Eleri Stone - Witch Bound

Raquel followed him toward the stairs but paused when Lois called her name. “I’ll want to check your work before we place them.”

Raquel schooled her features into a neutral expression. It wasn’t polite to gloat. “Of course.”

Reaching the top of the stairs, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it for a minute while the boy went to grab the box. He was smiling when he came back to set the crate on the workbench. “That was awesome. I’ve never seen anyone stand up to her like that before.”

Raquel shook her head. She really didn’t want to fight unless she had to. She was following the advice Kathy had given her— go in strong and stand your ground , or she’ll bulldoze you.

“I didn’t say that to hurt her. I don’t like being bullied and I want to help.” The boy’s expression fell a bit so she said, “You’ve a good bit of power.”

He shrugged. “Not enough to do anything more than feed a circle.”

“That depends on what you do with it. This—” she grabbed the first stone out of the box and set it down on the scarred wood, “—doesn’t require much in the way of personal energy, but it’s incredibly powerful when used properly.”

She pulled the cap off the Sharpie with her teeth. He hopped onto the stool next to her and craned his neck to see what she was doing. “What if we do it wrong?”

“Then we destroy the town.”

He fell silent, meeting her gaze to see if she was serious. She was dead serious. When he saw that, his face paled a little and she continued, “It takes a lot of practice and you have to know what you’re doing. Lois was right to ask to check my work before we activate them. You always want at least one other person to double-check your work. Anybody can make mistakes, and mistakes can kill you.”

He was paying attention, all that young energy focused on the rune she drew on the first stone. She’d burn them later when she was satisfied that everything was right and activate them once they were positioned on site. That small magic she could do. It was the big stuff everyone had been expecting from her since she was a child, the kind of thing that would make her suitable as a clan witch, that eluded her. Julian looked at her, all wide eyes and held breath. “You know what you’re doing, right?”

She sure hoped so.

Christian was an astonishingly good-looking man. Generally, Raquel was more comfortable with the jeans-and-T-shirt crowd, but even she could appreciate how well he wore a suit. Turning around in the middle of the hallway before he caught sight of her, she almost crashed into Audrey.

“Maybe you were right about the heels.”

Audrey held up her hand, the sexy shoes dangling from her fingers. “Of course I was right. I bought the dress to go with the shoes.”

“What? That’s so crazy backward I don’t even know—”

Audrey pointed at the bench beside the hall closet. “Sit and I’ll get rid of those things.” She waggled her fingers at Raquel’s perfectly acceptable, versatile and comfortable shoes. “I don’t know why you thought they’d look okay with that. I can’t believe you didn’t pack a dress.”

Raquel slipped her feet into the shoes and ignored how weird they felt as she bent to close the tiny buckles at the ankle. “I did pack a dress.”

“Your wedding gown doesn’t count.”

“Okay,” she said, standing and smoothing out the dress she’d borrowed from Audrey. It was a little too tight, too low cut, too everything, but Audrey’s grin told her she didn’t agree.

“Gorgeous.”

Raquel blew out a breath. Okay , here we go. It took her a few steps before she caught her balance and then got into it with a little bit of hip sway. When she grinned at her sister over her shoulder, Audrey shook her head and rolled her eyes heavenward.

Raquel stuck out her tongue. She felt sexier in heels, more the type of woman who could make a man like Christian look twice. She couldn’t back out of the betrothal, but she wanted Christian to look at her as something more than just duty. Maybe she’d been naive to look for love, but attraction—that was a possibility, wasn’t it? Esteem? And then eventually, there might be love. Three more weeks until they were bound... She blew out her held breath and wiped her palms on her thighs. She could do this.

Christian stood when she entered the room, a slow smile spreading across his features. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you.” Warmth flushed her skin, not only at the compliment but at the look in his eyes. She could get used to that kind of appreciation. Oh, yes, she could.

Christian was a gentleman, helping her into her coat, thanking her mother for the coffee, making her mother blush and then Audrey too when he kissed them both on the cheek and promised to have Raquel back at a decent time. Then, a few moments later, there she was, standing on the porch alone with her husband to be. He was a stranger. But a kind, intent and attractive stranger. And that was something.

A cold front had moved in during the day, and Raquel waited until they were in the car before asking him where he was taking her. Even inside the car, her breath came out in white puffs. She cupped her fingers to her face as he turned up the heat and backed out of the drive. The leather seats were heated and her butt warmed long before her nose did.

“Porter’s in town. It’s the only restaurant other than the diner, but the steak is excellent.” He paused. “They serve chicken too and a few vegetarian dishes...if that’s what you prefer.”

“I love steak.” She grabbed at that, happy to have found common ground. Maybe you couldn’t build a relationship on steak, but they had to start somewhere.

He glanced at her and smiled. “Good.”

As they entered the restaurant, Christian was greeted with familiar smiles and they were seated at what she was proudly told was the best table, overlooking the river. It was a Tuesday night and there were only a few other customers who, to give them credit, did their best not to stare openly. As a newcomer, she was granted temporary celebrity status in town. All that was missing were the paparazzi. The staff had left this corner of the restaurant empty and it was as private as she could have hoped.

Once seated, they talked about inconsequential things. The menu and town. Christian’s job and whether Raquel wanted to continue on with the tradition of running the floral shop as clan witch.

“I don’t want to push Lois out, but I think we’re going to have trouble working together.”

“She can be difficult,” Christian said diplomatically.

“I noticed that.”

Some of her frustration must have come through in her tone. Christian sighed and reached across the table for her hand. Startled by his action, she stared at their joined hands for a moment before looking up into his concerned gaze. “This is a stressful time for you. Coming to a new clan. Being asked to assume your duties right away on a major project. Taking a husband.” He smiled gently. “I want you to know that I’ll help you in any way I can. To ease the transition. The ceremony is in three weeks, but we don’t have to rush this relationship.”

It felt as if someone closed their hand around her heart and squeezed. “What do you mean?”

“I mean you have a lot on your plate and I don’t want to cause you any extra stress if I can avoid it. I’m sure I’ll make mistakes. I only ask that you let me know when I do.”

She swallowed past a lump in her throat. The temptation was there to bring up his conversation with Aiden, but she wouldn’t throw that at him. Not when she’d already decided to move past it.