Read Online Born Wicked: The Cahill Witch Chronicles, Book One: The Cahill Witch Chronicles, Book One by Jessica Spotswood - Free Book Online Page B

see the gazebo so much as he wants to go for a walk with me. Alone . Paul was never terribly subtle.
“Can I come?” Tess asks. I open my mouth to say yes, but Maura elbows her. Tess lets out an angry squeak, and the next moment Maura’s on the floor in a heap of skirts.
“Teresa Elizabeth Cahill!” I scold. I don’t know exactly what she’s done, but I’m sure she used magic to do it. “We have a guest !” I say, pointing emphatically at Paul.
He just grins, his mouth quirking below his new mustache. New to me, anyway—who knows how long he’s had it. “No, no, carry on,” he says. “I’m not a true guest. I’m practically family.”
Maura arches her eyebrows at me, but I scowl. “You are a guest. Don’t encourage them. And you two ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You’re too old for this. Tess, apologize.”
“She started it,” Tess argues, rubbing her side.
“Because you were being a ninny,” Maura says. “Paul doesn’t want to go for a walk with all three of us. He came to call on Cate.”
Tess gives Maura a good pinch. “I’m not a ninny! I’m cleverer than you!”
“You’re hopeless, both of you. Perhaps you ought to go and ask Elena about the proper etiquette for entertaining callers.” I take Paul’s arm and feel his muscles twitch beneath my palm. “A walk would be delightful. Please. Before I murder them both.”
I mean to sweep out dramatically, but somehow the doorsill drops away and I lift my foot into empty air. I trip forward, narrowly avoiding rapping my skull on the hall table and destroying an heirloom vase that belonged to Great-Grandmother. Instead, Paul catches me. In fact, he holds me closer than is entirely necessary. I hear a titter behind me and spin around to see Maura, her hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking. Even Tess can’t suppress a smile.
Lord help me, my sisters are evil and my best friend’s become a rake.
We reach the front hall just as Elena pops out of Father’s study. “Miss Cate, let me fetch your cloak. Would you like Miss Maura to accompany you on your walk?”
“No, thank you.” As if I haven’t gone for hundreds of walks alone with Paul—in the garden, chasing each other through the cornfields, playing hideand-seek through blueberry bushes.
Elena eyes us, and I’m suddenly conscious of the distance, or lack thereof, between our bodies. “I’m afraid I must insist that you take a chaperone. I can come with you if you’d like.”
Oh, for heaven’s sake. I hardly worry that Paul will ravish me in the gardens.
“Don’t forget your gloves,” Elena adds.
I flush, remember the warmth of Paul’s mouth on the thin, delicate skin at the inside of my wrist. Perhaps she’s right. We’re not children anymore. The way Paul looks at me—it’s like he remembers that kiss, too, and might enjoy taking other liberties if I were to allow it. No man’s ever looked at me like that before. It’s a heady feeling.
Still, I don’t care to have Elena telling me what to do, much less following us and eavesdropping on our conversation. I feel nervous enough as it is.
“Where’s Lily? Lily!” I call.
Our maid appears from the kitchen, wiping wet hands on her apron. “Miss Cate? I was just helping Mrs. O’Hare with the dinner pre—”
“Never mind that. Grab your cloak. Mr. McLeod and I need a chaperone for our walk.”
Lily has great meek brown eyes, like a cow’s. “Yes, miss.”
Once I’m properly cloaked, Paul and I stroll through the gardens, Lily following at a discreet distance. Geese fly overhead in inky formations, honking against the eggshell sky.
“I’m sorry about all that mayhem. My sisters—”
“Are adorable girls, as ever,” Paul finishes. “No need to apologize.”
“They’re ill-mannered beasts!” After witnessing their behavior today in front of both Elena and Paul, I’m starting to believe we may actually require a governess.
“They’re high-spirited,” Paul says. “It must be grand, having sisters. You’re