With a warm smile, she placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. My skin prickled and itched under her touch. My heart beat faster, and surge of energy poured from her hand digging into my core. I couldn't breathe. The heat in my chest was so intense it took everything in me not to scream. Light shone through my hot peeling cracked skin. Just when I thought I couldn't take a second more, everything went blinding bright.

I opened my eyes, to the sight of magic surrounding me like a staff of notes ready to be plucked. Its electric currency thrummed through my veins and made my hands tingle. Centuries of spells hummed in my ear, eager to be spoken. I felt like I could walk on air, empowered by the magic breathing through me.

Circe flipped my hand over in hers and traced a sideways figure eight with her finger on my wrist, then let my hand slip from her grasp.

She plucked a flower from the vase on the table and blew on it gently. Each petal, a dandelion seed taking flight, kissed my skin then drifted past me to rest on top of Connor.

I stared at his motionless body. The air shifted, and the scent of mountain musk tugged at my senses--he was here. I jerked my head up.

"Bay?" I heard him call.

Tears welled up in my eyes before I even turned around. "Connor?"

I wanted to run to him, but I burst into tears, sobbing with the guilt wringing my heart. "I'm so sorry."

He closed the distance, lifted my chin and thumbed a tear from my cheek. "For what? Rachel being a complete evil wench?"

He leaned in and whispered in my ear, "I was going to say witch, but not all witches are evil, are they?"

I lowered my gaze. "But, you don't understand--"

"What? That you don't have a single bone in your body that would've wished this to happen?" He pulled me into his chest and kissed the top of my head.

I lifted my gaze to his bright eyes. "But how do you know that?"

"Because I love you."

He tilted my chin up and lowered his lips to mine. His hands caressed the side of my face, then slid around my back and pulled me tight against him. Like the water lapping a foreign shore, his tongue explored my mouth, my lips, the side of my neck. I moaned, wishing he could hold me forever.

"God, I love you," I whispered.

"I know, Cupcake." He cradled me in the safety of his arms. "I love you too."

"I'm sorry--"

He held a finger to my lips, then threaded his fingers through mine. "Something tells me we'll have forever to make it up to one another."

When I looked down at our hands, both of our wrists had infinity markings. I glanced up to find the goddess, wanting an explanation.

Circe with a bemused smile, lounged on the couch armrest swinging one of her legs, looking on. "The marking will bring you together each witching hour. Any time outside of that, you remain among the living and Connor stays in the underworld."

She stood up and dusted her dress off. "And for tonight? Your time is up."

With a dismissive wave of her hand, the scene faded and washed from view.

#

When I came to, I was staring at a spread of tarot cards on the cafe table. I must have fallen asleep. After straightening up, I pulled a card from the side of my cheek. I stretched out an arm, yawned, then glanced outside and noticed my white rabbit was parked out front.

Strange, I never park there. Out of habit, I started to clean up the cards in the order I'd placed them. At the sight of a black figure eight marking my wrist, I stopped and examined the mark, rubbing my thumb over it. A single upside down card remained on the table. The outcome card--a prediction for the future.

I reached out with a shaky hand and turned it over. The card portrayed an earthy colored dog and a coal black wolf, separated from one another they stood on opposite sides of a path, howling at the moon.