Page 13 of The Tea Witch's Promise

"And wonderful. And devastating." Her hand drifted to her shoulder where her other ward tattoo rested, the one for the family dog she'd first bonded to when she was thirteen. "They never leave you. Their soul is always linked to yours. Even in the darkest moments you know they're there. That's a ward bond. There's no taming involved, it's a union of souls."

"It's beautiful."She was beautiful, especially when she talked like that.

"Mmm." From her expression, I could tell she didn't want to talk more about the intensity of the bond, which meant that I needed a change of course for the conversation if I wanted to keep it going.

"I wonder what kind of familiar I would have if I was a ward," I mused.

Laughter returned to Katie's eyes, and I almost sighed with relief. "That's a hard one."

"Because I'm so loveable? Maybe I'd have a dog too," I mused.

She shook her head. "A cat. No, a fox." She snapped her fingers. "A squirrel. You have squirrel energy, Brew."

I laughed. "I don't know if I should be insulted or not."

“Squirrels are fun."

A warmth filled my chest but it came with a bittersweetness. So that was how she saw me. Just a fun man, not that I could blame her. I hadn't exactly put my best, most gallant, foot forward when it came to her. I was all jokes and lame flirty remarks, no wonder she thought of me as a fun raccoon.

I wanted to insist that it should be something different and to try and get her to seemedifferently, but I knew that wasn't my best course of action. It would be better if I just left the situation as it was. There was no need to make things more complicated between us than they already were, even if I wanted to.

Chapter8

Katie

The cold airhit me the moment I opened the front door, leaving no doubt in my mind that winter was well and truly underway. Not that the white frozen grass wasn't already an indication.

It crunched under my boots as I walked, almost making a shrieking sound, and my breath came out as a white cloud. Some of the icy wind found its way under my coat, sending a deep chill throughout me.

I reached underneath to pull my shawl tighter around my neck, only for the overwhelming reminder of Brew's scent to fill my nose. I must not have worn this shawl since the night at the tavern, and it still lingered there. It was musky, grassy, and slightly sweet. There was something comforting about it, like having his scent around me made me feel as if I could face anything, especially the cold of the winter morning. I took a moment to breathe it in, even if that was going to risk making me more confused about my feelings towards him.

Banjo barked happily into the morning, stealing the rooster's job of waking everyone up. Though I imagined that a lot of people would already be awake, especially with those who did the night shift starting to return to their homes.

"Shush," I told Banjo, glad to have a distraction from Brew's scent.

He wagged his tail and bounced along the path, pausing at the fork in the road with an expectant look on his face. He was such a demanding dog, I was certain that some days he thought I was a sheep who needed herding sometimes.

Banjo immediately went on alert, his tail high in the air and his stance saying that he was ready for anything. It was only when my brother appeared from the other side of the farmhouse with a basket of eggs in his hand that he relaxed.

"Eggs?" I asked.

"Hana asked me to bring her some," he said.

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought the Steepers got their eggs at the market?"

He sighed. "I lost them in a bet with Hana the other night at the tavern," he admitted.

"What? When?"

"I don't know, it was when you were outside with Brew."

"I wasn't outside with Brew," I deny a little too quickly.

"Huh, well you went outside, and then he did. I assumed you were just talking about something. He must just have gone home."

I touched my shawl without thinking. Why did I feel the need to deny my conversation with Brew to my brother?

No, that was a dumb question. I knew exactly why I denied it. "We should get going," I said, waving vaguely to the path.