Everwild (The Healer Series, #1) (25 page)

Declan lifted Willow by the waist, never
breaking the kiss, and walked back into the room where he dumped
them on the bed. Declan’s body covered hers, the weight of him felt
wonderful against Willow’s small frame. She was
entranced-captivated-by all things Declan. His touch, smell, and
feel of his hands roaming her body left her tingling and wanting
more. She wrapped a leg around his waist and pressed him deeper
into her, releasing a groan from him. The kissing grew deeper and
slower, Declan’s full lips knew exactly what they were doing,
taunting her with promises of the lust and bliss to come. He twined
his fingers through hers and moved them above her head on the
pillows, trapping them there.

Before things could get too serious, Declan
stopped the make out session and just held Willow on the bed,
hugging her and playing with her hair. She was glad Declan didn’t
want to pursue something more sexual, as this was not the time or
place for that. And Willow just wasn’t ready for that type of
intimacy, yet.

“Hey,” Declan said after a while. Willow
pushed the bangs out of his eyes and smiled when he leaned into her
hand. “Do you feel any different with your talisman on?”

“Not at all,” Willow said laughing and
looking again at the beautiful piece designed just for her. “It’s
pretty though, right?”

“Try to do something that you couldn’t
before.”

“Like what?”

“Like…changing your clothes. Second’s can do
that right?”

“Yea,” Willow said. “I’ve always wanted to do
that! Okay, here we go…” Willow sat up and concentrated, thinking
of her clothes changing from the “little” outfit she was put in, to
something normal and comfortable. She was able to tap into her
magic so easily it was like breathing; second nature. When she
thought she achieved it, she looked down, gasping in surprise. She
was in nearly see-through black, lacy lingerie!

“Ahh!” Willow exclaimed and jumped out of the
bed away from Declan, who was laughing hysterically at her. She
tried covering up her body with her hands, but there was so much
exposed she might as well be standing naked in front of him.

“Well, you got the undergarments right!”
Declan said through his laughing.

Willow’s cheeks heated with embarrassment.
“I’m more uncovered than before!” She ran into the bathroom and
slammed the door. A couple minutes later, Declan opened the door
and handed her some clothes. “Even though I’d definitely prefer you
in what you have on, because you are sexy as hell, these were in
the drawers.”

“Thanks,” Willow said flustered and quickly
put on the Fairy dress. It was silky and had long sleeves, but it
was better than nothing.

Declan led her back out of the bathroom and
back to the bed. He changed the subject. “So, tomorrow we leave.
Once we get out of Fey territory, we’re using magic to get us
transportation. There’s no way I’m chancing the Everwild
again.”

“I’m with you,” Willow said and snuggled
closer to Declan, who started playing with her hair again. It felt
so good that she actually
moaned
with pleasure!

“And then back to my house to regroup so we
can save your sisters, right?” he added.

“As long as you’re with me, Declan, we can do
anything. I have no doubts now that my sisters can be saved.”

“Good. It’s about time you realized how
amazing I am,” Declan teased her. She punched him playfully in the
stomach.

“Goodnight, Dec,” Willow said and gave him a
sweet, tender kiss on the lips.

“Sleep well, Willow Tree,” he whispered
softly in her ear. They both gave in to the heavy exhaustion they
felt from the entire day and drifted off quickly into sleep.

“Willow,” an extremely familiar voice called
her name. It was beautiful and soft. She missed that voice. She
knew
that voice. Willow snapped awake.

“Pertussia!” she cried and jumped out of her
bed and straight into Pertussia’s open arms. Pertussia embraced
her.

“What is it, love?” Pertussia giggled and
stepped back. “Did you have a bad dream?”

Willow looked around. Sunlight was streaming
into her bedroom back at the Southwick Manor. Every piece of
furniture was in its place. She was home! It was all just a big
nightmare…or was it? Looking around, the only thing that seemed
strange about the scene was that her room was uncharacteristically
spotless. There were no clothes on the floor and no makeup sprawled
all over her vanity. Certainly a first time she’s ever seen it this
way.

“Is this real?”

