The Witch's Hunger (The Fay Morgan Chronicles Book 3) by Katherine Sparrow Page A

of a few things that might please me." I raised one eyebrow, making a joke of it, even though it was not at all funny. My forgetting spell had not broken fully yet, and until it did, the mystery of why I’d made it and erased him from my life remained. But no good would come of talking about it. I led him down the star-lit beach to the casita we'd rented.
    As I opened the door, Merlin wrapped an arm around my from behind and pressed his face into my hair. He kissed my neck and then gave me a soft bite on my bare shoulder.
    "My witch," he whispered.
    I turned and held him, willing myself to feel this, to be here, truly here, and have it be enough. I wouldn't let my mind wander to the exquisite moment when he fell asleep and what I would do next. This was everything I wanted.
    Almost.
    Merlin and I touched each other gently, teasing each other in the way we both liked. Then he turned more hard-lipped and desperate. I grasped his hair, his shoulders, and the small of his back where my hand fit so perfectly. We stumbled toward the bed that was pushed into one corner of the small room.
    There were whole moments when I truly did forget, where I was soaring in ecstasy, or lost in the intensity of our connection, for my wizard was skilled in the ways of hands and spells. I used my own tricks, like turning my fingers into points of icy fire that made him laugh and moan.
    Eventually, when it all died down, Merlin held me and yawned. "A perfect day, fair Morgan."
    I stroked his hair and nodded, looking beyond him into the darkness. Waiting.
    I forced myself not to fidget. Finally, his breaths turned slow and rhythmic. I moved away from him and grabbed the small stone by the bedside. “ Cysgu,” I whispered, activating the sleeping spell and placing the small stone on his forehead. He would not wake until I returned and took it off his body. It was a well-made stone, yet even so, leaving him made me nervous as I slipped my arm out from under his head and stood. If any in the world were to discover my night’s journeys, it would be him.
    I draped a robe over my naked form and walked to the closet where I'd put my suitcase. Inside an inner pocket, spelled to be unnoticed, I grabbed hold of a small crystal ball. I held it up in one hand, and whispered, " Cartref ."
    Home.
    The crystal ball pulsed with a purple light and then took me instantly to my store, half a continent away. Morgan's Ephemera was dark and smelled like the incense Lila burned when I was gone. Something Indian and spicy, with a hint of soil. I walked quickly to the back of the store, not even bothering to turn on a light, and unlocked the spells that guarded my most secret and sacred space. The door opened into a brightly lit room with floor-to-ceiling shelves on every wall. The shelves were full of my most powerful spells and objects. I stepped in and closed the door behind me. There was no one here to see me, but still, a trilling nervousness moved through me. With sweating hands, I reached for the plain looking metal cup.
    The Grail.
    The Holy Grail that held a thin line of water along the bottom of it. Not water though, but life: pure, vital Grail water that was like nothing else. I raised it to my lips, trembling all over, and drank the small mouthful down. The water overtook me and I slumped to the ground. The lovely oblivion of the Grail water filled me and my entire world turned beautiful and vast. All I wanted and needed was here, and I would do anything to stay here.

 
     
     
     
     
    2
    Margaritas and Flexible Men
    I came back to myself with a start. I lay in a crooked position on the floor of my spell room. I stood up on aching legs. My knuckles were bruised. I felt empty. Spent. I found my crystal ball: it had rolled behind some angel spikes. I quickly held the ball aloft and uttered, “ Y galon .”
    As commanded, it took me back to my heart. To my Merlin. He lay sprawled on the bed with arms and legs akimbo, as though he had been searching for me in