Double-Sided Witch (Covencraft Book 3) by Margarita Gakis Page B

It was relaxing to watch him sleep.
    It took a few more minutes to rebandage her fingers and then she was back in her room. She paused just as she was about to get into bed and instead, grabbed one of her pillows and a blanket. Heading back to the closet, she poked her head in.
    “Scooch over, Bruce. Stop hogging all the space.”
    #
    Jade was touched when both Callie and Daniel offered up their cars to drive Bruce to the Coven. Since Daniel already did Jade a couple of solids a week by dropping her off after their run and in fact, would have to turn around after dropping her off in the morning just to come back and get her and Bruce an hour later, Jade accepted Callie’s offer of a ride.
    Thankfully, that morning’s run had been free from any dry-heaving moments, although Jade did feel like death warmed over. Having her sleep interrupted was taking its toll. Daniel and Jade took another pathway for their jog, one that Jade suggested. It hugged close to the perimeter of the Preserve instead of travelling deeper into the forest. While it kept Jade from getting sick, it didn’t hide the fact that she was struggling to keep up with Daniel. They were usually evenly paced, but Jade felt like she was running through mud. Daniel slowed his pace down and Jade barely had enough oxygen to thank him for it. He’d dropped her off with a careful look, promising to see her at work.
    Back at her cottage, Jade showered, changed and then asked Bruce if he wanted to go take a ride with Callie to the Coven. Jade would swear on a stack of bibles Bruce actually preened at the question. He did a little butt-shimmy-wiggle and then bounded toward the foyer. Jade laughed at his exuberance.
    “We still have to wait for Callie to arrive, buddy.”
    Bruce’s head drooped and he planted his butt in the foyer while Jade made her way to the kitchen. Bruce seemed genuinely excited to go to the Coven. Why, Jade wasn’t sure. He was just going to meet people. Unless he was excited about that. Which would honestly be surprising because in other ways, he was a lot like Jade.
    Jade was halfway through her morning coffee when Bruce decided to abandon his vigil in the foyer and come into the kitchen. He whacked Jade’s chair with his tail, causing her to spill coffee on her (thankfully) black pants.
    “Nice.” She looked around for a napkin, but then decided a few drops of coffee on black slacks wouldn’t show anyway. Bruce hit her leg again, this time with his flank.
    “What’s up? If this is about more bacon I told you that was a special treat. We can’t have that all the time. It’s bad for our hips.”
    He presented his neck to her, like he had before, tipping his head off to the side and bluntly showing her the skin under his chin. Frowning, Jade set her cup down and scooted her chair forward, bending over to cradle his face and tip his head up further. The dry, scaly patch was worse - spreading out across his neck. She touched it carefully and he blinked quickly a few times.
    “Does it hurt now?” she asked, keeping her voice low. His tongue came out quickly, touching her wrist. “Hmm. I think that means yes.” She looked it over again and then sat back in her chair. “Okay, wait right here.”
    She ran upstairs and came back with a small travel sized container of aloe vera and vitamin E cream. She squirted a bit on her fingertips (avoiding her bandages) and held them out for Bruce to sniff.
    “Okay if I put some of this on?”
    His snout came closer, wiggling slightly as he sniffed the cream. She could almost see him considering it.
    “I’ll ask around and see if I can make a witchy-type one, but I’m afraid until I do, this is the best I’ve got.”
    He exhaled once sharply and then again presented his neck, which she took as permission. Jade carefully smoothed the cream into the scaly skin, trying to ensure even coverage, but not wanting to over-saturate the area. Bruce turned his head and Jade was able to get a better