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Chapter One
Miren Lynch dropped her foot into the h that the leather cord she wore around her ankle, decorated with alligator and snakes’ teeth, dipped below the surface Then she circled her fingers above the water
“Water demons, lurkers from the deep,
Keep venom and teeth on your banks
Have no fear ill disturb
For your ive the Goddess thanks,
In your name
As I will it, so mote it be”
She ended the spell with a splash of her foot, s as her sisters leaned back on their arms and churned the water with their feet like children
“You know Ethan would have a cow if he knee were doing,” Miren said, glancing sideways at Bryn
Bryn wrinkled her nose but otherwise showed no concern She wasn’t afraid of her husband Hebad troll, but with Bryn, as now fourShe shrugged and winked a silvery-gray eye “What’s he gonna do? Spank me?”
The rest of the sister witches giggled at the thought When Ethan was around, Bryn rarely even walked He’dher up into his arms to deposit her in a chair or a bed, whichever best served his immediate purpose
But the women’s enforced seclusion at Beaux Rêve Inn, however well-intended, was beginning to wear Although it was October and thenippy, the afternoons were still quite sultry in their little bayou town Today, they’d snuck away from Bryn’s bed and breakfast and Ethan’s overdeveloped protective streak to enjoy the last of the eather They sat on a concrete barge tethered to the end of the boat dock, bare feet dangling in the bayou
Miren suppressed a twinge of jealousy at her sister’s good fortune—a devoted husband, a baby on the way And she wasn’t alone in her envy All the witches were growing restless Surrounded by the most handsome specimens of otherworld masculinity, they had their choice of mates But none of thereed, was that there were toofear, one not misplaced, that once the wo they’d worked so hard to build would be gone Demons would be demons, no s, demons ruled their witch ain
Thus far, Ethan had proved hirateful Bryn had overlooked his low status todeifts
Darcy tossed her red lance around the small coven “It’s silly the way they keep us penned up We won the battle The council has backed away Hell, they banished us, giving us our freedom from their rule Don’t you think it’s time for us all to move back to our own homes?”
“Ethan’s still worried that soeleht” Bryn kicked her feet in the water, the corners of hereveryone under foot”
“That’s because you’re in nestingher eyes “It’s understandable, and it has been nice to share this time with you But we all have businesses to run I think it’s time Besides, you’ll never be able to rent out your roo them”
“Ethan and his men pitch in with expenses They’ve roceries”