The Highlander’s Witch (2 page)

Leaning over to look at the list, Sarah asked. “So then, what does ‘Love me for the way I am’ have to do with him?”

“He wanted me to straighten and change my hair to blonde, lose a few pounds, and wear shorter skirts.”

Except for Sarah’s lighter shade of brown hair, being pregnant, and four years older, the two could have looked like twins. Both had green eyes, stood five foot eight, and were happy in their size twelve clothes.

Although they shared an innate sense of curiosity, which was why Sarah thought Skye would go for the speed dating fiasco their aunt had planned, it was really their personalities that set them apart. Sarah was the no-nonsense one, always planning with everything in order while Skye went by the seat of her pants and thrived on spontaneity.

“No way!” Sarah exclaimed.

Skye shoved away from the counter in disgust, not even bothering to reply. She picked up her discarded purse and walked away.

“What about this ‘be a man’s man, but be straight?’” Sarah asked.

“Since I’d had enough abuse for one evening and was so over the whole thing, I got up to leave and can you imagine my surprise when the next guy leaned over and said he was willing to do all that and more for number seven . . . and seven looked like he was considering it!”

“Oh, my God!”

Skye got to the basement door, turned the handle and looked back at Sarah’s shocked face.

“No more, Sarah. I mean it.” She ground out firmly through clenched teeth before closing the door behind her.

Heading down to the basement she’d set up as her own since Doug and Sarah’s marriage, Skye tossed her hat, coat, and purse onto the nearest flat surface before curling up onto her favorite rocking chair as she played with the ring on her thumb.

It wasn’t that she was truly angry with her sister and aunt.

Okay, she was, but she understood the meaning behind their actions, more than they gave her credit for.

It just seemed that since Sarah and Doug’s marriage a little over a year ago, her life had become one huge circus with her aunt being the ringleader.

Magic always seemed the cause of it all.

Aunt Gladys had the ability to see connections between two people and insisted she and Doug were meant to be together.

When their professor had paired them for a project in their botany class, it was an instant camaraderie.

Doug was a very good-looking man with hazel eyes, black hair that always seemed to need a haircut, and a firm muscular body that belied his studious personality but it was the way he seemed to accept Skye’s outlandish ways without taking offence when she said something without thinking it through that held her attention.

By the end of the week, Skye had brought him home for coffee and introduced him to her aunt, disappointed that her sister had been out shopping.

Later that evening, her aunt swore that she and Doug were bound together for eternity, as in from one lifetime to the next.

Since they got along so well, even though he was eight years older, Skye asked Doug if he wanted to go out on a real date.

Doug had laughed at the way she’d just come forward and asked but agreed.

Their date had gone exceptionally well.

Throughout dinner, he told her about the books he’d just inherited from an uncle in Scotland and was excited to read over and, since they were written in Gaelic, he was planning to take online courses to learn the language.

Never mentioning magic, Skye told him of her life with her sister, how her parents had died in a plane crash when she was seven and how her eccentric aunt had moved in bringing laughter back into their lives with her strange ways.

They laughed and joked for hours but the sense of familiarity between them was different from that of lovers and when Skye’s need for answers got the best of her and she kissed Doug on her front porch step, trying for a real steaming hot kiss, they ended up breaking away feeling guilty.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out they got along more like brother and sister than potential husband and wife so Skye took Doug by the hand and brought him inside before he could walk away.

Realizing that if she didn’t do something to take their minds off the awkward moment, she was going to lose someone she’d become close friends with, so she went looking for her sister knowing Sarah had a way about her that made most everyone comfortable.

The chemistry between them was instantaneous.

Skye introduced the two and stood aside grinning as Doug stared at her sister and Sarah blushed, offering a slice of pie she’d just taken from the oven.

Chuckling at the feeling of being in an old black and white movie, Skye made some lame excuse that neither heard before leaving the two alone.

The change in Sarah was immediate. She laughed more, her eyes sparkled, and she stressed over Skye and family matters less.

In a few short months, Aunt Gladys reluctantly admitted to being confused on how there was the same kind of attachment between Doug and Sarah as there was between he and Skye, only slightly brighter with Sarah.

Skye knew Sarah had always been scared of a relationship because of her specific powers. It wasn’t every day that a person could look into flames in one place and see what was going on through them in another.

Not surprisingly, when they began to discuss marriage, Sarah had gathered her family together and they agreed that Doug needed to know.

As they all sat down to dinner a week later, they broke it to him calmly.

Beginning in hushed tones while watching his reactions, they explained how Sarah could manipulate fire with thought.

Doug quietly digested what they were saying but it wasn’t until Sarah lit the candles by waving her hand that he truly believed.

He’d been silent for a long time while the women fidgeted in their seats. When he finally spoke, he mused aloud about how he’d always questioned the tales that spoke of witches in his ancestry but now he needed to reconsider the stories.

Then he raised his wine glass as he smiled at the three women watching him. “Here’s to a never boring moment.”

Skye rolled her eyes. “You’re marrying Sarah who will keep you on your toes, but it’s me who keeps everyone from boredom.”

“I may be making Sarah my wife, but I am also hoping to have you as a part of the family I wish to start with her.” He turned to their aunt. “That includes you, Gladys.”

Everyone grinned and pretended the older woman wasn’t blushing as they answered the questions Doug began to ask about witchcraft.

