Chapter 16

Winston

The day had passed quicker than I'd expected. I'd worked in the café, but I'd also spent time on the spell. That is, when I wasn't freaking out a bit.

Hard not to think about that. I'd nearly lost track of recipes and orders multiple times during the day, from getting lost in flashbacks of last night. Thank Goddess jeans helped hide some of my reactions.

I'd never been this enamored… or in love. But what had been the effect of that spell? Were we soulmates? Our colors had matched, and that jolt of electricity had made my skin feel on fire… Had it been responsible for the urge I'd had to take her, then and there? Had I ever felt passion like that before?

Had she really wanted it or had the spell also been responsible for how fast we had fallen? She'd seemed out of sorts this morning. Was she regretting our decision? Did she feel trapped? Had she questioned the spell?

I was a witch, and I was scared that I'd caused something to happen. That I'd changed her mind or rushed her into things through magic. Love… love was a tricky thing. Witches had messed with it in the past because it was hard to resist.

Most of the time, nothing happened. But occasionally spells or potions, or both combined, could do something that everyone would desire–or at least the person asking for it. Would people want to get their hands on this for the information? Would it cause a rush towards witches who could perform it? And how could we find out what the meaning had been? Did it really prove that we were soulmates?

I made headway on the other spell, so I texted Willow and heard back that she was on her way. This time she wasn't avoiding me at least. Thinking food would be a good idea, I started cooking us some cheeseburgers.

Willow arrived on my doorstep and didn't bring up this morning past a simple kiss for hello. All I wanted was to take her upstairs, but she seemed to have other ideas.

"It is still mostly the full moon, right?"

Willow's voice broke through the running thoughts in my head, and I realized I hadn't been paying attention. I didn't care one whit about figuring out a spell more than I did wanting to make delicious noises come from her again.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"It's just… Well, I had an idea. It's still mostly the full moon, right?"

"Well. It's not the full, full moon, but close. Why?"

"Would the spell still work? Isn't it common that spells for the full moon can work the whole week? Could you and Piper try it together?"

"Wait, what?"

"Listen, we don't know what the effect was. Not fully. If you and Piper do it, and your color is the same, but hers is different, then we are closer to an answer. And if nothing else seems to happen…"

"As ideas go, it's not a terrible one, honestly. And you could still be present. I don't think it affects you unless you drink it."

"Seems like a good idea. Why couldn't it just like show you a picture of your soulmate or something? Give you a name? Seems a much better idea overall. Clear instructions would have also been great."

"Spells live in the world of vague intentions and near misses. It's easier for the magic to work that way than in precision for something like this. Plus, if you don't write everything down, it can't be stolen."

I shrugged and sat down at the kitchen table where I'd already sat out the food. Willow noticed, and joined me, taking a bite out of the quick sandwich I'd grabbed with some chips.

"Let me text Piper and see what she says. I don't know why I didn't think of this before. I should have had her here last…"

Willow trailed off, not finishing that sentence. Thinking about what happened last night, and how it could have changed with Piper's presence, made me curious whether Willow wished Piper had been here to knock some sense into us, or was very glad she hadn't been.

I still couldn't look at my kitchen table without wanting to grab Willow and throw her on top of it again.

Not healthy. Or perhaps just what I needed.

"She's game. She says I can't…" Willow trailed off. Willow turned beet red and shook her head, hiding her phone. "Um, she just says I have to stay present."

"Good idea. Okay, I still have all the ingredients. We'll get ready for it in a few hours, then."

"Thanks again for everything. You've been such an enormous help. And always willing and ready to do whatever I ask."

"Of course. I'm happy to help. And I think I've made out just fair in this deal."

Willow's blush was turning me on. I had problems. Time to change the subject. "Okay, let's talk about the other spell, then. I think I figured out what it is for."

"Oh, really? What?"

"Invisibility."

"Now that sounds interesting. I don't think I've seen anything about that before."

"Might explain why both spells were hidden in another grimoire, and hard to read. They weren't really allowed. Love spells of any variety have always been frowned upon. Invisibility can lead to too many questions and bad intentions. I mean, think of the robbers and assassins."

"I'm really beginning to think I won't be able to publish either of these spells, and I need to. I mean, I dislike the idea of hiding something away from everyone. I have so many issues with hiding abilities and trying to keep people from knowing what you can do."

"Can you blame them? If people burn you at the stake because they think you are capable of something, you hide pieces of yourself to stay safe."

"If people could just be nice and quit trying to persecute everyone, then it would be much nicer."

"Wouldn't it?"

We both paused and looked at each other. I was happy to sit here and just watch her. Having these conversations about a part of my life she was interested in, and willing to learn more about… it opened up more doors than I thought possible.

