Read Online [Southern Arcana 1] Crux by Moira Rogers - Free Book Online

the spell fade. “Oh. My.
    God.”
    She swayed as if she was going to faint, and he strengthened his grip on her arms, steadying her. “Hey. Hey now, you’re the one who wanted flashy.” He bent and looked into her eyes. “Come on, Kenzie.”
    “I—” She stared back at him. “I am either really, really crazy, or…” She closed her eyes. “Do your spell,” she whispered. “The one that—that will tell if Marcus was lying about me.”
    He hesitated. “Are you sure?” At her nod, he took a deep breath and backed away a few steps. “Okay.” It didn’t take long, and it wasn’t flashy at all. It would tingle, not in a pleasant way, but it wouldn’t hurt as the magic coursed through her, revealing her to his sight.
    He’d never seen a cougar in the flesh before, but there it was. Inside Mackenzie was a great sleeping cat, curled up and 74
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    Crux
    dreaming, alight with the magic potential she had yet to unleash.
    She watched him nervously, and he smiled. “She’s in there, all right, sweetheart. You’ve just got to figure out how to get her out.”
    Mackenzie stared at him in abject shock. She took one shaking step back and another before collapsing onto the couch. “This is nuts. And I’m nuts to even be considering it…”
    “It’s not nuts,” he told her calmly. “I know it seems that way, but you’re not crazy. This stuff is real.”
    “I still feel crazy, though.” She wrapped her arms around her body and looked at him, her expression lost. “I don’t know what to do. It was bad enough when I had a crazy stalker. Now you’re telling me I have crazy stalkers with supernatural powers, and that apparently there’s nowhere I can hide.”
    “That doesn’t mean we can’t make you safe,” Jackson said quickly. “They’ll be able to find you no matter where you go, yeah. But that means we need to make sure you’re protected.” He gestured to the room around them. “Here, for instance, is safe.”
    “Here?” Her eyes shifted to take in his living room, as if looking for something that made this place different. Special.
    “Is it because you—you did some…spell?” www.samhainpublishing.com 75

    Moira Rogers
    “Well, see, I would have,” He sat in his chair again.
    “After I moved in, I was all set to put up the strongest wards I could manage.” He gave her a smile. “Turns out, my upstairs neighbor is a witch. She placed wards years ago, and they’re more powerful than anything I could rustle up now.”
    “Oh.” Her voice sounded strained. “So…your neighbor is a witch, my boss is a werewolf, you can make yourself invisible and you think I can turn into a cat.”
    “Oh, I’m pretty damn sure you can tu—” His words cut off as her eyes grew impossibly wide. Nice going, Jackson.
    She’s going to snap if you don’t shut up. “Uh, listen. Why don’t you take a bath while I start dinner? A nice, long soak?
    How does that sound?”
    “Okay,” she said faintly. “I—I could— That would be nice.”
    “Okay,” he said, relieved. “It’s, uh, right through here.” He led her down the short hallway to the bathroom, reaching to turn on the light before stepping back. “The building’s kind of old.” He gestured to the claw-footed tub.
    “But in a charming way. I think…” He opened the cabinet situated in an alcove and rummaged through it. “Susie had some— Yeah, here we go.” He pulled out a glass jar of bath salts and grinned. “My girlfriend left these. Well, you know, back when she was my girlfriend.” 76
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    She stared at him, and he mentally kicked himself. She’d been through enough without him running off at the mouth like a nervous kid on a first date. The bath salts had clumped together in a solid pink mass at the bottom of the jar, so he banged it against the cabinet door and shrugged. “Yeah. So.” He placed them on a low shelf by the tub and scratched the back of his head.