Page 24 of Witches and Wine (The Mythical Mates of Arcane Cove #1)

I’d sat on my couch staring at my hands for a solid twenty minutes.

I focused on intricate lines that made up my unique print on the palms, fingers, and tips.

For a brief moment, my magic floated from my skin, and I envisioned it settling over Dion, infiltrating his mind and coercing it into doing my bidding.

Convincing him that he was head over heels for me, that he wanted me and me alone, and that no one would come between us.

These were thoughts I’d had numerous times, thoughts I’d dismissed as soon as they rose because they felt petty and selfish.

Now, they’d all come true, and not even his family would come between us, which was absurd. What was next? He’d shun my sister?

Wincing at that, I finally closed my hands, tears streaking my cheeks, and a low sob bubbled from my throat. Riley had been curled up on my lap since I sat down, and he scurried down my thigh until he reached my knee, pressing those adorably tiny paws on each side of it.

“Maybe I should talk to the Priestess more. What if she can help me control this?” I ran my forefinger between Riley’s eyes.

Riley bristled and patted my knee in his version of encouragement.

“Yes. Would you like to come with me this time? Apparently, a witch’s animal companion goes hand in hand.” Scratching his chin, I smiled when his ears flattened to his head, his back arching, and he started making those cute clucking noises he did whenever he was overly happy.

Sniffling, I gestured him up my arm and stood, grabbing a tissue. Securing Riley at the crook of my neck, I exited my apartment.

Unlike last time, no sooner had I approached the Crone’s abode than the door swung open. An invisible force pulled me inside, and the door slammed shut behind me. Riley scurried circles around my neck in a panic before pausing on my shoulder and baring his teeth at Cressida.

“You brought your familiar this time, I see,” the Priestess crooned while threading something on a loom.

My heart had begun to race but slowed, and I rubbed Riley’s furry crest. “My familiar?”

“Yes, child. The animal who has bonded to you—” The Crone pointed a bony finger at my ferret. “—is your familiar. Considering they often help with a witch’s magic, I’d suggest you keep him on your person as often as possible.”

Riley’s protesting subsided the more my nerves settled, and eventually, he curled his tail around my neck like a scarf and lay down.

“Where’s your familiar? Do you not have one?” I asked after searching all corners of the small cottage.

Cressida chuckled, working a wooden utensil up the threads, aligning them tightly together. “She’s an owl. And I’d imagine she’s off hunting at the moment. I leave the window open for her.” She pointed at the cracked wooden window behind me.

Silence overtook me because I didn’t know what to ask or say.

“Interesting that your animal is a ferret,” the Priestess said.

I couldn’t have imagined any other animal since Riley found me.

“Interesting? Why?”

The Priestess stopped threading and massaged her hands. “They’re known for their inquisitive nature and, interestingly enough, are associated with tricksters .”

“Tricksters?” I half smiled and stroked Riley’s fur. “Because he likes to steal things?”

The Crone moved closer to me, dissecting me with her cloudy gaze. “More like their ability to outwit predators.”

My throat tightening made my magic pulse against my skin. “Dionysus isn’t a predator. Not to me.”

A smile crested Cressida’s face. “Curious how you immediately assumed that’s who I was referring to.”

Agitation over the entire situation, the confusion of finding out I’m a witch, that my mother was a witch, and the growing bond I’d felt in my bones with Dion had my power sizzling up my spine.

Bowls rattled on the table, the firelit sconces flickered, and the flame in the hearth lashed out, catching a pile of herbs on fire.

The Crone didn’t look away from me as she slapped her hand over it, squelching the flame into dying embers. “Do you see now why I said your magic is swaying the god’s mind?”

Riley nuzzled his head under my chin, attempting to soothe me. “Then help me control it. If Dion and I are destined to be together, then I want to know that it’s him who chooses me, not because he’s—” I paused, watching my ivory magic wisp in sparkling tendrils around my fingers. “—bewitched.”

“I don’t know, dearie,” Cressida tapped her longer fingernails together, shifting her glance away from me. “Such a power as yours may have no desire to be controlled.”

Haughtily, frustratedly, I marched forward until only the table separated me from the Crone. “How can you say I’m powerful when I don’t even know how I rattled the bowls or manipulated the fire? It was acting off my emotions.”

“Precisely.” The Crone smiled and used her hand to brush away utensils and a sprig of something, revealing a piece of parchment with a crescent moon illustration. “Because you’re a moon witch.”

My powers responded by swirling through the room, blanketing anything in its path with misty vapors and glitter that disappeared in its wake.