Sarah said they had plenty of time to go over her powers and nodded to her sister to start.

Skye explained her healing abilities. How, with a touch of her hands, she could remove any disease or heal any wound, explaining how she used the herbs she had moved to the newly constructed hot house in the backyard to disguise any mysterious recovery.

Laughing throughout her story, Skye told him it wasn’t often that she could get a chant right no matter how simple, telling him of the time she wanted to get some ice cream at the store and wasn’t going to make it before they closed so she used a spell and found herself at the bottom of their neighbors pool.

“I could go on and on, but let’s not.” Skye winked and laughed.

Sarah chuckled. “Well, that’s not entirely true. She can shave without a razor, and light a fire with a touch. We covered those pretty well growing up.”

“Okay, so I can do a couple things without causing mass destruction.”

They brought up, to their aunt’s embarrassment, how Gladys’ ability to see connections had originally brought Skye and Doug together and they briefly tried to figure out why it had gone wrong before realizing the older woman’s shame over the faux pas, quickly brushing it aside as a fluke.

It had become obvious during their courtship that Doug and Sarah was a true combining of soul mates and Skye couldn’t be more thrilled.

Rolling her eyes at the memories, She pushed at the arms of her chair so it would recline then grumbled as her thoughts turned to her own attempts at a relationship and Sarah’s unfailing involvement.

Her sister’s abilities had interrupted every intimate moment Skye had with a man. Ruining the evening when Sarah “appeared” in the fireplace or whatever flame was around while a boyfriend was making wonderful advances toward having sex.

There was no easy way to explain to your boyfriend why you didn’t want the candles lit or a fire going when they thought it was a great way to get her relaxed, only to be uncomfortable because you could see your sister watching.

Of course, nothing ended the evening quicker than having him return with a bottle of wine only to see her arguing into the flames.

She just wished it wasn’t so cold in Salem so they didn’t have to think getting a fire going needed to be a part of the romance.

She didn’t have an element power like her sister, a very rare skill in their world, but she was proud of her healing abilities even if she wasn’t able to use them as much as she wanted.

If the public found out what she was able to do and started talking, the wrong people could hear and no one in her family needed rumors flying and the media spying on them.

Because there was always the chance of Skye being caught performing the simplest of healings without something to use as an excuse like her herbs, she had to be constantly aware of what she did and how she did it because, if she was discovered, men in white lab coats would be doing all sorts of weird things to them.

Of course, that wasn’t as bad as their ancestors burning at the stake because of misplaced superstitions but Skye still didn’t want to push it.

Finally relaxing, Skye let her thoughts drift to keep her mind off the evening and they turned to a childhood memory when her gift was still new.

She’d been trying to save a dog that had been hit by a truck and her powers hadn’t been strong enough.

When Sarah saw her falter, her sister touched her shoulder to see if she was okay. Gasping, the older girl tumbled to her knees, her face draining of color.

It was Skye who pulled away from her sister’s touch when her strength came rushing back.

At that point, they both realized Skye had depleted Sarah’s strength through simple contact to replenish her own.

It took three days before her mother’s gentle coaxing brought Skye from the seclusion of her bedroom. Even still, she wrapped her hands around her waist instead of taking her mother’s proffered hand as they went to the breakfast nook where her father and sister sat waiting.

Her father calmly explained how various powers came with side effects. Some learned of those discoveries the hard way.

He had assured her no harm was done and Sarah smiled as she agreed, telling her she was perfectly fine.

Brushing tears from her face, Skye pushed those memories back and sighed. She preferred thinking of her aunt and sister’s interference much more than those last memories of her parents.

Glancing at her father’s wedding ring that she wore around her thumb, she smiled wistfully. “I miss you, Daddy.”

Heaving reluctantly from the recliner, Skye headed for the shower, lit the candles sitting on the counter with her fingertips, and wished she had a bathtub to climb into to take away the frustration that simmered just below the surface.

Stepping into the hot stream, she let her head fall back and enjoyed the heated water splashing over her skin and down her back.

For years, she’d been waiting for someone to sweep her off her feet and bring about her darkest fantasies.

What she couldn’t understand was how the average male thought about sex every minute and she had the hardest time getting them to
do
it.

Shivering under the hot water, Skye flashed back to her last date.

When asked to go to the movies, she’d thought it was the perfect opportunity to enjoy the evening without having her sister interfere. It was also the first time she discovered she had a dark side to her powers.

Skye ignored Sarah’s warnings about her date’s anger issues a friend had shared, dismissing them as being frivolous.

Refusing to hear anything else her sister had to say, Skye stormed out yelling that she wasn’t going to be back until Sarah let her live her own life without interference.

When her date had nearly raped her after dinner because she refused to “do it” in his truck, her fear had turned to rage as he forced himself on her.

Pressing her hands pressed against his chest, she tried to shove him off.

When her hands began to tingle and his face went white as her anger grew, she became confused. Never having used her healing powers to inflict damage before, the heart attack she caused shook her worse than the attempted rape.

She vaguely remembered calling her sister in a state of panic as she drove his truck to the hospital and being overwhelmingly relieved when Sarah and Aunt Gladys were waiting in the emergency room when she arrived.

Refusing to touch or be touched, Skye had no idea what they told the doctor or how they managed to get her out of the hospital, all too grateful when she climbed into the back seat of her sister’s car.