“Is what real, dear?” Pertussia said shaking
her head and putting her hands on her hips. “You’re so strange
sometimes, Willow. I often wonder if Hekate made the wrong decision
in bringing you to our home.” Pertussia started piddling and
busying herself about the room, adjusting the curtains to let in
more light. A stab of hurt penetrated through Willow as she watched
her favorite sister tidying the already immaculate room. Was
Pertussia being serious? Did she really feel like Willow didn’t
belong here? It was her deepest fear, one that she didn’t share
with anybody: that there was no place she truly belonged. That
ultimately, she was alone. Her fears quickly dissipated, though,
when Pertussia turned to her and winked. “But then again, we have
Portia-Anna, don’t we? And we all know how out of the box she can
be!”

“Box?” Memories instantly flooded into her
mind. “Box!” Willow exclaimed and rushed up to Pertussia, who
raised her eyebrows in alarm. “You’re locked in a box of souls,
Pertussia! What can you see? Where are you right now?”

Pertussia smiled awkwardly as if she were
talking to a crazy person. “Whatever are you babbling about,
Willow? I’m standing right here.”

“Hekate has you trapped! I have to find you!
She has Dora and Portia-Anna too! And look! I have my talis--”
Willow cut off when she looked at her wrist. Her talisman! It was
gone!

“Willow, dear, are you feeling okay?”
Pertussia asked her and checked her forehead for fever. Seeming
satisfied, she dropped her hand and moved away. “We have to get
going, you know. Lots to do today! Pandora’s taking you to the
market to pick out ingredients for Devoted Drop. She’s going to
oversee you making it. It’s time you learn more complicated potions
if you’re going to be a Second soon. Even though I hate to admit
that you’re growing up, if Pandora thinks you’re ready, then I do
too. Isn’t that exciting?”

Willow paused in her panic attack, slightly
confused. “Devoted Drop? I’m to make someone obsessively love
someone else?”

“It’s what our client desires,” Pertussia
said waving a hand nonchalantly in the air and walked towards the
bedroom door. “A vampire Lord of some sort…it’s not like they can’t
entrance someone anyways, so I’m rather confused on why he needs
it. But as they say ‘Beggars can’t be choosers’. He’s paid a
handsome price for it, so it’s not like Pandora could deny the
offer. And it’s a great learning experience for you too!”

“Pertussia, please listen to me! This isn’t
real!” Willow hurried out of the bedroom door after her sister, but
instead of going out into the hall, she was thrust back into the
forest.

Shockingly, she found that she was sitting in
front of a small cottage at a table and chair with her arms folded,
perfectly calm and perfectly composed. In front of her was a long,
snaking line with thousands of different creatures ambling about
and waiting to approach her table. Directly in front of her was a
small goblin with speckled dots all over his body. Willow knew this
was unusual for a goblin since their skin is normally so thick and
yellow, like they had permanent jaundice. She had never seen one
with this coloring before. This goblin was sick.

He was anxious in front of her, twiddling his
thumbs, obviously afraid to ask her to heal him. She almost smiled
at the thought. She would never hurt someone who was already
hurting. This was her destiny-the job given to her as a
responsibility to all magical creatures. But she felt empty and
alone. Someone was missing. Willow turned back to look at the
cottage. It was small, built for one person and located in the
middle of the forest. Nobody was in it. She felt a deep sadness
wrench through her when she turned back to face the goblin, who
emptied a small satchel filled with gold coins-payment to use her
healing power on him. Willow smiled sweetly and accepted the offer,
then moved to heal him, trying to remember a person who once filled
the gaping hole in her heart.

Then, a throaty cackle filled her ears and
chills erupted all over her. A voice, Hekate’s voice whispered to
her. “
All Alone…All Alone…I will kill you…All Alone.”

Willow woke up in a cold sweat. She felt her
face with clammy hands, touched the bed, and looked around. She was
back in the Fey Kingdom. Her heart was beating furiously and she
still felt the pang of that loneliness in her dream. It felt so
real. The emotions, the pain and emptiness were pulling at her,
threatening to suffocate her and drown her in sorrow. A weepy lump
was lodged in her throat. She didn’t even want to think about the
realness of Hekate’s voice in her mind.

