The Rose Witch - Chandelle LaVaun Page 0,40

the night. I hadn’t thought it’d be a big deal. We were home, surrounded by only family.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Malachi’s shirt turned out to be long-sleeved, which made his comment about being cold make more sense. I slid the soft cotton over my head and stuffed my arms into the sleeves – and sighed. The material was warmer than I expected. It felt like I was wearing a fleece coat. I chuckled. Angel magic. How sneaky. With a smile, I looked down and found the hem of the shirt went all the way down to mid-thigh – which was good, given the no knickers problem.

I picked up my gown and hung it on the hook on the wall so it wouldn’t get messed up. Then I turned, opened the door, and walked back into his bedroom.

He did a double take, then froze. His gaze slid down my body, over every inch of my bare legs and down to my feet. He frowned but his lips curved. “Were you wearing those boots under your dress?”

I glanced down at my Uggs, then shrugged. “I hate heels and it was cold.”

He grinned and shook his head. “Let’s try again?”

I nodded and hurried over to stand in front of him, then I spun around. “I’m ready.”

He chuckled and it was a deep, throaty kind of laugh that sent butterflies to my stomach and heat to my face. Insert foot in mouth again, Chloe.

“So, does Spot sleep in bed with you?”

“No—”

On cue, like I’d summoned him, Spot flew through the room and leapt onto Malachi’s bed. He immediately flopped over and sprawled out.

“Fine. Yes.”

I snorted.

He sighed behind me and mumbled, “traitor dog.”

Then he tossed a book onto the foot of his bed and reached for the pendant still hanging from my neck. He counted down from three — pain laced through my back, twisted the muscles in my shoulder blades. I hissed through clenched teeth but then it was over. I exhaled and wiped my brow.

“You all right?”

“I’m fine. Hurt but it was bearable.”

“Chloe.”

“It was no worse than cramps on day two, okay?” I shrugged and shook my arms out. “We need to get that damn necklace off of me. So let’s just keep trying. I don’t want a soul sucking crystal on my bloody chest.”

“Okay, okay.” He pressed both hands on my shoulders and his thumbs hooked through the necklace. “In three…two…one…”

Bright light flashed and a sharp pain like nothing I’d ever felt ripped through my body, like I was being torn in half. I screamed. My back arched and my toes curled — and then everything went black.

I gasped and opened my eyes — and found myself looking up at Malachi’s face. He hung his head and sighed. Spot leaned over his shoulder and cocked his head to the side and whined.

“What happened?” I started to get up and then discovered I was lying across Malachi’s lap. On his bed. “Did I pass out?”

He cringed and nodded. He opened his mouth, then shut it and shook his head.

“Malachi? What happened?”

He stood with me in the cradle of his arms and then sat me on my feet.

“Malachi?”

But he just spun and stormed back into the first room. I looked down to Spot and found him watching the hallway, too. A second later, Malachi stomped back into the room carrying a large, four-inch-thick leather-bound book that looked positively ancient. Energy radiated off of it in waves.

My stomach tightened into knots. I didn’t like the look of that book, not after that last attempt had hurt so much and knocked me unconscious. But I had to try anything, I knew that. Lilith’s pendant could not stay on me. It had to come off. There was no question about it.

“What’s that book?”

He scowled and flipped the pages carefully. “It is not safe for you to know that answer.”

My eyes widened. “And you think the answer we need is in there?”

He sighed and flipped more pages. “If there’s a book in this world that can tell us how, it will be this one…though I’d been hoping to avoid it.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

His face fell. Wide, tortured looking eyes met mine.

“It’s fine. Doesn’t matter. Let’s just do it. Third time’s a charm, right?”

“Let me just find it.”

I watched as he flipped through the pages, his gaze scanning every inch. “Do you know what you’re looking for? You seem to be scanning rather quick.”

“Certain key words will identify it for me.” He glanced up at me from