"Okay. So what do we want to do now? Want to compare notes on the new spell? I'll run upstairs and grab it."

"Sounds great."

Deciding to avoid taking her near my room was a good goal, so I ran up and collected the notes. I spread them on the kitchen table, pointing to the words.

"Here's the incantation:

‘I need to walk in between,

I must travel unseen,

With skin of man, and red wine,

Bring to me the protection of thine,

Joy of mountain, and blind eyes,

Hide me in disguise,

Semen of Hermes, and red wine,

With a ring of this twine,

Let me walk in between,

Let me travel unseen.'

The problem is the direction, and that we are still missing that one ingredient…"

Together, we delved into the work.

Eventually, we leaned back in our chairs. We'd figured out the potion directions - minus the one ingredient.

I twirled my own pencil in my hand, pondering. "I hate to say this, but you might be better off if I call my mother now."

"Better off?" Willow looked tense, and I was worried this would scare her off.

"She's on the council. I should have told you, but what with the last name… most people know who I'm related to without me bringing it up. Of course, I'm usually near the seat of the council. I didn't really think about it. But she might know more about what we are dealing with here. "

"Do you want me to ask her permission?" Her forehead creased, and I could see the doubt starting to take hold.

I shook my head. "It isn't just that. I don't mind what you do - publish it or not. Heck, there might be copies in the archives with more information. Maybe I could get you access. That, and I'd hate for you to deal with consequences you don't have to."

Willow's eyes lit up at that. "Consequences? And I never dreamed of seeing that. They only let high ranking witches on the council, and in the rooms."

"Yeah, well. I have an in. Not that I'm making any promises. It'd be a hard sell. But we need to know these things—and if they don't have copies of these, they will want them. And to know how you got them. It's leverage."

Willow stopped typing something on her computer and looked up. "I found the book at an estate sale a few years ago. Started looking through it. I've found several things that way. I bought it for like two dollars. Does that matter?"

"It might. I never much got mixed up in council business. I know my mom is a stickler for the rules, though."

Putting her head into her hands, I could hear her sigh. Her hair was falling out of her ponytail, and she seemed extra annoyed. I reached out and laid my hand on her knee.

"Hey, listen. I want to help. I'm here, okay? I won't call her unless you want me to."

My body felt tight. I was so tense. I couldn't think, because all I really wanted was to take Willow up to my room and make love to her again. Make all her tension go away. But we had things to do… and I still wasn't sure if last night was going to be repeated.

What had happened with that potion?

Were we soulmates? Were we incompatible? Did it make us do what we did last night?

I had no answers, and it was frustrating to the core. I needed to speak with Willow about it. Soon, though, we'd be doing the same thing with Piper. I was terrified and curious.

When Piper and Tess arrived, I had already once again sat out all the needed ingredients and had the cauldron on the stove. Willow had avoided that end of the kitchen table, and she blushed every time she looked at it.

She was so incredibly adorable.

Tess flitted over to the oven, and sat on the back of it, soaking in the warmth.

Piper walked over and hugged Willow, whispering something into her ear. Willow smacked her, and Piper just laughed.

"So, if I want to jump his bones after this, you'll stop me, correct?" Piper asked her out loud.

"Yes." Willow answered back, shooting me an apologetic look. "Sorry, I might have told her a few things."

"Only a few? I'll have to up my game."

Piper nearly died laughing at the expression on Willow's face, who'd gone beet red, and was stuttering. Tess laughed so hard, she fell from the back of the oven and had to fly herself back up. I smiled sheepishly at Willow in apology.

When she'd finally recovered, Piper said, "Okay. First, I like you, and you officially have my approval. Second, let's see if last night was a fluke. Show me the spell and potion."

Willow handed it to me, and if looks could kill, we might not have been able to try the spell again.

After a few minutes of careful studying, she said, "It's moonrise. So let's brew, shall we?"

About seven minutes later, we were ready. I pulled down two cleansed cups, and we each stood on either side of the oven.

"Oh, this is great. It's like a standoff." Tess laughed from the oven.

Willow tried not to chuckle and lost the battle. "You two do look like you are about to joust each other. Relax."

"Impossible," we said at the same time.

It brought a smile to my face. Piper looked to be fighting a grin.

"Okay. I'll fill our cups, and we can both recite the spell. Then we sip. You ready?" Piper watched me and nodded. I looked at Willow.

"Oh, I'm actually recording on my phone. So, let's go. If you make any move to kiss her, I'm punching you."

"Who me?" I asked in alarm. "And I don't want to!"

"Thanks, appreciate that," Piper said dryly. "Come on, we don't want to ruin it."