In the dream, she was trying to fill a void
in her life, a void that was once filled by
something…some
one
. She turned when she heard the sound of
running water stop in the bathroom.
Declan
, Willow thought.
Declan wasn’t in her dream! How could she forget about him? She
watched the bathroom door blankly, hearing Declan move around, but
not seeing him.

Tears swelled in her eyes. She always knew
she didn’t deserve him and the life and happiness he would give
her. She was a Healer; one of a kind, and that came with
responsibility and duty. But did that life come at a price? Was she
destined to be all alone, never having time for a life or love? The
thought of being without Declan was painful enough, but what if the
dream what was to come? What if her obligations to her job
outweighed everything? What if Declan got mad and left her because
she wasn’t paying attention to him? Worries flooded her mind as she
envisioned the worst possible scenario. Her chest heaved with
panic. He would leave her and find someone else. She would be alone
forever.

Declan came out of the bathroom, and even
though the room was dark, the bathroom light cast a glow across the
room. The tiredness in her eyes and the darkness outside told her
she didn’t sleep long. Declan was rubbing his hair with a towel
when he looked over at the bed, and then paused when he saw Willow
was awake and staring right at him. Declan was very still for a
moment as he watched her silently. He saw something in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”

Willow cleared her throat, trying to remain
calm…trying to keep it together. She would not ball her eyes out in
front of him, but that stupid lump was still in her throat!
“Nothing,” she managed to say.

Declan was wearing shorts, but had his shirt
off. He approached the bed, and her heart thrummed with every step
he took; a sure sign that she was in deep trouble. “Tell me.”

She finally looked away from those hazel eyes
that could melt her soul and said, “Bad dream.”

Willow felt the bed dip when Declan sat down
close to her. He reached out and touched her hair, combing through
the curls with his hand, twirling the ends with his fingers. Willow
squeezed her eyes shut when the tears almost fell out of her eyes,
giving away the state she was in. Her body was betraying her. She
didn’t want him to see her cry. She didn’t want him to know
anything
about her dream. “Why’d you take a shower?” she
said switching the subject off of her. She was good at doing it
when the opportunity presented itself. It got her thinking about
other things, too. A win-win.

“Couldn’t sleep.” Declan lowered his voice,
“Let’s get out of here. Diazinon gave us the go ahead to leave, so
what’s stopping us? We can get back, use magic to get out of the
Everwild because I’m not going through
that
death trap
again, then figure out how we can save your sisters. Once we’re
under the protection of the Emerald Circle and all the other Covens
who have our allegiance, we’re safe. You’ll be safe.”

Willow smiled slightly at Declan’s assured
confidence. That was what made him so attractive. Even if he was
arrogant at times, his I-can-do-anything attitude fueled his power
and added to his charm. Willow leaned back on her hands and her
eyes roamed Declan’s half naked body leisurely. He was enough of a
distraction to switch her thoughts off her dream, but with his
shirt off, it was pure torture. It wasn’t her fault that her eyes
just automatically sought him out, but abs and muscles like his
just couldn’t be ignored. On top of that, Declan was still wet. His
body shone like a blazing star in the black sky. His damp hair
curled in the wet and it was so hot Willow felt her face heating
up. Declan smirked when he caught her gawking at him and inched
closer to her-the heat rising even more.

“Like what you see?” His voice was a
whispered caress.

“Um…” she cleared her throat and her face
flushed red. Her response gave her attraction away, though. She
couldn’t look in his eyes. If she did, she would be a goner. But if
she kept staring at Declan’s body, she would want to do more than
just look. She would want to touch, and explore, and taste,
and….

Declan leaned even closer to Willow. The
distance between them was almost non-existent. He brushed her hair
behind her shoulders and gripped the back of her neck with his hand
and squeezed hard as if to say, “Don’t move, stay like this.” He
was going in for a kiss! Willow’s stomach flip-flopped and her
heart murmured in agreement and anticipation.

“If you’re mouth is unable to answer,” he
said, his lips tickling hers as he talked, “I have a better use for
them.”