surface of the water, occasionally moving her hands in a circle, allowing witchcraft to flow.

While I’m magical, I don’t put much stock into divination. Usually, she sees mundane stuff I already knew would occur, like getting a C on my business final that one time. For a witch, I’m perfectly content in letting the future happen as it comes.

I wrap my finger in a bandage, and I think of Kai.

My life has changed so much since I liberated the Jade Lion from his tiny imprisonment.

And now we’ve become more than friends. Will we be boyfriends a year from now?

Husbands in five years? Wait, are we even boyfriends now?

I should really define the relationship.

I’d add that to the list of Things Seb isn’t telling Kai because we’re having too much fun hooking up.

“No!” Taina’s head shoots up, and I’m startled in my seat.

“Wha…what?”

She looks left and right, then touches her chest, all while hyperventilating.

“Just breathe, Ty.” I get up and stand next to her. When I touch her shoulder, she doesn’t react, like she’s trapped in a nightmare. “Ty, look at me.” She brings her brown eyes to me, and I nod. “You’re fine. Just breathe. It’s okay.”

She gulps and nods, and lucidity returns to her.

I go to the sink to get her a glass of water.

Meanwhile, anxiety creeps up my spine. When she discovered she had the gift of divination, we were both scared that she would keep seeing horrifying visions.

Taina could see the future, so what was to stop her from seeing premonitions of log trucks breaking on the highway and killing us?

But it’s been years, and she has never been disturbed by a vision.

Until now. All because of a reading from my blood. “What…what did you see?”

She finishes the water and starts to pace around. She won’t even look at me, and my panic grows.

“Ty, please tell me what you saw.”

She gazes at me with pain in her eyes. Then, she throws herself at me. I’m wrapped in a tight hug, and after a moment, I hug her back. “Uh, there, there?”

“I saw you…on your deathbed.”

I pull her off and ask, “What? When?”

“So…so fucking soon. Too soon.” Her eyes tear up, and she sniffs. “I’ve never had a vision like that.”

I’m about to die? I bite my lip, stare at the bowl, then back at her. My hands tremble as I pull up a chair for her. “Wha…what did you see exactly?” I ask with a raspy voice.

“Someone…steals your life force.”

My brow furrows, and I sit next to her. I take her hand and ask, “What?”

“Your blood is sapped from your body.”

“Like…like a vampire?” Are vampires real? I stopped disbelieving in any mythical creatures when I discovered witchcraft. That was long before gazing into the eyes of the abominations of the Other Side.

“No.” She gulps and puts her hand over mine. “It was Kai.”

“What?” I flinch like I’ve just been slapped.

“I see bits and pieces of the future.” She tries to touch my hand again, but I pull back. “Seb, I watched Kai in his lion form. He absorbed your blood into his soul. Then I saw myself holding you while you were in a coma. I could see a blood IV drip, with more bags ready to be transfused.”

I can’t even breathe when she continues, “The future is a puzzle, but these pieces were so vivid. It all adds up to Kai, somehow, somewhere, taking your life force.”

“No!” I stand up and shake my head. “Stop…stop talking.”

“Seb, please―”

“Kai would never do that!” My heart races as I point to myself. I’ve never raised my voice at my best friend, but this is unacceptable news.

“Seb,” she says in a pleading tone.

“No, Kai would never hurt me!” I don’t even care if the entire house hears me.

She shakes her head. “That guy isn’t even a witch. Do you even know him like―”

“Do YOU even know him?” I shout. Memories of him making love to me in the stars flash through my mind. I see visions of us holding hands, chatting about books in a corner of Brew-Ha. I recall holding him in the woods in Hong Kong as he cried.

Taina seems upset, but my mind is spinning with fear and anger. She gulps and quietly says, “I know the future.”

“Then the future is wrong.” I step back and look away. “I didn’t even want you to scry for me,” I mutter.

“Seb―”

“No, stay the hell away from me. From us.” With that, I storm away to my room. I slam the door, grateful that everyone’s room is in its own little wing here in Boysen House.

I land on my bed and curl up around my pillow. It still smells like Kai, and I have every intention of sleeping with him again tonight. Once he comes back, I’m not letting anyone else in the coven talk to him.

Taina may be able to use precognition, but I know what I feel in my heart. Kai wouldn’t take my life force. He loves me, and as long as I remember that, we’ll be okay. He’s my future, and I refuse to let anyone take that away from us.