Oh, yeah. She was in big, big trouble.
Hope. He kept on giving her hope. And that, perhaps, was probably the cruelest thing he could do.
Shea swallowed roughly before moving around the side of her counter. She was careful not to get too close to Colton, didn’t want to risk brushing up against him as she stepped by him and headed toward the front of her shop.
Steeling herself, knowing that she had to do this, she pulled open the front door.
“Goodbye, Colton.”
“Shea—”
She didn’t say anything. After a second, neither did he. Jamming his hands in his pockets, obviously trying to hide the claws that had just made a sudden appearance, Colton stormed out of the apothecary.
Shea let the door close softly behind him. She peeked through the glass window as Colton yanked open the driver side door of his truck with enough force to nearly rip it off its hinges.
Once he’d pulled away from the curb, she closed her eyes, took a deep calming breath, and reached for the hunk of crystal hanging from the gold chain around her neck. It was rose quartz, a lovely pale pink shade, and the crystal she’d worn ever since her mother died when she was twelve.
Not only was it a strong healing crystal, but rose quartz was also known as the love crystal, promoting love and affection, self-love, friendship, and peace. It helped her when she was grieving, it kept her calm when she was struggling, and it let her believe that, one day, she’d find true love.
So it wasn’t Colton. Fate missed the mark on that one, obviously.
She had to think on the positive side. Unlike Colton, who would only ever have one mate, she was a witch—and witches didn’t form bonds on their own.
It hadn’t happened yet. That was okay. She was still young. Like most paranormals, Shea had an extended lifespan. She could easily see two centuries. And, as attracted to Colton as she was—as much as she was drawn to him—maybe this really was for the best.
Two hundred years with a mate who didn’t want her?
Yeah.
That was gonna have to be a no.
With a sigh, she picked up her phone, rolling her eyes when she saw that she had eight missed calls, plus three texts that said, u still busy??, in rapid succession.
Hudson.
Part of her wanted to turn around, lock the store down for the afternoon, and go upstairs where she could dream that a yummy wolf shifter was devoted to her and that her screw-up brother didn’t only call her when he was in trouble.
The more rational, people-pleasing part of Shea exhaled roughly and pressed her brother’s picture.
As soon as he answered, he immediately said, “Shea, thank the Goddess. I need a favor.”
Of course he did. And it must be pretty bad if Hudson was invoking the Goddess. He was a Moonshadow, born into a witch line even if he was completely powerless, and he’d been raised by Kallista Moonshadow. He knew the power of the triple goddess and would never use her name lightly.
Freaking wonderful.
She sighed, her finger already reaching for the
‘no sale’ key on her register. “How much?”
“What? No. I don’t need any money.”
“Really?” That was a surprise. “Oh. Okay. Then, what’s up?”
“You’re still doing your healing gig, right?”
Oh, how nice. She had one male who thought she was some terrible witch because she could heal people, and another who dismissed it as a ‘gig’.
“Um. Yeah. If that’s what you want to call it.”