A Witches Heart by Lisa Marie McDonagh (best short novels of all time .txt) 📕

/> I felt so much better now; she wasn't going to leave me again. We headed into the living room and Katheren sat on one of the couches. "Wait here," I told her then went up the stairs to get our 'livre de sorts' and five candles. 
"What's that?" she asked, taking the musty book form my hands. 
"My family's 'livre de sorts'." 
"'Spell book'?" 
"Oh, so I see that someone knows French. My family uses French to control our aura, so anything with a magical purpose, we name it in French." 
"Pourquoi?" Why? 
I chuckled, she was showing off. "Because older languages hold more power, I am not sure why, but the older languages make spells easier for us to control our spells so more of our spells work. Latin is one of the best, but since so little people know it, it's not that common."  
"Oh, I see. So maybe that's why my mom used French so much around the house when I was little, she had always said that it was because we were part French, but it being her 'magical language' makes more sense," she said, but she seemed to be talking to herself just as much as she was to me. "Okay then, let's get back on track, what's with the candles?"  
"All part of what I am doing." I put the candles on the floor so that when connected, they formed a pentagram. "Sit," I ordered her, pointing to the middle of the circle of lavender scented candles. 
"W-will it...hurt?" she asked biting her lip. 
Her expression made my heart ache. "Trust me," I pleaded to her. "I will never let anything hurt you," I told her seriously. "I give you my word." She debated for a second, then took a deep breath and did what I said. I beamed at her. She actually trusted me. I sat in front of her on the outside of the circle. 
"What are we doing?" Katheren asked me. 
"We are going to see what color your aura is. We are going to try to 'flare' your aura, or make it visible around you." 
"Flare?" 
"Well, I am not sure what other witches call it, but that is what I call it. It looks like you're surrounded by fire, it's very cool."  
She laughed. "You are such a typical guy, the simplest things amaze you." 
"Not all guys are like that," I told her, laughing also. 
"Up to middle school and sometimes high school, quite a few guys are like that, so I am not just being sexist." 
"I suppose that you are sort of right." 
She smirked. "Oh, I know. Now what do I do first? Any cool spell I need to say?" I could tell by the way she said cool that all this witch stuff still freaked her out a little; I mean she did only have such a short time to adjust to all of it.  
"Nope, no spells. You just need to sit there and focus." 
"Focus on what?" 
"Well," I struggled to find words that would make sense to her "focus on your energy force. That's what aura is, not your soul like most people believe but your energy. Oh, I should warn you, the more you use your aura, the more tried you will get, and it's also very dangerous to try to push yourself to hard too soon because if your aura depletes too much, you could possibly go into a coma. So please, please don't do anything unless I am with you, okay?" 
She nodded her head, looking frightened again. "I-I am a little scared," she admitted. 
"Don't be," I told her and leaned forward to give her a peck on the lips. I felt a jolt as I did that, but I ignored it. Her eyes widened and she nodded weakly, bemused. I smiled at her, and then grew serious. "Now close your eyes and picture energy running through you, around you. I know this is going to sound cheesy, but imagine yourself as energy, and then will yourself to see it." 
I lit the candles around her, they have much of a purpose, they were just supposed to help her relax. 
I waited, and watched her, nothing happened. After about five minutes, I decided to try something else. 
But then I saw it, her aura spreading over her skin, it started from her heart and then, seconds later, her body was completely bathed in her aura. I stared at her face- you could still see her just fine, but it looked like she was immersed in a colored haze- and wondered if I should say or if she already knew what she was doing. 
Then I registered what color it was and gasped.

