Page 74 of A Witch in Notting Hill

Natural water,

Darkened sky,

Wash away

What’s gone awry.

Cleanse my body,

Soul, and mind.

Leave what’s negative

Behind.

Prepare me for

What’s coming soon

Under the light

Of a shining moon.

I’ll leave this water

Fresh and free

To conquer all

That’s meant for me.

Only, the brush of my fingertips against Oliver’s body halfway through ripped me from the moment. I tried floating farther away, but the waves were becoming problematic.

“Do you feel that?” he whispered, eyes still closed. “Sorry, sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt your concentration. It’s just, does the water feel choppy to you?”

Shit.

“Does it?” I asked. He finally opened his eyes, bringing his body back upright.

“Yeah, look at it,” he said. “There are proper waves in the pond.” There were, indeed, waves in the pond. And the more I panicked, the more they picked up speed.

“You can get out,” I said, “and I’ll just wrap up the spell and be right behind you.”

“That wasn’t the deal. We’re doing this together, remember?”

I couldn’t exactly tell him he was the reason for the waves, especially when he likely already thought I was insane, but I needed to get him out of here if any of this was going to work.

“Just trust me,” I said. The sun was starting to rise, and we were running out of time.

His reluctant sigh cut right through me, but I didn’t have a choice. “I thought we agreed.”

“Oliver,” I snapped, harsher than I meant to. The glimpse of shock on his face was so brief I wondered if I imagined it. “Please,” I pleaded, softer.

“Fine,” he said. “But I don’t like this, Willow.”

“I’ll be fine. I just have to get through this before I get hypothermia and the pond overflows.” He nodded, and I forced myself to refocus. At this rate, I was at equal risk of drowning as I was of freezing, and I needed to get this show on the road.

Come on, Willow. Concentrate. Like he isn’t even here. It’s just you, alone in the pond, casting an easy spell that’s going to bring you one step closer to turning Vera back into a person. This isn’t about you. You can do this because you have to do this.