Page 51 of Whiskey & Witches
If she didn’t know better, she’d think he didn’t want to keep what they already possessed. However, now she had the opportunity to have both: Aether and O’Malley magic. She only needed to convince Seamus, the pea-brained eejit, to help her tempt the children past the wards. It shouldn’t be hard in either case; little brats tended to wander where they weren’t supposed to in direct defiance of their parents.
With a wave of her hand over her scrying mirror, the Dethridge estate expanded to view the surrounding area.Her supernatural version of Google Maps. She laughed aloud. No one understood her or her humor, but she didn’t need them to. Soon enough, she would be the new Enchantress, taking powers from other witches’ and warlocks’ as she saw fit. With the Aether’s and O’Malleys’ magic, she’d be unstoppable.
* * *
The instant Sabrinastepped onto the grounds of the estate, she felt the evil intent brush against her like icy fingers along hot skin. Image after image came to her, and with it, the Fates’ design. Her instinct was to run inside and find Papa, but if she did, the Sisters of Fate wouldn’t be happy with her. As the only Oracle, her visions became clearer and stronger every day; millions of possibilities for every presented situation floated about in her brain until she could isolate a solution to a problem. This time, however, she could only see two possible outcomes to the upcoming attack. In one, she died. In another, Aeden did.
She shot him a sideways look. The difference depended on his courage. As the Golden Son, he needed to sacrifice for the One—for her. If he didn’t, the prophecy wouldn’t come to pass, and any magic his family had begun to reclaim would revert back to Ronan.
And for the first time, she understood why Papa scolded her for telling the future. If she told Aeden about the evil woman’s plan, he could possibly run for the safety of his parents instead of staying out here, where he needed to be to satisfy the Fates.
Butterflies began to dance in her belly. She didn’t want to mess this up. “Do you like birds?” she asked to distract herself.
He shrugged, his expression neither caring nor uncaring.
She frowned and stopped walking and turned, so they stood face-to-face. Wanting to do something nice for him, to make up for the sacrifice he would make, she said, “I don’t need Papa to fix your throat. I can do it now if you want.”
He thought it over as he stared at something beyond her shoulder, and the wait was irritating. He should answer her since she was trying to do something nice for him.
“Well?”she demanded.
With a suddenness that stole her breath, he grinned, and she knew she couldn’t let him die for her. His soul was too beautiful, and it made her heart beat faster just to look at him.
“We have to go back to the house.” She reached for his hand, but he backed away and shook his head. “Aeden, if you don’t come back with me, I’ll be very cross.”
He must not have understood about her ability because he laughed. Noiseless, except for a whisper of his breath, he charmed her with the sound. Still, she balled her hands and glared. She couldn’t let him see she liked him or his laugh, or that she found him interesting. If he doubted she meant business and they didn’t return soon, they would be past the point of rescue.
“I can teleport us, you know.” The challenge in her tone only made him laugh harder—so she shoved him. “You’re not very clever, are you?”
He stopped laughing, but his eyes twinkled with humor, and she had the impression he was very clever indeed. She wished she could read him like she could others. The fact she couldn’t was confusing.
“Anu,” he croaked. “Stay here.”
“You talk to a goddess?” Maybe he was harder to read because he was tuned into the deities. That would make more sense if his brain was on another plane most of the time and not here on this level.
He nodded and did something with his hands. The gestures were fast, and Sabrina had a hard time following the movement. The longer she watched him, the clearer what he was trying to sign to her became. He repeated the sentences again and again until she grasped his special language, and by the time he was done, she had absorbed his knowledge of sign language. It seemed Aeden was far smarter than she’d given him credit for.
“Anu said we need to be here, at this moment. She said not to be afraid,” he signed.
Nodding, she gave him a curious look. “How did you guess I would learn your language?”
He grinned again. “Anu.”
Sabrina didn’t necessarily like that someone knew more than she did. She was to be the Oracle. The All-Seeing One. Nobody should be able to know more than her, especially not a boy. And it was as if he understood his knowledge bothered her and thought it funny.
“Did she tell you what would happen if we stay here?” she demanded.
“No. But she said not to be afraid.” His hands stopped moving, and he shifted closer to her. He was slightly taller, and he ducked to meet her eyes. The color of his irises shifted from the greenest grass to the darker shade of moss, and she could tell he wasn’t going to tease her anymore. He was deadly serious. “Protect you,” he whispered. “Always.”
She couldn’t stop the tears welling in her eyes, and she felt like a big baby when they poured down her cheeks. “I don’t want you to be hurt.”
He hugged her, and it felt nice. Not like Papa’s strong hugs, but close. The idea came to her that she could save him another way; no one had indicated she couldn’t. Holding tight, she mentally formed a protection spell and wove it into his dormant magic, fusing the two so it could never be separated without the help of another Aether. When Aeden needed it, it would be there for him.
She should’ve asked permission first, but she liked this boy too much. The feelings were cemented when he drew back and wiped her cheeks for her.
“Will you be my forever friend, Aeden?”
He smiled and nodded. “Always.”
