Crescent Calling: The Crescent Witch Chronicles - Book One by R Nicole (essential reading TXT) 📗

out by then, and it was only a quarter-mile back to Derrydun, so we walked together, thinking over the events at Croagh Patrick.

The spring had been so deep even though it had looked deceptively shallow from above, but like an iceberg, it flowed for kilometers under the surface. Technically, it was my first encounter with the fae, and it hadn’t gone so well. If Boone hadn’t been there, I would be a floater rotting in some underground river system in the bowels of the earth, my soul sucked up by inky shadow people.

Taking out the talisman that had started all of this, I held it in my palm and studied the gold flecks. It hadn’t protected me from the sluagh at all. They’d still grabbed me despite wearing it. I hoped the spell had been worth all the trouble it had caused, but it looked like it was a waste of time.

“Are you all right?” Boone asked.

“The talisman didn’t work,” I muttered as the traffic light came into view. “It didn’t protect me at all.”

“Then maybe it’s a different kind of protection,” he offered. “It gave you what you needed to survive at that moment.”

“Do you really think so?”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about witches from Aileen, it’s that everythin’ isn’t quite as it seems. We think about protection in the classic sense—like a shield or a set of armor—but what if fightin’ back is the best protection of all?”

Dropping the crystal back down my shirt, I thought about what he said, and a surge of inspiration seared through my body. It was a powerful notion.

Boone glanced up at the sky and squinted. “There’s still a bit of sun left.”

Orange and gold were starting to tint the few clouds that were skidding across the horizon. Night would fall soon, and with it, the craglorn would resume its frantic hunt.

Before we’d left for Croagh Patrick, I’d taken a photo of the web spell on my phone, and I’d studied it in the car on the way back. I knew the words back to front, I understood the inflection I needed to focus on, and I understood the pattern I needed to create in the clearing. All that was left for us to do was wait…and waiting totally sucked.

“Do you want to get some dinner at Molly McCreedy’s?” Boone asked.

“You want to go to the pub?” I raised my eyebrows. “Tonight of all nights?”

“Aye. You need better food than those frozen meals, and there isn’t much to do until the sun sets, and the moon rises. It’s a sight better than sittin’ around waitin’.”

I hesitated more over the fact we’d kissed and hadn’t uttered a single word about it than the alarming reality of having to stab a craglorn with a magical dagger in a few hours’ time. I had a serious problem with prioritizing my life choices.

“What about the boundary?”

“We’re back under the protection of the hawthorns now,” he said. “If someone was watchin’, they’ve seen. There isn’t much to do about it now.”

He was right, but it didn’t put me at ease. The craglorn was a small problem compared to the bigger picture even though it already felt like life or death.

“I’ll have to go home and change first,” I said, clutching the strap of my bag. The athame was heavy against my thigh, reminding me time was short.

“I’ll meet you there in half an hour?”

“You’ll be okay?”

He laughed, and his blasé attitude irritated me. “I’ll be fine.”

“Why are you so…” I waved my hand at him, not sure what word to use. It abruptly popped into my mind, so I blurted, “Unaffected.”

“Did you not see me at the spring?” he asked, turning to face me. “Skye… Everythin’ will be fine.”

“If you say so.”

“Listen to me,” he murmured. “We had a scare today, but it all worked out. There’s goin’ to be times like these, but I believe in you. Okay?”

I nodded, rubbing my palms up and down my arms, suddenly aware of the cold.

“Molly McCreedy’s?” he prodded.

I nodded again. “Okay.”

Watching Boone walk through the village and disappear around the corner, I sighed. He hadn’t kissed me again or held my hand or even given me a reassuring hug. We could die tonight and… Ugh. I was getting worked up over useless things.

Heading straight back to the cottage, I showered and changed, then headed for Molly McCreedy’s, the athame tucked in my bag.

When I arrived, Maggie was behind the bar, pulling two pints for some local farmers. There was a good turnout tonight, what with the clear weather and happy hour.

“Skye!” she called out as she thumped the two glasses down in front of the farmers.

“Hey, Maggie,” I said, sitting by the bar.

She sidled down the bar. “You in for dinner tonight‬?” ‬‬‬‬‬‬

I nodded. “Yeah, thought I’d better eat something that didn’t involve a microwave for a change.”

“Good girl! What can I get for you?”

“Uh, I’m waiting for Boone,” I replied sheepishly.

Maggie gasped and jumped up and down. “I knew it! Mairead’s going to murder you in your sleep.”

“Shh! Turn down the volume. It’s…” I made a face. “I’m not sure what it is, and Mairead…well, she’s just got to deal with it.”

“I need details,” she demanded, leaning on the bar. “I’m starved for a good bit of gossip. Did he kiss you yet?” She wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

After my near drowning and the date I’d set with a magic-starved fae later, I wasn’t really in the mood for describing the waterlogged kiss Boone and I shared in the cave. I was far too anxious.

“There’s nothing to tell.” I shrugged, avoiding eye contact like the plague.

“Don’t hold out on me,” Maggie complained. “You’ve pierced an arrow through me heart.”

Glancing down the bar, I nodded to the group of old-timers with empty pint glasses. “I think duty’s calling.”

She sighed dramatically and straightened up. “You’re no fun!”

“When something exciting happens, I’ll let you know.”

“You better, Skye Williams!”

Sighing in relief as she went to serve, I picked up a menu