Cresent Prophecy by Axelle Chandler (great reads TXT) 📕

growing leaves and branches, the earth taking them back into the soil.

And Lucy… The ground took her, too.

Moss, lichens, and grass sprouted over the mound, growing and spreading until the entire scene looked as if it were part of the forest once more. Only Boone and I knew that under the uneven surface lay the witch who betrayed all of us. There her cairn lay like the ancient burial mounds that were dotted all over Ireland.

I didn’t say any words, I didn’t use any anchors, I didn’t even use any potions or elixirs. All I had at my disposal was my heart. Instinctual magic, she’d called it. The most unpredictable kind there was.

I waved my hand, and just like that…the horror was gone.

Mairead was waiting for us at the cottage when we returned.

“Oh, cac,” she exclaimed when she saw Boone and me.

We were covered in blood. Our clothes were stained with it, but by the time we’d reached the village limits, the gashes on my arms were nothing but pale pink lines.

She began fussing as she hurried us inside, making sure the door was locked.

“I was so worried,” she exclaimed. “When Boone rushed off like that…”

I glanced at him.

“When you didn’t come back, I began to worry,” he said. “Then I sensed magic in the forest.”

“He ran right out of here like his ass was on fire,” Mairead added. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

“It’s a long story.” I sighed, not wanting to get into it right now. Turning to Boone, I added, “You better get into the shower and warm up.”

He glanced at Mairead, then back to me. Finally, he nodded and shuffled upstairs. A moment later, the bathroom door closed, and the sound of running water rushed through the old pipes.

“Skye… What happened?”

I glanced at Mairead, knowing I was babying her a little. She was eighteen and a woman now, but I still saw her as the kid sister I never had. Especially now she was living under my roof and had been attacked by the same creatures who were hunting me.

“I can handle it,” she said firmly.

“I know, it’s just… It was a close call tonight.” I shook my head, wanting nothing more than to hash it out with Boone.

“You’re covered in blood…”

“I’m okay, Mairead,” I said firmly. “Boone is a little shaken up, so I want to check on him. Could you boil the kettle for us? I think I need a hot cup of tea…with some whiskey in it. At least a fifty-fifty ratio of the stuff.”

Her bottom lip trembled, but I knew well enough that it was more to do with the scare we’d put her through than being offended at the lack of an explanation.

I slid my arms around her neck and hugged her tightly, though it was a full thirty seconds before she embraced me back.

“Thank you,” I whispered into her ear. “I always wanted a sister, you know.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Me, too.”

Letting her go, I shooed her into the kitchen. Kicking off my boots, I left them by the front door and padded upstairs to find Boone.

Knocking softly, I opened the door and shuffled into the bathroom. He was standing in the bathtub, water from the shower head pounding on his shoulders. The curtain was askew, and a fine mist was dampening the mat on the floor. Fixing it, I clucked my tongue as my socks soaked through.

“Why a wolf?” he murmured, not turning around.

“I don’t know,” I replied, perching on the end of the bath and wetting a face washer.

“Apart from the time I stopped the wolf from attackin’ you, I’ve never seen or touched one.”

“They’re meant to be extinct,” I said. “Mary Donnelly told me there are no more in Ireland.”

“Which means the wolf was a shapeshifter.”

“Yeah, well, he’s a one-eyed shapeshifter now.” A pang of nausea wobbled through my gut at the thought it had been a man stalking me that day in the forest. “Besides, he never came back.”

“As a wolf.”

“Not helping,” I said, giving Boone a side-eye glare.

“The truth is… I could’ve been anythin’ before.”

“You could’ve been a slimy toad for all we know,” I said, dabbing at the dried blood on my arms. “You said it yourself, your powers are still developing. Or at least, you’re discovering what you’re already supposed to know. Didn’t you say once that you didn’t know you could empathize with an animal’s emotions until the day you saved Roy from Bully?”

“Yeah, but—”

“No buts,” I scolded. “There’s no use panicking until we have to, and even then, panicking isn’t the best use of our time.”

He turned, his eyebrow quirking.

“I’m finding it very hard to reassure you while you’re standing there naked.”

“I should be reassurin’ you,” he said. “You were the one who was almost sacrificed.”

My cheeks flushed, and I looked away. The pain in my arms had been unbearable, but the gashes weren’t as deep as the hole Lucy’s betrayal had carved out of my soul. The witches were supposed to be with me, not against me.

“Boone…” I glanced up at him. “I saw her.”

“Who?”

“Carman.”

He dropped the soap, and it hit the bottom of the bath with a plop.

“Right before you showed up, I was drawn into a vision or whatever it was. I was in a room… There were two doors, but every time I walked through them, I was back in the same place. Over and over. Then she… She spoke to me.” I grasped his hand.

“What did she say?”

I shivered despite the steam that had built up in the little bathroom.

“She thought she’d won,” I murmured. “She thought…”

“Well, she was wrong.”

“It’s real now,” I said. “I mean, it always has been, but now Carman has a face.”

Boone was silent, and I didn’t blame him. There was nothing he or anyone else could say to make this any better.

“Everything is so messed up,” I said. “Even the hawthorn tried to warn me, but I was too stupid to listen until it was too late.”

“The hawthorn?”

“Right before Lucy… I placed my hands