Jinxed | A Halloween Romance | Coven Corner #1

Chapter Sixteen

Sky tucked the miniature thunderstorm on her kitchen windowsill. Every morning as she waited for her first pot of water to boil for breakfast tea, she would prop her elbow on the counter, chin in hand, and watch the little cloud.

It burbled and sparked, whispering that gentle, steady rain hour after hour without pause. But there was no sign of a sun peeking through the gray, grim atmosphere.

Finally, Sky would tear herself away and pour her first cup of tea for the day.

As Sky was contemplating the thunderstorm on the second day—only one day left and she would know for sure, one way or the other, whether Aiden was lying or telling the truth—a light tap-tap-tap came at her door.

The tearoom wasn't open yet. It wouldn't be for another hour yet. Sky hadn't even combed her hair or changed out of her bathrobe. But one peek out the window showed who was on her doorstep.

Mother Hestia.

"Sweet Nicniven," Sky muttered.

She smoothed her tangled hair down as much as she could, adjusted the collar of her bathrobe a little higher.

"I know you're in there, Sky, dear," Mother Hestia called. "There's no need to be nervous. I just came to have a little chat."

Sky answered the door and stepped aside, offering a hand to Mother Hestia. She waved Sky off and hobbled inside, leaning heavily on a twisted cane made of willow wood.

Mother Hestia made her way to Sky's kitchen without prompting and settled into a chair at Sky's small oak table. Sky remained at the kitchen doorway, blinking in surprise. Then she scrambled to the oven and poured another cup of tea. She had to use both hands to steady the saucer and prevent the cup from rattling as she placed it in front of Mother Hestia.

"Is something wrong, Mother Hestia?" Sky said. Her voice rose a little too high and cracked.

Mother Hestia sipped her tea.

"You were never very good at hiding your feelings, Sky Sangrey," she said, musingly. "In fact, you tend to wear them on your sleeve for the whole world to see."

"Well, I—"

"And that takes an admirable measure of courage to remain so vulnerable," Mother Hestia continued in a softer tone.

Sky's words sputtered to a stop on a puff of air. She fiddled with the handle of her teacup, seeking the comfort of something familiar and solid in the face of Mother Hestia's sudden visit and the questions her appearance brought with it.

"Is this about Aiden?" Sky ventured.

"Who else would it be about?" Mother Hestia said in a wry voice. "You've been moony-eyed over him practically since the first day he arrived in Wildemoor."

"That's not fair," Sky countered, straightening her shoulders. "I hadn't even met him yet. I didn't see him face to face until several weeks later."

Mother Hestia took an inordinate amount of time focused on her tea, blowing on it to cool it off before she took a slow, measured sip. Sky's fingers tightened on the handle of her own teacup to compose herself and remain calm.

"Sometimes," Mother Hestia said at last. "We are drawn to people naturally before we've even met them. Especially when it concerns witches and warlocks."

"You mean I was supposed to be with Aiden all this time?"

Mother Hestia tapped two fingers against the rim of her saucer, tracing a pale blue painted cluster of forget-me-nots.