Chapter 19

She hummed, an adorable sound she made when in agreement, but was too deep in thought to respond.

After a beat, she turned and walked toward him, sitting sideways on the bench to face him. "Water is a lullaby for me. Unless I was dreaming, the closest I've been to an ocean is Lake Michigan, which looks remarkably like the Atlantic. I always intended to travel, but never got around to it. Well, until I arrived here, anyway. In dreams, the roaring sound and the waves drew me, a balm to my nerves. Restless and wild, it should've had the opposite effect. Instead, I was captivated. I suppose that makes sense, though, considering my element is water."

"In total honesty, I've Googled the whole witchcraft thing for two nights straight, but I still don't have much of a grasp, nor do I know what's folklore versus fact." Mercy, he wanted to touch her again. Having her within inches of him was wreaking havoc on his control. "If I understand correctly, each witch gets power from an element?"

"My sisters believe we get a lot of our powers from the moon or can draw energy from it." She rested her elbow on the back of the bench, setting her chin in her palm. "Any person born with magick is tied to an element, however. A bond, of sorts. We also have some kind of premonition gift. Mine's steeped in the present."

He grinned. "So, if I ask you what my brothers are doing right now, you could tell me?"

Her musical laugh echoed off the glass and penetrated his chest. "It doesn't work that way. For starters, I can't call upon it at will, and I tend to get visions while asleep."

"More dream potency." He sobered, wondering if he was but a chess piece in Fate's game. How else was he to explain how he'd appeared in her dreams? Not even Mara could seem to offer a guess. Studying Kaida's face, he almost didn't care if he was a pawn. It had brought her to him. "How is it going with your sisters?"

"Good." She huffed a laugh. "Fiona has a talent for potions. The other night, she dropped a six-hundred page hardcover manual on botany off in my room. Told me to study it. I gleaned more from watching her blend herbs than the book, though. Luckily, she didn't mind the audience. I'm learning." She shrugged. "Ceara's a master spell-caster. She's great with words and can whip up a spell off the top of her head while doing three other things at once."

That's not exactly what he'd meant. Her birth family had sent her away in an open adoption to distant relatives who were supposed to teach her about her gifts, yet hadn't. She'd had no clue she had sisters, never mind powers. In under a week, she'd been forced to adapt to siblings, destinies, and answers about her past, which had to have hurt her to hear. The way he saw it, they'd treated her like she was dispensable.

Fiona and Ceara had been mere toddlers back then and had no say in the decision thrust at Kaida, but she had to resent them on some level. Any option to form a bond with them had been stolen from her. Hell, if it were him, he'd be pissed off to no end. He couldn't fathom a life without his brothers. They were each others' rock and safe landing pad. Who was Kaida's? Who did she have to turn to in times of need?

Melancholy coagulated with anger in his gut. Gently, he took her forearm and turned it over, cradling her hand in his. Brushing his thumb over her trinity knot, he stared at the mark, trying to conjure a diplomatic response. "Are they good to you?"

"Yes," she offered quietly. The catch in her breath told him she wasn't unaffected by the contact. "Fiona's not as patient as Ceara, but they're teaching me a lot."

"No, sweetheart." He lifted his gaze to hers, held it as emotions he couldn't handle churned inside him. "I want to know if they're good to you. Are they nice? Do they include you?" Would they have her back no matter what like his brothers did for him?

"Yes." She cleared her throat. "They ask about my life all the time, are trying to know me. In turn, they've told me stories about our ancestors." She paused. "Trust doesn't happen overnight. We were all but strangers a week ago. They're trying. We spend a lot of time together..."

He sensed a but coming and squeezed her hand to encourage more.

Closing her eyes, she drew a breath before opening them. "I sense they're using magick to form a connection between us. Not a spell or anything nefarious, but my lessons and us being at the shop are the only instances where we're together. I think they feel the timeline for this curse is forcing them to rush, putting everything I should've known about the craft into my head at once."

Her gaze dropped to his throat, distant and sad. "It's having the opposite effect. Figuring out our tasks and breaking the spell is important. I get that. So is me learning all I can to catch up." A sheen formed in her eyes. "But is it wrong of me to want to be a part of the family and not just a placeholder in destiny? Is that selfish?"

