Cresent Prophecy Axelle Chandler (beach read .txt) 📖

“Aye…” His grip tightened, and he went in for a chaste kiss.

“Let me talk to Alex, okay? He might be a dolt, but he’s a decent guy.”

“Even though he broke up with you?”

“I don’t even know how much of it was voluntary,” I mused. “I mean, my life fell apart for a reason…”

Boone’s expression darkened, and I realized I’d voiced the wrong concern. He probably thought this was my chance to run off and pick up where I left off. I never expected to be a witch, after all.

“Seriously? Cúl tóna,” I exclaimed, much to his horror. “Yeah. I learned a few swear words from Maggie.”

“Skye…”

“Don’t Skye me!”

Wrenching open the door, I stormed outside. Boone was being a complete ass by jumping to the worst possible conclusion. Even if Alex wanted to win me back, it didn’t mean I was going to fall for it. Life had changed irrevocably, and I couldn’t go back even if I wanted to. The point was, I didn’t want to go back.

Alex was waiting in the garden, scuffing his toe around the edges of the garden bed. I was getting better at sensing magic, and when I looked at him, I couldn’t feel anything. Not even a twang in my heart or my nether regions. Whatever feelings I’d had for him had disappeared in the wake of meeting Boone.

“Hey,” he said as I approached.

“Sorry about that,” I replied. “I didn’t realize he was such a jealous guy.”

“Be careful with him, Skye. You know what they say about guys like that.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes because Boone wasn’t like that. Was he? I began to doubt because his behavior was completely out of character, and I hated myself for it. He was the last person I should be worried about even with his amnesia and unknown past.

“Let’s walk,” I said, leading him away from the cottage and along the path through the edges of the forest.

The little woodland area ran all the way up the hill to the tower house and then fanned out to a full-on thicket that stretched for miles. Also within was the ancient hawthorn tree that was the home of the Crescent Witches for centuries. When I first walked here, I used to be afraid of eyes watching from the darkness, and I would jump a mile at the unknown sounds, but now I didn’t fear this place. Not one bit.

The sun was beginning to lower, the sky darkening into twilight. Summer was over, so the days were much shorter, and the temperature was plummeting. In a few months, I was sure I would have my first taste of snow. I was kind of looking forward to building a snowman like they did in Christmas movies. With a carrot nose and everything.

“You’ve changed,” Alex said as we wandered along the path.

“I have?”

“Yeah, you’re more… Confident. Older.”

I snorted. “Thanks a lot. I’m not even thirty, you know.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said with a chuckle.

“Hashtag adulting.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

We fell into an uneasy silence, which was unusual for us. We’d always been best of friends, in the way friends went out and had a blast together. We would go out three nights a week, seeing live music, going to the movies, a show, the pub, festivals—you name it. We were that social couple who spent more time with other people than alone with each other. I was more likely to pinpoint our relationship ending because of that than any magical meddling.

But in saying that, I’d gotten over our split quickly. I’d had Aileen’s death to worry about and everything else, so realistically, I hadn’t had time to wallow.

“Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you here? Really?” I glanced at him expectantly.

He grimaced and shrugged. “I’m not sure anymore.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, seeing that guy… I didn’t know you’d moved on let alone moved to Ireland.”

“We broke up, Alex.”

“It’s just… You never talked about your family. I didn’t know your dad or that your mum was Irish.”

“I never knew Aileen,” I countered. “She left when I was two, and I don’t even remember what she looked like. And my dad, well, you can’t help cancer.”

“But you still decided to pick up her life and live it,” he said, sounding rather annoyed.

“So?” I spat. “It’s my choice. I came here not knowing what I would find…”

“You found that guy.”

“Oh, no, you don’t,” I exclaimed, turning to face him. “Don’t blame me for our break up. You’re forgetting something really important. You’re the one who ended it.” I wasn’t sure I could blame him for that, knowing what I knew now, but there was no way I was letting him turn me into the bad guy. “What I chose to do after is my, and no one else’s, business.”

“Skye, it’s just completely out of character. You up and left with zero notice and never came back.”

“So you said.”

I was beginning to wonder if his arrival was yet another magical conspiracy in play. A trick conceived by Carman to sow the seeds of doubt between Boone and me to undermine my strength. I’d hardly begun to explore my magic, so I wasn’t sure I was that much of a threat to a thousand-year-old witch. Pfft, I didn’t even know what she looked like let alone how to battle her. Maybe I could strike her down with my sass.

“Is this where you want to be now?”

I glanced at Alex and shrugged. “I kinda like it. At first, I didn’t want to be here because of my mum. She’d dropped me into it, you know? A house and a business on the ass cheek of Ireland, but the people here are really nice, and the shop brings in good money. In Australia… My dad has been gone a long time now, I was handed a redundancy and couldn’t find another job, and… Everything fell apart. It’s just…”

“A fresh start.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I still have Dad’s beach house, though.”

“So a reason to come back.” He smiled, clearly thinking there