Read Kissed by Eternity for Free Online

the Otherworld.
    I pushed the door open. Instead of the usual bell or annoying electronic chime, there was a small wind chime which tinkled as I walked beneath it. I found it charming.
    The air was redolent with the scent of dried herbs and essential oils. One wall was lined with glass shelves, each stocked with bars of soap and interestingly shaped bottles of who knew what. An antique apothecary chest sat against another wall, the top crammed with clear glass jars filled with dried herbs. Each little drawer was clearly labeled, although unreadable from my vantage point across the room. Wobbly vintage tables with shabby chic paint jobs dotted the room and were stacked with books on herbs, beeswax candles in various colors, and brightly colored tins.
    A large crystal chandelier, suspended from the ceiling in the center of the room, cast rainbows across the wide plank floors. The long, marble-topped cashier desk looked like something out of the 1800s, its mahogany base dented and scratched by a thousand booted feet and wayward umbrellas. More dried herbs hung from the exposed beams and little brown tincture bottles filled shelves behind the register.
    Emory turned from where she'd been reorganizing one of the tables. She was wearing a scarlet broomstick skirt—hadn't those gone out of fashion in the 90s?—paired with a loose, white peasant shirt trimmed in colorful embroidery. Her feet were bare, as usual, her toes painted an eye-popping stripper pink. Her strawberry blonde hair tumbled down her back in curls and waves finishing off the wild, bohemian look. I was never sure if it was a put-on or just who she was.
    "Morgan." She gave me a tight smile but otherwise appeared as tranquil as ever.
    "Thanks for agreeing to help," I said, walking toward her.
    "Don't thank me yet. I'm not even sure this will work." She glanced behind me. "Mr. Magnussen. Nice to see you again." She sounded like she meant it, but it was hard to tell.
    Haakon gave her a gracious nod. "Ms. Chastain."
    "And who is your friend?" Emory turned toward Inigo, who thrust out his hand.
    "Inigo Jones." He glanced at me. "Morgan's boyfriend."
    My heart gave a little flutter. So he still wanted to be claimed as belonging to me. Or maybe it was me belonging to him. Part of me was relieved but another part was still irked he seemed to think it would be so easy to go back to the way things were.
    Things could never be the way they were.
    I shook off my maudlin thoughts. I needed to focus. We needed to find Alister and stop him before it was too late to deal with whatever nastiness he had up his sleeve.
    "What do we do?" I asked Emory.
    "Give me a moment." She strode to the front of the store, flipped the sign to Closed, and turned the deadbolt. Then she returned to us, her long skirt swishing around her ankles. "Follow me."
    She led us into a back room and turned on the overhead lights. In the glare of the fluorescents, I saw it was not unlike Eddie's storage room at Majicks and Potions, except it was a lot neater. Two rows of shelving units, three units deep, lined either side of a center aisle. Emory walked to the back of the room before slipping out of sight behind the final row of shelving. I hurried after her to find she'd vanished. The only hint to her location was the flutter of a midnight blue velvet curtain blocking a narrow doorway cut into the sheetrock. I followed her.
    Beyond the curtain was a much smaller room. The walls were painted deep purple, the ceiling and floor black. A simple Wiccan shrine was tucked into a small alcove on the wall opposite the doorway. A metal and glass curio cabinet stood next to it. The middle of the floor was completely bare.
    "Stand against the wall until I'm finished," Emory ordered. I moved, waving the guys over as they entered. She opened the curio cabinet and took out something. I couldn't tell what it was until she turned, knelt down on the floor, and began drawing an intricate design. Chalk.
    Emory drew several symbols