“I don’t know what that means,” I whispered, staring at the lunar drawing on the stained parchment.

The Crone patted my hand, her older skin so translucent I could make out every vein. “You will with time. Is coercing the attention of a wealthy Greek god such a bad thing? Even if you can’t undo the spell?”

“Can’t undo the—” I yanked away from her touch. “Why would I be okay with that? I don’t want to manipulate anyone . Especially him.”

The Priestess pounded the table, making me and Riley jump. “You’re a witch. It’s what we do. It’s in our nature.” Regaining her composure, Cressida flattened her silver hair against her cloak. “Such are the burdens when our kind fall in love, my dear.”

Love.

Tears filled my eyes, and I blinked them away, Riley using his fur to soak them up once they dripped from my chin.

This wasn’t fair to Dion. Shit. This wasn’t fair to me .

“You’re supposed to be my mentor. You’re supposed to help me navigate this,” I croaked, my words crawling from my throat like a desperate, pathetic plea.

“What do you think I’m doing? You’ve already had your first lesson, dearie.” The Crone flicked her wrist at the door, making it burst open. “Off you go. You know what you must do.”

What must I do? I became more confused now than I was before deciding to come back here.

Numb and dumbstruck, I exited the Crone’s hovel, staring at my magic still making infinity symbols around my knuckles.

My phone buzzed, and I fished it from my purse, frowning at the barren spot where the cottage used to be, the building now having disappeared. I ignored the name glowing on the screen and put the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

A masculine chuckle sounded. “You’d think you would have your clients saved in your phone.”

Shaking my head from the haze clouding my mind, I peeled the phone away long enough to see the name Apollo. For whatever reason, I’d been expecting to hear my sister’s voice on the other line. “Apollo, sorry. I’ve got a lot going on. What’s up?”

“I can call back later.”

Riley curled around my neck, using his tail to make lazy strokes up and down my cheek.

“No, it’s fine. I need to work, trust me.” Following the trail leading out of the woods, I entered town, not knowing where to go. Home was the last place I wanted to be.

“Alrighty. I got in touch with Aurora.”

I wanted to think I was good with names—no scratch that, great with names. So why hadn’t I recognized this one?

“Who?”

A laughing green child with tusks sticking out from the bottom of his mouth, pressing over his top lip, sprinted past me with a chicken raised above his head.

“The bar owner. The Crimson Crypt?”

A bigger green being with tusks doubling the size of the child’s and dark green, wavy hair hanging down to their hips chased the child, pointing a clawed finger and growling. “For the tenth time, the chickens stay in their coop, Benny,” the being yelled with a feminine voice.

“The bar. Got it. Did she have good news?” I bit back a smile, watching the child and who I assumed was his mother. The child let go of the chicken, and they started chasing it around townspeople.

“Great news. She’s not only interested but so interested that she wants me there every week. I’d say I told you so, but?—”

Laughing, I walked further into town, stopping by the fountain in the plaza area. A bronze mermaid sat on a rock with her tail hanging off the side, pouring a vase of water that served as the fountain spout into the circular pool. “You can say it. I’ve got thick skin.”

“Well, not when you take all the fun right out of it.” I could tell Apollo smiled while saying that from the upward lilt in his voice.

“Send me her contact information, and I’ll get in touch tomorrow to see about setting things up. Sound good?” I sat on one of four marble benches surrounding the fountain, coaxing Riley to curl up in my lap.

“Perfect. I just texted it to you. Have a good one, boss.”

“I’m not your boss, Apollo,” I said, chuckling.

“You are. You’ll see,” he countered and hung up.

With a deep sigh, I slid the phone into my purse and people-watched.

It was a wonder I hadn’t noticed the eclectic population of Arcane Cove when I’d first arrived.

In only a matter of minutes, I witnessed demons, orcs, and several types of winged beings I couldn’t identify walking through the plaza.

Despite the sun brightening the sky, the moon was still blatantly visible but faded—a crescent moon.

I’m a moon witch.

It unnerved me that the High Priestess chose to drop that particular bomb without further elaboration. Did she expect me to figure it out on my own? Was that how witches were supposed to navigate their magic?

I stomped my foot and secured Riley from toppling off my lap. He popped his head up and blinked at me, his tiny paws kneading my thighs.

I’d half expected the townspeople to notice me more than they did. Did they all know what I was? Did they know before I did?

I cared for Dion. I wanted Dion. I wanted this place and all its magic and luster. I wanted to learn how to use my magic and be the moon witch I was fated to be. None of that could come true, however, if I couldn’t figure out how to control it, to use it, to manifest it fully.

If only my mom were here.