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“It looks fine.” He gently touched and squeezed it. “It doesn’t feel warm either, not like a burn usually does.”
“That’s because the burn is gone.” Lucas followed her to the counter where she spread out the shirt. “Now watch this.” Maggie closed her eyes and imagined powerful sunbeams focused on the shirt. Willing their rays to burn off the stain, leaving only crisp white cotton behind. When she opened her eyes, the stain was gone. And so was Lucas.
Chapter 26
“Lucas, slow down.” Cal chased after him through the parking lot. “We’ve got plenty of time until the stupid new curfew.” Someone in the head office had the smart idea of activating the tracking devices on all the players’ company-issued phones, and they needed to be home by twenty-two hundred hours. The phones had once been the coolest perk in the NFL, but now they were like a ball and chain.
Lucas weaved between the parked cars, needing to get as far away from what he’d seen in the kitchen as possible. He was a good Catholic boy, scratch that, a decent Catholic boy who’d gone to church every week and taken communion regularly. Lucas hadn’t seen the inside of a confessional box since he’d graduated from college, but he was still sure the church was anti-witch.
He skidded to a stop as a car backed out and Cal plowed into his back, almost toppling him. Cal grabbed his jacket and jerked him upright. “What the hell, Lucas?” He glared at Cal, hoping to get his bearings. “Whoa. You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“No, a witch,” Lucas panted. She thinks she’s a witch and I think I saw her prove it. We’re both crazy.
“She told you?”
“You too?” Lucas jerked away from him.
“No, not me,” Cal said, as if that was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. “Now calm the eff down and let’s get to the truck. This is not a conversation we want to have in the parking lot.” Lucas walked away, but Cal grabbed the back of his jacket again. “Truck’s at the other end of the lot. You’ve been running in circles since you bolted from Brewster’s.” Lucas trailed Cal to the truck and handed over his keys. He was in no condition to get behind the wheel.
They drove in silence. Lucas tried to formulate questions that wouldn’t make him sound insane, and Cal opened and closed his mouth like he was trying to speak, but couldn’t find the words. “What happened?” he finally asked.
“Your sister told me she’s a witch. I thought she said it to throw me off, so I pushed her and told her to prove it.”
“Did she?”
“If she hadn’t, I wouldn’t have run like Satan was on my heels.”
“They’re not evil or devil-worshippers. They’re good witches.” Cal shrugged. “You don’t need to be afraid.”
“They’re? There’s more than her?” Cal blew out a breath.
“You should have stayed and let her explain, Lucas. It’s not my place.” Cal sounded irritated.
“It might not be, but I need answers now and since you’re here, you’re telling me everything.” Lucas ordered. Cal’s fingers tightened on the wheel. Lucas exhaled through his nose slowly. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew aggravating someone who had access to witches was a dumb move. “Please.”
“I’ll tell you what I can, but you need to talk to Maggie. Promise me? This can’t end tonight. Not if she told you.”
“What does that mean? I’m cursed if I don’t talk to her?”
“Shut up and listen. Maggie’s a good witch. She doesn’t curse or hex people, none of them do. And it’s not the type of fictional witch nonsense Hollywood and books have taught us. It’s more like using energy and nature. It’s cool.”
“But you’re not a witch?”
“No, the gift is passed to the daughters of the first-born male in each generation. So, if I have daughters, they’ll inherit the skills, but it will be up to them to develop their skills. It’s like football. Some people are naturally athletic, but they still have to practice and work hard to be a professional.”
“So that means your Aunt Elspeth is a witch, right?” Lucas asked, and Cal nodded his head. “Why did it bypass Harper and Penny? If it’s passed genetically, then all the daughters should have it, unless there’s a variant?” Lucas asked, needing to take a scientific approach to this.
“There is no variant, and you won’t find it in DNA sequencing. It just is. When my great-great-grandfather emigrated from Scotland, he’d hoped to break the curse, as he called it. But he didn’t, because it isn’t a curse, it’s a God-given gift. It’s an ability they’re born with and it’s part of them.” All three sisters are witches, Lucas realized as dread settled in his stomach. I’m in love with one and I’ve probably pissed off the others.
“So, Maggie’s not crazy. I really did see her erase the tea stain and I’m not going to hell for believing her,” Lucas said, finding comfort in saying the words out loud. “Is that why you acted like an unconcerned ass and didn’t react when she burned herself? Because you knew she’d heal it?”
“Maggie’s good with soft tissue.” Lucas remembered how quickly his hand had healed after Maggie had rubbed the poultice on it and held it during the movie. He’d need to ask her if the poultice had been a red herring. “And I can be a bit of an ass where my sisters are concerned.” He shrugged.
“But you love them.”
Cal laughed. “Everyone loves the Buchanan sisters, but only some of us love who they truly are.” Lucas heard pride and a warning in Cal’s words.
“I do, you know? I love Maggie, and I was trying to tell her that when she blocked me with her own announcement. I thought she didn’t want to hear it. And I got flustered and mad and then she did the magic on the shirt. I panicked and ran. I gotta talk to her. Turn the truck around.”
