Raven Ridge (Witches of Sanctuary Book 2) by Savannah Blevins

focused on what makes me happy and what I need. He can’t see it.
    I waited for him too. Even before I knew he existed. I waited for him. Sitting alone on those front porches, letting each foster family leave me behind, and not just on Halloween. I stayed behind every time. Family movie night. Ballet recitals. Company picnics.
    All that time I spent searching for my mother, or the father who abandoned me, and all I really needed was him. My Sun.
    This time he leans over the table, his arms crossed on the top. The group continues to talk around us. Their voices and words are nothing but background noise when he looks at me like that. “What’s wrong, Willa?”
    “Nothing.” I smile, wishing only that I could kiss him again. Make him feel the utter completeness that has taken hold inside of me since finding him. “Absolutely nothing.”
    Our waitress shows up at our table to take our orders, but his eyes don’t leave mine. Our dinner concludes early in the evening, and we start our Main Street bar hop as the trick or treating festivities start up at dusk. Reid takes my hand as we walk out onto the street and twirls me around. “Ah. There it is…”
    I don’t have to ask what he means, because I see it. The moon is out. The potion has taken effect and I glow a perfectly wicked witch green. If only I could have sneaked a couple drops of the witchy whiskey in his drink, he would be green too, and then Sadie’s suspicions would be confirmed.
    Someone bumps into my shoulder and I instantly flinch away. I turn around to see a young boy. His eyes are as round as double sized saucers. People would talk about this for months. Years, maybe. An Innocent glowed green on Main Street. The only things missing are a broom, a bicycle, and a tornado. The boy tries to speak, but words fail him. He wears a red jacket like Michael Jackson in Thriller , but the horrified look on his face definitely resembles that of the dead. He darts down the street away from me like a bat out of hell.
    I slump down. “Well, that ought to do it. The rumor mill will be rolling within minutes.”
    “Minutes?” Reid’s smile is bright. “Look around you, Willa.”
    Every single soul on the street is frozen in place. Little Batmen, doctors, and ghouls hold their treat bags out in mid-air while the shopkeepers hold the candy and gape. Doors hang open, and music plays but no one dances. I smile weakly and give them all a wave. “Hi.”
    Reid laughs behind me then gives a slight tug on my hand. “Come on, we still have an hour or so before it’s dark enough to leave.”
    I follow him down the street, and everyone slowly starts to move again as if waking up out of a trance. I curl into Reid’s side. He reaches over and taps my giant hat. “Green has always been my favorite color. Now I know why.”
    I hide my face in his shoulder. I wish I could stay there like that. Tucked away from the stares and the horrors of the outside world, safe in the sanctuary of his arms. We spend the next several hours moving from bar to bar, talking with everyone, working the rooms. My green glow disappears when I go inside out of the moonlight, but it doesn’t stop the eyes from following my every step. I stand at the bar at our last stop, unable to make myself sit down on the open stool. The last time I was here was with Zeke, and we downed bourbon like two misguided idiots. I can’t make myself sit there without him. It doesn’t feel right.
    Reid returns from the bathroom and throws me a bag. He turns his favorite braves hat around backward before pulling on his jacket. He’s changed out of his James Bond tux. “I packed something for you.”
    “Thanks.” I look at the bathroom and then back to him. I actually think I like him better like this. The bright-eyed boy with his backward hat and muffed hair peeking out underneath. This is my Reid. I touch the button on his shirt, recalling that teasingly painful kiss he gave me earlier. “You sure you don’t want to