Page 49 of The Witch’s Daughter

“Nonsense.” He chuckled, pushing back a branch. “I’m not going anywhere else tonight. Here is where we’re meant to be.”

The sight before us took my breath away.

Moonlight shone down on the clearing tucked into the trees. The half-naked woman with the wolf on her heels ran past me, still laughing.

“They’re beautiful,” I whispered.

A small fire burned in the center, casting a warm glow over the naked females dancing around the flames. With their arms raised, and hair wild and loose, they touched the earth with bare feet.

As a shifter, I’d seen more than my fair share of naked bodies before. But this was different. Sweat dripped and skin glistened as the dancers twirled, grabbing each other in a dip, or spin, or kiss. I’d never seen such a display of divine femininity. It was chaos. Beautiful, unchoreographed chaos.

“You should join them.” Charles nudged me.

“Oh no.” I shook my head. “I couldn’t do that.”

“Hmm…” Charles nodded, turning to the stump behind him where various bottles and cups sat stacked. “I see what you need now.”

My hope flared to life again. “You do?”

“Yes, yes.” He rummaged through the tinctures. “When you said you needed my help, I didn’t sense any blocks, but I can feel them now.”

“Wait… my blocks. My magic blocks,” I tried to explain.

But it was useless. He was drunk.

“Magic blocks? Ha. You’re fine.” He pushed a cup of dark liquid into my hand. “Drink this. It will clear you.”

I sniffed, smelling notes of parsley and fenugreek and patchouli leaves mixed with the wine. “A libido booster?” I arched a brow.

“That’s your problem, isn’t it?” Charles smiled. “Sexual blocks can affect everything. Mood. Confidence. Sleep. Honey, you’re very tense. This is the cure.”

“Is it?” I sniffed again. I guessed it couldn’t hurt. Not that this would fix my magic, but when else would I get the chance to do something like this?

I turned to look over the clearing again as the music changed to a faster beat.

The witch from earlier now rested on her hands and knees while the wolf-witch thrust into her from behind, howling at the moon. Beyond the fire and dancers, bodies glistened, moving together in the grass. An orgy of magic energy, pulsing and thickening the air, warmed me from the inside out.

I… Um. My wolf sputtered. I guess you only live once.

My palms were slick on the cup as I looked down at my clothes, feeling very over dressed.

“You don’t have to partake if you don’t want to.” Charles motioned to his own apparel. “You can wear your armor while you browse and decide. Or find joy in the watching. No one will judge you.”

“Will you be okay?” I asked.

I hadn’t noticed him sipping from a water jug until now, but his eyes already seemed clearer, as if he’d used his power in the second it took me to debate what I was even doing here. Magic. I hated that it was all around me, and I still couldn’t touch it like I used to. That niggling feeling was there again. The urge to remember. To play.

“Go,” Charles pushed me forward. “Enjoy yourself. The night isn’t getting younger and neither are you.”

With that sugar-coated insult, I took my cup with me, sniffing it again before I had the tiniest sip. My gram was good with herbs. She’d insisted my sisters and I learn all we could about the healing properties of the earth. Mom used herbs more for cooking, but no one could deny their potency.

This stuff was strong.

I glanced back at Charles, but he seemed content to sit and watch while he sipped his own concoction.

My feet moved me over the dewy grass, but I stayed on the outskirts of the dancers near the fire. As I got closer, their magic called to me. A breeze that lifted the hair off my neck. A cooling caress. The wind tugged gently at my shirt.

“Come dance with us.” I seemed to hear her voice in my head as a pretty woman with a sun-kissed smile and long fingers curled one, beckoning me. Her other hand trailed lower, dipping between her legs.