The Water Witcher (Completed)

Chapter 14 - Secret Weapon

Jasper clamped his hand over her mouth, silencing her. “Luna, please, let me say what I have to say. Ok?” When she nodded, he lowered his hand. “I was a ten-year-old boy when I first saw you hiding in that tree. You were beautiful even in your dirty nightgown and face full of residue from the fire. I fell in love right there. But that day you became my family, so I don’t want to ruin us. That’s why I’m in the wrong, and I promise I won’t do it again.”

“You’ve said none of this before...” Luna turned, facing her back to him. “And we can’t erase what happened this morning so whether you like it or not, that kiss changes things.”

“It doesn’t have to.” Jasper shifted, so he could be in front of her again. “I know I messed up, but I can keep my feelings in check. That way you’re free to... to...”

“To what!?” Luna threw her hands in the air.

“I don’t know!” He shrugged in frustration. “See where things go with Corbin, perhaps? I’ve seen you flirting with him and I’m pretty sure he likes you too.”

Luna shoved his chest with a growl. “Don’t you get it? I flirt with him to push away how I feel about you because I’m in love with you too!”

Jasper searched Luna’s eyes, absorbing her words, and pulled her face to his. With his forehead leaning against hers, he said, “Then please, please, don’t go into that camp. We can figure out another way.”

Luna wiped a tear that began trickling down her cheek—her stomach tightening into knots. She knew what needed to happen. Even if Jasper didn’t like it.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Coyote stirred the stew bubbling in the pot over the stove. The sound of boots dragging across the faded linoleum floor caused him to turn. Archibald used the wall as support as he walked towards him, the pain from his wound written across his face in a grimace.

“You should be resting.”

“I’m worried about Clara,” Archibald responded.

“Me too, and about Corbin.”

“How long have you known the boy?”

Coyote reached for some seasoning and began sprinkling it over the stew as he said, “since he was a baby. I was best friends with his father. I’ve known his family for a long time.”

“Luna says she saw something in his eyes...”

“Yes, I was wondering why the three of you were helping him. Makes sense now.”

“After what happened when she was a little girl, I’ll never ignore her visions again.”

Coyote turned off the stove and reached for two bowls. As he began serving them he nodded to the kitchen table and Archibald took it as a request to sit. The clock on the wall chimed, indicating a new hour had struck, and both men craned their necks to glance at it.

“Gunner has been gone for over an hour,” Archibald noted.

“He’ll be back,” Coyote assured him as he walked the bowls over to the table and sat down. “Was the coffee farm burning the first time Luna had a vision?”

“Yes.” Archibald nodded, taking a bowl in his hands. “We should’ve listened to the groundskeeper who said Luna would have visions. We all dismissed it as some old wive’s tale, especially when he said she had the ojos del Diablo. The devil’s eyes. He said children born on a blood harvest moon with green eyes are cursed with visions. I thought it was ridiculous, but then Luna’s nightmares came true.”

“Why did the soldados burn everything down?”

“Retaliation from a disgruntled worker,” Archibald replied as he stirred the stew around. “He knew they would burn everything if they thought drugs were growing.”