So I poured the tea, and then together Piper and I recited the spell and drank the liquid. I was thankful that it did not actually taste bad. Some of these potions could make you barf at first taste, and if it had, I wasn't sure I'd willingly repeat it.

It took no time at all for my hands to glow that same blue color—but Piper's had turned a bright red.

"Well, that's something," Willow murmured from behind her camera.

Piper waved her hand in front of me. I watched her do it, still thinking. She broke the silence.

"Sorry bucko. I don't want to jump your bones. So this somewhat helps your theory—I wonder if there are more colors than 2, or just yes and no?"

"Can we touch?" I asked. Willow narrowed her eyes at me, as did Piper and Tess. "No! I don't want to do anything, I just want to see if that spark happens."

Piper shrugged, "I'm game."

And before I could do anything, she poked my hand, then grasped it. And nothing happened.

"In summary," Piper stated, "our colors were different. I feel no… urge to jump his bones. Mostly. Mission accomplished, you two have fun."

"Mostly?" I asked.

She smiled wickedly at me, "You are hot. But Willow had dibs."

I stammered, but was cut off by Willow shaking her head, and I saw her end the recording.

"Cool. So, who is next as a guinea pig?" Piper asked, turning to Willow.

Willow shook her head again. "I can't just start testing this on random people. I'd have to do it as a proper study, which would take time to even get approval for, which I don't have right now. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't want to later."

I raised an eyebrow. "Would that many people be willing?"

"People will do anything for $20. Also, I think this might attract some interesting folks."

"It's more information than I had before. Thanks Piper."

"No thanks to me?" Tess asked, mock shock in her voice.

Willow shook her head and bowed at her. "Thank you, lovely one."

Tess scoffed.

"That's all, folks." Piper said, cutting off the argument I was sure was fixing to happen. "I'm heading home. Come on Tess, I'll take you back to Willow's." Piper turned and looked at Willow. "And you text me details later to catch up."

Willow nodded and waved them off. Together, they left out the door. Willow then turned and held up her cell phone. "I could see the colors on each of your hands on film, which is interesting. Do you want to watch it with me and look at what you can see?"

I nodded and turned off the stove. "I need to clean this up some and then we can head upstairs to do that. Then maybe I can give you some more… details."

Making Willow blush might be one of my new favorite activities. She shyly said, "Maybe." It wasn't a no. I'd take the hope.

She slid the phone into her back pocket, and then helped me clean up the kitchen. Together we made short order of the work, and headed upstairs, where my mind was not at all on the video.

Once there, we watched the video together. Sure enough, there were the glows—two very different colors. And no attraction, whatsoever.

"I remember that blue. It's the same as before, right?"

"Yes, I think so. Which begs the question of is it only blue and red glows, or does each match have their own variation of a color?"

I nodded, and added "Well, that proves that it didn't make us fall into each other as we did. Piper and I had no urges."

"True."

I looked at Willow, and noticed the curve of her lips, and how pretty she looked when she concentrated.

She was so intelligent.

If the spell hadn't caused my mind to become obsessed with her… then how had I already fallen so deeply?

"Dibs, by the way?"

"Please, please, don't ask? I might tell you one day."

I laughed, and shook my head. "That least one unanswered question I hate to bring up but feel I must. I can call my mother to confirm now. She should be awake."

Willow worried her lips between her teeth and shook her head. "Let me work on it tonight. If I can't figure it out, we can call tomorrow."

"Okay."

So she was going home then.

"Do you want to look together?" I asked, hopeful. Trying not to reach out and grab her, and kiss her senseless.

"No. I think I'm going to head home. I'm tired, and I'd like to work on these chapters some more. I don't have too much time left for it. But thanks for the offer. I'll text you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that's fine." Then I remembered. "Actually, we've never exchanged numbers. We should probably do that."

"Wait, what?" She scrolled through her contacts. "Huh. Okay. Trade."

She handed me her phone, and I gave her mine. We entered our numbers, and then I walked her to the door, and when she turned and looked up at me, I bent down and gently, slowly kissed her. I didn't want to spook her off.

Willow leaned into me, kissing me back gently. It was a long, slow, kiss that made me burn in all the right places. When she pulled back, leaning against the door, she smiled up at me.

"We should probably stop there."

Goddess help me, her voice sounded husky.

"Want me to walk you home?" My own voice sounded like a growl.

There was a flash of something in Willow's eyes, but then she shook her head.

"No, not tonight. Probably not… the best idea. I'll let you know I get home safe."

"Okay. Good night, Willow."

"Night, Winston."

And just like that, she was out the door and down the sidewalk.

Dragging my heart behind her.