Cursed (Enchanted Gods #1) - K.K. Allen Page 0,20

to the end, no closer to figuring out who the mystery woman is. How strange. Sighing, I pick myself off the floor, squeeze the book back into the stacks, and continue perusing.

I’ve just pulled out two more books that might help feed my curiosity when I look up at the large wall clock and gasp. Shoot. My time is up. I take off down the aisle and round the corner, plowing headfirst into a moving target.

I stumble back. “I'm so sorry.”

“Don’t be. I wasn’t looking.”

I’m so flustered that I don’t realize I’ve bumped into Alec until I hear his deep, familiar voice. I look up at him, causing a stampede of horses to start galloping in my chest. Even in the darkness last night, I knew he was gorgeous, but today is a different story. With the sun at his back, his green eyes practically sparkling with his smile, and his clean-cut good looks, I know I’m in trouble. “It’s you.”

My entire body heats so fast, I have no chance of hiding my deep humiliation. I can’t believe I just said that. After the way we met last night, and now this, he must think I’m a total weirdo.

“Are we going to meet like this every time?” he jokes.

I cringe then let out an awkward laugh. “I really hope not. I am sorry, though. I was rushing to be somewhere, and I wasn’t paying attention.”

The corner of his mouth tips up playfully. “It’s okay if you’re doing these things on purpose just to talk to me.” His eyes glimmer. “I don’t mind.”

I bite down on my smile and roll my eyes. “You’re onto me.” Another thought crosses my mind. “Except I’ve been up here for some time, while it looks like you just got here. So, maybe it’s you who is trying to run into me.”

This time, it’s Alec’s face that flushes with color. “Okay, so I might have seen you from downstairs and come up to say hello. I didn’t know you were going to throw yourself at me.”

I laugh while my eyes catch on something he’s holding. My books somehow found their way into his hands when we bumped into each other. “Oh, I’ll take those.” I reach for them, but Alec pulls them out of reach from me and glances at the one facing him.

“The summer solstice, huh? I guess you are your grandmother’s daughter.”

For a second, I wonder if he’s trying to offend me, but that doesn’t seem like something he would do. Still, his comment rubs me the wrong way. “What do you mean?”

His eyes widen like he realizes how he might have come across. “Just that your grandmother is into all that stuff. It makes sense that you would be too.” When I give him a strange look, he shakes his head. “It’s not weird or anything. It seems half the town is into this stuff. You would think we lived on an ancient Greek burial ground or something.”

I smile and slip my books from his hands, knowing exactly what he means. “Moving here made me curious, I guess.”

He pushes his hands into his pockets and rocks forward like he’s nervous. As he does, a strand of curly hair falls in front of his eyes. Besides being ridiculously cute, he’s also sweet and friendly, and for some reason, he came up here to talk to me. Warmth spreads in my chest.

“Curious about the solstice or Greek mythology in general?”

“Both.” I shrug. “My birthday falls on the summer solstice this year, and Rose wants to have this big celebration. I don’t really understand what the fascination is, but I want to try.”

He gives me a smile that melts me down to my toes. “Well, it’s totally cool if you’re into it all. Some people around here don’t get it, but I think it’s cool how history and mythology blend together. My parents are fascinated with all that stuff too.”

“They are?”

Alec nods. “Oh, yeah. They’re herbalists, so they’re all big into sacred healing rituals and holistic healing and all of that. My mom owns an herbal shop on the island, and my dad teaches ancestral herbalism at the private college. I don’t know if they’re quite as intense about it as Rose, but it all stems from the same beliefs, I think.”

I nod, sensing he has something more to say. But judging by the bend of his brows, he’s figuring out how to word it.

After too much time passes, unease shakes through me, and I give