“Anora.” His lips pull into a grin.
“What…what are you doing?” I ask, overwhelmed with emotion. “It doesn’t matter.” I stand to the side, letting him come in, and then throw my arms around him. He puts his lips to mine, kissing me hard. We stagger back, tangled together, and Ethan pins me between his body and the wall. He’s not in as much pain as he was before, but his ribs aren’t healed yet.
“You’re here,” I whisper when we break apart, and my eyes get all misty.
“I am.” He kisses me again and then cups my chin, turning my face up. “I told you that you wouldn’t have to go through this alone, and I meant it. I don’t want to lose you.” His lips brush over mine again, sending tendrils of desire through my body. “I love you, Anora.”
A tear rolls down my cheek. I rest my forehead against Ethan’s, and it’s like everything just clicks into place and I’m standing exactly where I’m meant to be. “I love you, too.”
Two weeks later…
“Did you find everything okay?”
“I did, and then some,” I tell the cashier at Novel Grounds, the indie bookstore in downtown Thorne Hill. “I just moved into a new house and finally have the space to do a rainbow bookshelf like I’ve always wanted.”
“Oh, those are so pretty. I rearrange my shelf at home but then get all OCD and have to alphabetize them again,” she says, and we both laugh. She starts ringing up my books when another Novel Grounds employee comes in the store. I recognize her because I’ve been here four times already since we moved. I have a library and have to fill the shelves. It’s a crime to leave them bare for any longer than they have been. “Hey, Kristy,” the woman ringing me up says as Kristy comes around the counter.
Kristy.
I blink and get hit with a memory. I’ve already remembered part of it, but this time, I see more.
“The cards don’t lie,” Aunt Estelle presses.
“The cards are just—” A sharp knock on the door causes the woman to stop. She moves around her desk, robes swirling around her feet, and opens her office doors. Two girls, who look to be about my age are ushered in by another adult, who, for some reason, I know to be a professor.
“Callie and Kristy,” the dark-haired woman sighs. “I’m not surprised. What is it now?”
“We were just practicing for tomorrow’s test,” a blonde girl rushes out, and her blue eyes flick to mine. She hesitates, not wanting to say anything in front of me.
“It’s not our fault,” the other girl chides. She has dark brown hair that’s pulled into a messy braid. “We did everything the book said, so we can’t get in trouble for it.”
“You cast a warding on your entire dormitory that prevents everyone but Kristy from entering,” the professor goes on, crossing her arms.
“All I did was prevent anyone who wishes me harm to not be able to enter. Obviously, they have it out for me,” the girl with the braid shoots right back.
I blink, realizing the cashier said something to me. “Sorry,” I say and shake my head. “I spaced out.”
She laughs. “I do that all the time.”
My eyes go to Kristy, who’s putting her coat under the register. Is she the girl from my memory? That would mean she’s a witch too. I can’t exactly ask, so after paying for my books, I take one lingering look and go home with the intention of going right into my library to start arranging the books.
“Hey, babe,” Ethan says, and I smile when I see him. He’s at the stove, working on dinner. We’ve settled into a routine already, and he’s continued to spoil me by making me breakfast and dinner most days. “Get enough books?”
I heft my bags onto the counter. “This will fill a few shelves. I’ll go back next week to get more.”
Ethan turns the burner off and picks a leatherbound notebook up off the counter. “I found this in the attic.” We’ve been slowly going through the boxes of crap up there, certain we’ll find something that will shed some light on my forgotten memories.
“What is it?”
“It’s mostly random notes and to-do lists, but at the end, there was this.” He holds up a folded piece of paper, and I recognize Aunt Estelle’s handwriting right away.
“What is it?”