Water Witch Read Online Free PDF

lawn. Mom and Noni making dinner . Not that I was hungry, the gnocchi I’d had earlier sat like a lead weight in my stomach. I scanned the bay again, but saw nothing unusual, so I crossed the lawn to the house.
    In my old bedroom, I changed into dry clothes and thought about the Fae. He scared me, even more in person than he had in my visions. He also pissed me off, watching me like a cat watches a mouse, sitting on my favorite boulder as if he had every right. And the way his eyes had turned all sad when I’d shouted at him--what did he expect, that I’d say, “Nice to finally meet you?”
    Familiar. All his actions, all his expressions, it seemed he thought he belonged in my life, as if he knew me. As much as I hated to admit it, I’d been upset to see him dive away, and disappointed he hadn’t spoken to me. I needed answers about my vision, but I also was insanely curious about him. How long had he been watching me? What did his voice sound like? What was his name?
    In the kitchen, my mom sipped a glass of wine, leaning one elbow on the counter. Noni scrunched her nose as she tried to decipher a passage from my grandfather’s journal.
    “What did you find?”
    Her gaze remained on the journal. “Nothing. He was terrible about recording his visions, just wrote short paragraphs about what he knew they meant.”
    I tried not to look at my mom, but I felt her eyes on me. I flicked my gaze to her and met the raised eyebrow “told-you-so” look I’d expected.
    “I know, Mom, I should work on my interpretation. Got it.” I went to the fridge, annoyed, and found a beer in the back. Probably left over from my last visit. I shook my head as I opened it, and sat next to Noni, peering over her shoulder at the book.
    “You have a lot of power, Vinny,” Noni muttered, not looking up. “It is wasted if you can’t understand it.”
    “Okay.” My cheeks flushed with shame and I took a long swallow from the bottle to cover it. “I’ll work on it.” They were right, though. I’d been ignoring my training for too long. I completed the basics in high school, did just enough to pass the tests at my coven induction ceremony, and then quit trying. In college I focused on partying, and then I moved away with Scott.
    Looking down at my grandfather’s handwriting I felt even worse. He’d be disappointed in me if he knew I’d failed to hone my skill. I’d told everyone I was living as a solitary out west, but the truth was lately I hadn’t been practicing at all. The Sabbats I usually honored with a weak ceremony, but the last two full moons had passed with barely an acknowledgment. I tore my eyes from the journal, too guilty to think of anything beyond my own regret.
    The sight of my mother’s kitchen made me feel worse. Jars of herbs, tinctures, and oils lined every shelf. Boxes which I knew were filled with Mom’s charm-crafting supplies were stacked among them. The coven calendar was taped to the side of the fridge, and books of all kinds were open on the big kitchen table.
    I gritted my teeth with resolve. Time to be a better witch. “I saw the Fae during my swim.” They looked to me, waiting for more. “Sitting on the big rock.”
    My mom put her wine down and stalked to the window, studying the bay. “What did he say?”
    “Nothing. He just watched me, then when I asked him to explain himself, he dove off and never came back up.”
    Noni studied me closely, and I turned away to avoid her knowing stare. I got my healing skill from her, but while mine was slight, hers was strong. And a big part of any healing skill was empathy. She might know more about my feelings for the Fae than I did.
    “He’s gone, Mom. I watched for him a while. He could be anywhere.”
    She lowered her brows but kept her eyes on the waterfront. “I don’t like that he came so close with you right there, and us home.”
    “I don’t think he’s afraid of us.”
    Noni was still staring at me, I knew it. I walked to the recycle bin to