Blood Witch_ Book Three - Cate Tiernan [56]
Next Cal walked over to his dark wooden desk, where a bottle of sparkling cider stood next to a bowl filled with perfect, amazingly red strawberries and another bowl of dipping chocolate. He poured two glasses of cider and brought me one.
“Thank you,” I said happily. “This is incredible.” The light, golden cider tickled my throat with its starry little bubbles.
He came and sat down next to me again, and we drank our cider. “I can’t wait to see Maeve’s tools,” he said, stroking the hair along my temple. “The historical value alone—it’s like finding King Tut’s tomb.”
I laughed. “The Wiccan version of King Tut’s tomb. Which reminds me. I kept one thing out, and brought it with me.” Putting my glass down on the nightstand, I hopped up and went to my jacket, where I took out the athame from the breast pocket. I had wrapped it in a handkerchief. Silently I handed it to Cal, watching his face as I nestled back down with him again.
“Goddess,” he whispered as he unwrapped it. His eyes were shining, and an eager smile played about his lips. “Oh, Morgan, this is beautiful.”
I laughed again at his excitement. “I know. Isn’t it amazing?”
His fingers traced the lines of initials carved into the blade. “Tomorrow,” he said absently, then looked up at me. “Tomorrow,” he said more firmly, “I’m going to have a busy day. First I have to find Hunter and Sky and tell them to leave you the hell alone. Then I have to go to your house and remove all their sigils, if I can. Then I have to salivate over your mother’s tools.”
“Oh, that’s a lovely image,” I said, laughing. “Thank you.”
He laughed, too, then we were leaning together, kissing and sipping cider. Magick, I thought dreamily, staring at him.
Cal kissed me again, his golden eyes intent, and then he blinked and pulled back.
“Presents!” he said, motioning across the room.
It took a second to spot the pile of beautifully wrapped gifts that waited for me on a large table pushed against the wall.
“What have you done?” I asked, putting my hand to my throat, where his silver pentacle still nestled warm against my skin. It was the first thing he’d ever given me, and I treasured it for that.
He grinned and stood, carrying the presents back to the bed and spreading them before me on the mattress. I took another sip of my cider, then placed it on the nightstand again.
First was a rectangular box. I started pulling off the paper.
“This is kind of redundant now,” he said.
My face melted in a smile. Inside the box was the silver athame we had seen at Practical Magick, the one carved with roses and a skull. I turned to him.
“It’s lovely,” I said, running my fingers across it.
“It can be your backup,” he said cheerfully. “Or a cake knife. Or a letter opener.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“I wanted you to have it,” Cal said. “Next.”
He held out a small box, and I held my breath as I opened it, revealing a gorgeous pair of silver earrings set with golden tigereyes. The gems looked so much like Cal’s eyes that I had to glance up at him just for the sake of comparison.
“These are so beautiful.” I shook my head.
“Put them on,” he encouraged, “and it will be like I’m always with you.” He brushed back my hair to expose my earlobe.
I held the earrings, not knowing what to say.
“Your ears aren’t pierced,” Cal said in surprise.
“I know,” I mumbled apologetically. “My mom took me and Bree to have it done when we were twelve, but I chick-ened out.”
“Oh, Morgan, I’m sorry,” he said, laughing. “It’s my fault. I can’t believe I didn’t notice before now. I should have gotten you something else. Here—I’ll take them back and exchange them.”
“No!” I said, pulling the box close. “I love them—they’re the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I’ve been wanting to get my ears pierced, anyway. This will be my inspiration.”
Cal looked at me assessingly but appeared to take my word. “Hmmm. Well, okay.” He nodded at another present.
Next was a beautifully bound and illustrated book about spell weaving. It included a short history of spell making and had a whole section of sample spells and how