Chapter 11 
Katheren: 
I opened my eyes when I heard Daren gasp. Had I done something wrong? What happened? I started to panic.  
But when I looked at his face, I didn't see worry, I saw awe. "What is it?" 
He just looked at me for a second before answering. "You have a sky blue aura, look." He pointed at my hands that were resting on my lap. 
Even though I could see just fine, my whole body was glowing a light blue color. I lifted my hand and the cloud of color moved along with it. I laughed a startled laugh. It did look kind of like fire and it was cool.  
Then I decided to try something. I closed my eyes and pictured a ball of my aura in my right hand. When I opened my eyes, I was back to normal... except for my right hand. "What does this mean?" I asked Daren in awe. When he didn't answer, I looked up. "Daren!" 
"Oh, sorry. Um, it means- you know what I said the other day? You have a light blue one, the most powerful. It also seems like you have very good focus?" he asked, referring to how I was making my sky colored ball into random shapes. 
I smirked. "Jealous?" But the second I that I focused on him, it disappeared. "Damn," I muttered, disappointed. 
He laughed. "Well I was, but it seems that you lost it." Then he thought for a moment. "I am very pleased that by just looking at me you lost your focus, I shouldn't be, but I am. But, I am probably just flattering myself, that must have been very hard for you." 
"Nope, it actually wasn't. After I got it work, I didn't really need to think about it that hard, just to be aware of it." 
He smiled even larger. "So looking at me...?" 
"...Caused me to lose all of my concentration. Every time I look at you, everything that I am thinking about just-" I made a fluttering movement with my hands, "-flies out of my head." 
"Really?" He sounded very pleased about this? 
"Mhm." 
"Come here, I-I want to do something," he whispered. Daren pulled me off the floor and on to the couch; I had almost forgotten that we were still in his living room.  
When I sat down, he wrapped his arms around my waist and moved closer to me. He did this slowly, as if he wasn't sure how I would react, if he thought I would push him away. I gently draped my arms around his neck; he smiled, and then bent down to kiss me. I kissed him back.  
The kiss went from something sweet and gentle, to full of passion. His arms tightened around my waist as I pulled myself closer to him. 
Some part of my mind was wondering why it felt like I needed him so much, that it felt like it would cause me pain not to be with him, to touch him like this. I didn't understand it, but at the moment, all I could think about was his lips on mine. 
I was getting dizzy and I didn't know why. Then it came to me, oh, I wasn't breathing. I broke away from him with a gasp. 
He leaned his forehead against mine, also breathing heavily. "Before," he got out between breaths, "when you said that you loved me- well you actually said that you thought I had forced you too- did you truly mean it? Does it still apply?" 
I blushed. "Yes." 
"Yes to what?" 
"Both," I told him, blushing even deeper.  
He smiled. "Good." 
"Good?" I asked him, confused. 
"Well Kates," Daren said, "it's good because I-I-" He didn't finish. 
"You what?" I prompted. 
"L-love you, Katheren Whitney." 
"Aww," I didn't mean to say that out loud. But it slipped. Then I thought about the first time that I 'told' him; it wasn't the best memory. "I love you too, Daren Coventry." 
He beamed at me and kissed me again. Then, for a while, I just leaned against him, it was bliss. "So what does it mean, being a witch?" 
I felt his soft chuckle through my back. "Whatever you want it want it to. Just because you are a witch, it doesn't mean that you have to do spells or anything. The only thing that you would need to know is a few protection spells." 
My eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "Why would I need to know those?" 
"Warlocks." He didn't continue until he saw that my expression hadn't changed. "Some warlocks can sense witches and if they sense you, they might try to kill you, and with how strong of a life force (that's another name for aura) is... it's a sure thing." 
I gulped. Oh, god. 
He must have felt me tense up because he held me tighter and rested his chin on my head. "Don't worry; I will never let anyone hurt you. I just want you to learn the spells just in case." 
I took a deep breath. "Okay. What are the spells?" I asked him, pleased that my voice didn't waver. 
Daren spent the next few hours teaching me spells. One that I learned was supposed to confuse my attacker- it usually didn't work that often, but he said that I was more than powerful enough to get it to work. Another put a shield around me, protecting me from attacks, the third one I learned made me invisible, and the final one was offensive, it was supposed to knock someone out, but neither of us wanted to test that one. 
I was so tired!
Daren: 
I taught her four spells before I said that we should take a break, she nodded gratefully. I had planned on just talking to her, but her eyes fluttered close and she pitched forward. 
I ran to her and caught her before he hit the ground. "Katheren, are you alright?" I was panicking.  
She groaned something that sounded like 'let me sleep'. I blew out the breath, that I didn't know I was holding, heavily. I picked her up bridal style and carried her up to my room. I tucker her in and left the room to call her aunt- I just told her Katheren was fine but was too tired to drive home- so she wouldn't worry about her niece. 
Then walked back into my room, she looked exactly like an angel, relaxed in her sleep. And she was mine! I couldn't describe how much that meant to me, but I knew that I would never let her leave me without a fight. She was so beautiful that I just stared at her face until I started to get tired myself. 
I changed into pajama bottoms and got into bed next to her and quickly fell asleep.  

 
Chapter 12 
Katheren: 
I woke up the next morning from the best night's sleep that I had ever had, pressed up against something warm. I felt so cold that I snuggled closer to whatever it was. I felt an arm around my waist pull