Cresent Prophecy by Axelle Chandler (great reads TXT) 📕

buffoons within an inch of their lives, they broke apart, cursing loudly. Boone in Irish, and Alex in plain old English.

“Stop it!” I yelled, dropping the hose. “You’re fighting like children!” Shoving Alex away, I grabbed Boone’s arm and began dragging him away. “Get outside.”

“Oh, he’s in trouble,” Sean said with glee. “Um ah!”

Shoving the door open, I towed Boone out into the night, closing off the commotion inside Molly McCreedy’s. Dragging him all the way underneath the hawthorn in the middle of the road, I began blasting him.

“I can’t believe you! You used your power against him!”

Boone’s scowl deepened, and he glanced away, rubbing the back of his hand over his bloodied nose.

“He might be a dick, but he’s still a human. You fought dirty.”

“He’s musclin’ in on you!”

“And I told him no!” I said, seething and seeing a healthy dose of red. “You’re always telling me off for using my magic away from the hawthorns. Only under the branches, you say! Not one inch outside or you’ll attract a craglorn, you say! And what do you do?”

“Our magic doesn’t work the same way,” he argued. “I’m not as powerful as you.”

“Seriously? You want to measure the size of our magical dicks now? Is that what this is really about?”

“No!” he shouted. “It’s about him stealin’ you away from me!”

“So you punch him in the face with your magic?” I snorted. “That’s not the point, and you know it. You were one step away from changing completely, weren’t you?”

He glared and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Ugh,” I declared, throwing my hands up into the air. “By the way, I said cock sandwich the other night. Cock as in dick. More specifically, yours.”

He paled before pouting and turning away.

“I can’t even look at you,” I said, roaring in frustration.

“Then don’t,” he snapped, turning on his heel.

“Boone!” I called out as he strode away into the darkness.

He didn’t listen. Powering right past Molly McCreedy’s, he disappeared around the back where a moment later, I caught a flash of white taking off into the sky.

Typical. He’d flown away rather than take responsibility for his actions. There was more going on here than just Alex, but hell, if I knew, when he wouldn’t tell me.

Walking back to the pub, I leaned against the wall and seethed, not quite ready to go inside and face the destruction. What was happening to us? We were supposed to be a team. We’d saved each other’s lives…

The light overhead dulled the street around me, making the night even darker. The only thing I had to fear around here were magical creatures looking for a feed, but I was aware of those things more and more, so I wasn’t bothered. Wasn’t it ironic that, as it turned out, it was humans I had to be wary of?

The door opened, revealing a disheveled Alex, and I rolled my eyes. Being stuck in the middle was the worst. Was this one of those annoying love triangles? Unlikely, I would have to want both men for our powers to combine or some stupid thing.

“I’m sorry,” Alex said sheepishly. “I shouldn’t have egged him on like that.”

Narrowing my eyes, I retorted, “No, you shouldn’t have.”

“You’re right about one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“This town is nuts.” He laughed, not bothered he’d gotten into a fight at all.

“You’re going to have a black eye,” I declared out of spite.

“A real shiner.”

“Good.”

This was becoming a real pain in my backside. Alex being here had been a real blast from the past, but he just wasn’t getting it. We were over, and nothing he or I did could turn back the dial and bring my mother back from the dead. That was the only way I would be free of the Crescents and able to live my own life. The problem with that was I didn’t want to go back. Not after seeing the things I’d seen, and especially, not after knowing Boone. Not the Boone from tonight, the Boone who’d pledged himself to the Crescent Witches. The Boone who’d kissed me by that spring after saving my life. The Boone who’d given me his heart.

“Alex, it’s nice to see you and everything, but I’m with Boone now.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

I sighed, hoping he would take the hint and back down for all our sakes. Nothing was going to change even if I wanted it to. Which I didn’t.

“But that’s just for now,” he said with a wicked smile.

“Alex…”

“Oh, and don’t worry about cleaning up inside. I took care of it. Unlike your boyfriend, who just left you standing out here in the dark on your own.” He rolled his eyes. “He’s a real catch, Williams.”

“Don’t talk to me like I’m one of your football buddies.”

“You know, that’s what I love about you most, Skye. You don’t bullshit. You just say it like it is.”

I tensed at the word love. “You should go home, Alex. Go home, and find some nice girl who you don’t have to fruitlessly convince to love you. How’s that for telling it like it is?”

He smiled, my barb bouncing right off him. “I’m not ready to give up on us yet. We were amazing together. I’m sorry, I let you go, and I promise to make it up to you. You can trust me again, Skye. You’ll see.”

Leaning against the wall with a groan as he sauntered off into the night to find his car, I cursed the day the Crescents called me home. This wasn’t in the witchy handbook. Not one scrap.

I continued to sulk on my own, but Maggie appeared, forcing me to wipe the sullen expression off my face.

“Skye! What the bleepin’ hell is goin’ on?” she exclaimed. “I go on me break for ten minutes, and the place falls apart. Then Sean tells me Boone punched that Australian moron in the face?”

“If anything’s broken, I’ll get it fixed.” I snorted and rubbed my eyes, not giving a stuff if I smeared my mascara.

“Don’t worry about that,” she