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Chapter 23
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2022-04-19 14:01:33Related chapters
Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 24
They'd decided to take the conversation downstairs to the living room, and while they waited for Fiona to return from gathering supplies for a cut on Brady's foot, Kaida sat sideways on the couch, nestled between his thighs. He hadn't let go of her for more than three seconds since she'd woken up, and she had to admit she was grateful. Terror still had its claws in deep, and being held at least gave her a semblance of safety. Her back to his front, she burrowed into his warmth while the strong arms banding her torso clenched.Something epic had gone down while she'd been asleep. And not just her dream. The Meath brothers no longer appeared put-out to be around her sisters. The tension in their frames seemed more out of concern and shock than fear or abhorrence. A switch had been flipped or a lock released because she got the impression they'd finally accepted the truth. Or their part in destiny.From a chair, Ceara followed Tristan with her gaze over the rim of a teacup as he rose
Last Updated : 2022-04-19Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 25
"Venatores," Ceara whispered, clearly shaken. "Latin for hunters. Our family grimoire makes mention of them, but they've always left the Galloways alone. Mara doesn't know much about them, either. Just stories passed down and rumors."Tristan straightened. "I need a cell phone or laptop. We left the house in a rush and I don't have mine with me. Can I use one of yours?""Sure, if you promise not to call Tokyo." Fiona rose and left the room, returning moments later and passing Tristan her cell.His thumbs flew over the keypad. Rising, he walked over to Kaida and showed her the screen. "Is this the guy you saw tonight?"A handsome gentleman with light brown hair interspersed with gray stared back at her. Fan lines spread from the corners of his green eyes and unsmiling mouth while deep grooves marred his forehead. "No, the man I encountered was ten or fifteen years older. In his sixties, perhaps. He was heavier and his hair was white. It fell to his shoulders."Brady and Tristan exc
Last Updated : 2022-04-19Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 26
Brady leaned against the wall in the upstairs hallway outside Kaida's bedroom and waited for her to finish up in the bathroom. His brothers had gone home to try and sleep off what remained of the night, but he couldn't make himself leave her. The moment he'd tried, an all-consuming panic took hold and, sensing it, Ceara had invited him to stay.For as long as he could remember, he'd cared about Kaida. Whether a figment contrived in dreams or a fantasy born from loneliness, it didn't matter. She was a part of him. But meeting her in person had turned that tether of connection into an unyielding knot. One he both hoped and feared would never unravel.So, learning what he had tonight gave terror a new name. To think, their dreams together had been the highlight of his existence and, all this time, she could've been hurt. Could've died visiting him in that projection state. Throw in the fact his twisted family had started an organization to murder those like her, and his sanity was this
Last Updated : 2022-04-19Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 27
A nod, and she moved across the moonlit room to slip under the covers.He followed, setting his glasses on the nightstand. Lying on his side facing her, he took in her pretty features. The sweep of her pale lashes. Her high cheekbones. The delicate curve of her eyebrows. Those full lips. It was but a dream within a dream to actually have her in front of him. To be in the same bed, breathing in her rosemary scent and having her gentle exhalations fanning his jaw."Surreal, isn't it?" She smiled as if reading his mind. "Being here together.""Yes, not that I'm complaining." His gaze lowered to her throat, to the black and blue marks forming. Bruises she might not have if she hadn't blocked him from getting to her. Irritation pounded his temples at the helpless sensation she'd thrust at him. "What you did in the hotel room? Don't ever do that again. Promise me. I couldn't get to you because of the water you erected. I was out of my damn mind.""I'm sorry. I didn't even realize I was
Last Updated : 2022-04-19Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 28
Kaida shivered in the chilly early morning air and glanced around the meadow speckled with sunlight. Dew clung to buttercups and violets. Fog gravitated toward the edges of the cliffs and a brisk breeze blew in off the Atlantic. The scent of damp soil mingled with saltwater as she took a deep breath."I look frumpy." Fiona set her hands on her hips. "If training requires me to wear this getup, then I'm out."Sighing, Kaida eyed the outfit in question. Both her and her sisters were in yoga pants and a sweatshirt. The guys wore loose sweats and tees. She wasn't a gym-junkie, but it seemed like appropriate gear to her. They were bound to get sweaty and needed to be able to move freely.Then again, aside from her first day on the island, she had yet to see Fiona in anything other than a come-hither dress and heels.Ceara patted Fiona's back, placating. "We'll buy something more suited to you first thing on Monday. Feel better?""Not really. I'm embarrassed to be in the same zip code a