"Not selfish at all." He scooted closer until they were nearly on top of one another. He cupped the side of her head, wishing he could replace her longing with fulfillment. But bonding with her sisters wasn't a demon he could slay for her. "You should talk to them about it. Tell them how you're feeling."

In a display of complete surrender, she rested her forehead against his. "I know. It's just...different with them. I can talk to you. In a twisted way, we've known each other since we were kids. Them, not so much."

"Someone has to take the first step." Idly, he skimmed his fingers up and down her inner forearm, their faces still close as they shared air. Except it didn't matter how close they were. He was beginning to wonder if it would ever be enough. "You're the bravest person I know. It took courage to get on that plane based off a letter from a birth mother you'd never met, and even more courage to board that ferry. Talk to them. You'll feel better."

A smile, and she nodded. "I will. Thank you."

She went to ease away, but he slid his hand behind her neck to hold her to him. Her cerulean eyes widened a fraction, interest swirling in their depths. She drew the slightest inhale, unnoticeable had she not been in his orbit, forcing him to dip his gaze to her pouty, sexy-as-hell mouth. Rosemary swirled around him, invaded his lungs, and he had to know if she tasted like the herb. Had to know if his world would begin or end when he gave in to the urge.

"You don't ever have to thank me, Kaida." Holding his breath, he brushed his nose against hers. Anticipation tightened his windpipe. "This might be taking advantage of the situation, or moving too fast, but I want to kiss you."

Her lids lowered seductively and a swallow worked her throat. "Are you asking permission?"

"Are you giving it?"

In answer, she erased the meager distance and pressed her lips to his. A feather-light meeting, and she trembled in response. Oxygen backed up in his lungs, his heart thundering toward detonation, while she offered tentative brushes and cautious nips. Body humming, he perched on the edge of restraint, dying to plunge. With his eyes open, he watched hers fall closed, and he tested the waters of sanity by tilting his head for a tighter fit.

And he'd been wrong moments ago. On every cosmic level possible, he'd been wrong. His world didn't begin or end with a kiss. It wasn't as basic or mundane. Fragments of their shared timeline reformed into one, no longer divided, and seeped into his consciousness like an outer bank fog.

There was no her. No him. Never had been. They'd always been a them.

Pinching his lids shut on a groan, he sucked air through his nostrils and increased the pressure. Parting her lips with his, he wove his tongue against hers, velvet soft and hotter than the surface of the sun.

A mewl purred from her throat, jacking his pulse higher. She shoved her fingers in his hair, threaded the strands, and rose onto her knees, thrusting his head back. He wrapped an arm around her waist, crushing her to him, and gripped her ponytail with the other.

Memory slithered around in his skull. They'd done this before. Kissed. Held one another. Collided. Yet their dream world hadn't been in the same realm as this one. No muted sense of touch or a celestial force to yank them away. No barriers or limits.

And the potency plowed over him, through him, until he was clay in her hands for her alone to mold. Synapses misfired. Interest merged with desire, went from a feral need to he'd die without. He deepened the connection, went at her with more urgency, to which she matched him beat for beat.

Her clever mind had forever been a fascination to him, but he hadn't expected her kiss to mirror her thoughts or words. Like a book, he read her. The way she explored as if curious, charted a path and left her mark behind. The breadcrumbs were revealing, and yet nothing he hadn't known about her to date.

Seductive. Inquisitive. Compassionate. Sweet with a side of sass, if she felt the urge. But desperation and loneliness lay quietly underneath, hovering for someone to yank the chord and relieve her of the burden.

He gave in. To whatever the hell this was between them, he just gave in. Waved a white flag and surrendered. Caved to whatever spell the universe had woven. He was delusional to think otherwise, that he had any say in the matter.

Honestly, though. From the moment he'd encountered the little blonde sprite in his dreams as a boy, he'd been hers. One bat of those lashes, a curve of her smile, or light in her bluer than blue eyes, and she'd had him. By the short-hairs. The jugular.

And she showed no signs of letting go.

Holding his face in her hands, she eased away a fraction. An uneven exhale caressed his lips. Her sleepy lids lifted, and she shook her head slowly as if in disbelief. "Reality isn't supposed to be better than dreams or fantasy."

Yeah, well...nothing thus far had made sense. Why start now?