Last Updated : 2022-04-19Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 29
"No." She brushed the hair from her face and eased out of Brady's hold to sit beside him. "I couldn't see his face, but it wasn't him. This guy wasn't as husky or solid. His frame was slimmer. Except..." She was unsure how to explain it to them and have it make sense. "He gave off the same vibe, though. Vengeance. Purpose.""Her premonitions are rooted in the present." Fiona rose to her feet and sighed. "Which means this person is on the island right this second." She looked at Kaida. "Did you get the impression he was after us?""Not necessarily. He's definitely dangerous and I sensed he was arriving for a reason, but it didn't seem specific to us or anything."Ceara's gaze drifted as if she were thinking. "We can assume if you got a vision of him it has to pertain to us in some way. How is the question. You projected into that hotel room and got the premonition just now for a reason. Yet if it's not the same man, I'm not connecting the dots.""Is he a hunter?" Brady's mossy eyes
Last Updated : 2022-04-19Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 30
"All I'm saying is, you're acting out of character in regards to her." Riley stepped over a log on their trek through the dark forest on the way to the clearing. "What happened to my bookworm brother who calculates every angle before making a decision?"Brady sighed and glanced several yards ahead at the women, but they didn't seem aware of the quiet conversation between him and his brothers. "I'm right here. The same guy.""You look like Brady, walk like Brady, sound like Brady, but you don't behave like him. Has she cast a spell on you? Because the brother I know would never tear through the woods in the middle of the night based off a bad dream. Or nearly break in a door to get to a woman. Or crash into a house on a rampage to rescue said woman. Or roar like a lunatic and beat at a wall until his knuckles bled" "Fine. I get it." He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated to no end. "Turned out, I was right, though. She was in danger.""True, but that's not my point. I'm no
Last Updated : 2022-04-19Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 31
Hard to say when it had actually happened. Perhaps as a boy when she'd first come to him in dreams, surrounded by buttercups and under the sun's golden rays. Maybe it was the second he'd spotted the real her from his office window, standing on the sidewalk while leveling his foundation. Or it could've been the moment he'd kissed her in the lighthouse, knotting years of memories and opening his eyes he hadn't realized were closed.Regardless of when, the truth smacked him upside the head now. He'd been on the brink before with other women, had waded in that particular pool a time or two, yet hadn't fully engaged his heart. But he'd been fooling himself. All along, and without even realizing it, he'd been waiting for her.For Kaida. A restless soul just searching for a place to belong. Intelligent, adaptable, determined, and intuitive Kaida Galloway.Unimaginable heat filled him, shoving drafts out of the corners and cold from the cracks. Throat tight and pulse tripping, he succumbed.
Last Updated : 2022-04-19
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Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 48: Epilogue
One month later...Sandwiched between Brady and Riley on the couch in her sisters' living room, Kaida stared at the family grimoire on the coffee table, Celeste's box next to it. Sitting across from them on the other sofa was Tristan, Ceara, and Fiona, also quietly contemplating. Mara had claimed a chair, her mood uncharacteristically solemn.They'd had a lovely dinner and had decided to finish their wine by the fire to pow-wow. Yet no one had said much, if anything.This had been a big day for Kaida. She'd installed her first entry into the grimoire. Well, technically, it was Celeste's passage, but it was Kaida who'd added the parchment. Turned out, after all the trials, the box had contained only two things. A sapphire ring and a scroll containing part of a spell."Do you think I should say it aloud?" She looked to her sisters for guidance. Ceara shook her head. "I believe Fiona and I need to do our part first. Something tells me this is a power of three spell. It'll only work
Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 47
Rising on his elbow, earning an oomph from Tristan under him, and pushing Riley over with a grunt, Brady lunged to his feet. Stumbling in his haste, he crawled the rest of the way and cupped her face. Her eyes were closed, lashes shadowing her cheeks. She was so still, so quiet, another sob ripped from his chest."Kaida?" Nothing. "Kaida, sweetheart. Please, God." A deep inhale expanded her chest, and her lids lifted. Her eyes darted everywhere at once before blessedly landing on him. "What happened?"He barked a laugh/moan combination, not believing what he was seeing.And for the thousandth time today, his lungs stalled. Relief flooded him in a harried whoosh. With shaking arms, he hauled her sideways onto his lap. Pressing her face into his shoulder, he held her so tight a spell couldn't wedge between them.He kissed the top of her head, rocking, rocking. "Don't you ever do that to me again." As it stood, he may not allow her to leave his sight until she was eighty. Or never.
Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 46
As the blade sank into Kaida's stomach, her face froze in a terrifying expression of shock and pain that yanked the heart right out of Brady's chest. But when his uncle withdrew the dagger, the oxygen punched from Brady's lungs with such force, he couldn't so much as cry out. A crimson ribbon flung through the air and splattered onto the grass. And Brady's whole world, his existence, shattered into a thousand fragmented pieces."Nooooo!" He frantically crawled over to her, roaring her name until his throat was as ravaged as his soul.He had the briefest concept of his uncle lunging to his feet and sprinting toward the hedge wall before Kaida collapsed in Brady's arms. Carefully as he could manage, he laid her on the grass and quickly untied the rope from her wrists. Angry red burns marred her perfect skin. A swift assessment showed a deep, open gash on her jaw and another above her eyebrow, both actively bleeding. But it was the hole in her stomach gushing uncontrollably that had
Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 45
Keeping the blade on Kaida, he moved to her side and stuck his finger in his mouth, scraping the crest ring off with his teeth. Gone was the short, neatly trimmed hair and slender body. In its place was a solidly built man with longish white strands that brushed his shoulders. He shoved the ring in his pocket. "What's it been, witch? Three-hundred years? Give or take."Breath whooshed from Kaida's lips. "It's you." The guy from the hotel room when she and Brady had astral-projected together. She'd assumed it had been a nightmare or the man had been another hunter after them. What the heck was going on? "You tried to strangle me."Satisfaction lit his bitter gaze. "Should've finished the job.""This isn't possible," Mara gasped, eyes bugging. "It's simply not possible."A quick scan of the other dazed expressions proved her sisters and the brothers were just as blown away as Kaida by Greg's transformation. Who the hell was this guy and how did he possess the power to shift? Far as s
Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 44
Slumped against the cottage near the meadow, legs sprawled in the grass in front of her, Kaida pried her eyes open for the second time. The stone exterior dug into her spine and a smarting jab in her ribs made breathing a chore, but she was alive. Somehow.One moment she was heading toward a vendor to fetch a bottle of water, the next she was being dragged between storefronts into an alley. A pinching prick in her neck had followed, and her world had gone black. She'd awoken in her current predicament.Whatever Greg Meath had injected into her was dulling her power. A sedative, no doubt. After taking stock, and confused out of her gourd, she'd slipped back into unconsciousness in order to project to Brady. Which had zapped what little strength remained. It had also required her to remove her pentagram necklace, leaving her unprotected from attack.And that was the other thing. Not that she was complaining, but why wasn't she dead? Greg had ample opportunity to kill her, including wh
Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 43
Ceara swiftly pulled a scroll off a cube shelf and unrolled it on the table to reveal a map of the island. She placed four white crystals on the corners and then dangled another blue crystal by a chain over the map.Kaida was missing, his mark was issuing a warning knell, and Ceara wanted to play with toys?"We have to go find her!" Impatience pounded his temples like a snare drum and he ground his teeth. Worry ate at his stomach lining. "She's in trouble.""That's what I'm doing. Give me a sec to do a locator spell." Ceara closed her eyes and chanted while Brady paced the checkered pattern off the linoleum. The crystal swung in a circle several times and stopped abruptly on the paper. "There. She's at our house. Somewhere on the western side of the property."Done. He pivoted for the doorway. Rigidity locked him in place.Kaida stood by the curtain, iridescent as a hologram. Rope banded her wrists. A gag was shoved in her mouth and tied around her head. Tears left trails on her d
Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 42
Alongside Fiona and Ceara, Brady strode through the darkened forest on the way to the sisters' house, his mind constantly banging the chaos button. According to Riley, Kaida had finished the journals and hadn't acted like herself when he'd taken her home. Which was freaking Brady out to the point of no return.An hour ago, Ceara had done her spell juju and put the passages Kaida had read directly into their brains. The sisters now knew more than the gist of what he and his brothers had gone through. Reliving some of those memories through his uncle's eyes had clicked a lot of pieces in place. The man had never loved them. He'd viewed them as nothing more than another part of the grand puzzle, and he'd done everything in his power to manipulate the picture.Again, Brady couldn't slap the label of abuse on the situation. Yes, he'd been whipped a time or two, had been sent to his quarters without a meal as punishment, and had been belittled to prove a fanatical point. But in Uncle Greg'
Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 41
Her pulse kicked rhythm. "The first four journals are from Minister Meath and were penned in quill ink. The succession goes on down your family tree. When a different member takes over the dagger, about every fifty years, the name gets entered at the beginning of the passage. There's dates to confirm, and I matched them to your line. Now, the newer ones use both sides of the paper and change to ballpoint, acclimating to modernization. The verbiage adapts for the times, too, as do descriptions. Yet there are a lot of similarities."He straightened and crossed his arms. "What are you getting at?""For starters, there's two Bible verses that are repeated throughout all the books. Coincidence? Probably. However, certain words like "heathen" and "sorcery" are frequented. Pretty outdated terms. So are specific insults. Could also be a coincidence.""But when you compare them with the handwriting, it adds up to more." He nodded, his gaze distant. "What's the connection?""I don't know. Ob
Fated Series: Bewitched Chapter 40
In the Meath library, Kaida closed the last journal and stared at it on the table. All week she'd been reading through the passages, and it had been harder than she'd anticipated. She'd attempted to look at them with a professional, objective eye, tried to distance herself from the human element and view them as research, but that was impossible.Her family's past and the Meaths were intertwined in ways that read like a darker, more horrid version of Grimm's Fairy Tales. From the first entry a week after Celeste Galloway's death to pivotal moments spanning three-hundred years, it was heart-breaking and gutting to receive first-hand accounts, especially considering the point-of-view. Righteous indignation. Bloodbaths. Hatred at its very core.If not for Brady erecting a pillar of strength, she probably wouldn't have been able to continue. He'd held her every night, soothed her tears, and never once showed the anger he had to have built inside over learning details about the entries.
