The scent of the oils lingered in the room even after the facial had ended. My face felt smooth to the touch, and the masseuse entered the room. She introduced herself as Isobel and asked me to lay on the table under the cloth while she finished preparing.
When the woman came back in, the lights were dim, and she started some light instrumental music played over a speaker in a corner.
"What pressure do you prefer?" The woman asked as she gathered items into a dish.
"Well, I have never had a massage before, but there's this thing in my neck, and shoulders, and... well... let's try deep pressure."
Isobel chuckled. "Just let me know if you need more or less pressure as we go, okay?"
"Sounds good."
She pulled the cloth down to my waist and she started to move her hands along my back, feeling out the muscles and bone.
"I can feel the tension in here. You are carrying quite a bit, aren't you?"
"And here I thought I had found a good release for all that tension."
Isobel dug into my back and I groaned. I couldn't believe how something could hurt and yet feel so good. My muscles relinquished under her hands as she worked out knot after knot through my neck, back, down my legs.
I hadn't even realized I had fallen asleep until she asked me to turn onto my back part-way through. I turned over and she continued to massage my neck and arms.
"I heard congratulations were in order?" She asked as she massaged out my upper arm. "You are to be joined this evening?"
"I am. It hasn't exactly been the most straightforward union so far, and will be even less so moving forward, I think." I hoped that she wasn't wanting to pry too much. If Isobel was hoping to get rid of all the tension, she wouldn't want that either.
"Well I wish nothing but the best to you and yours."
I smiled, "thank you."
Isobel began to murmur under her breath as she marked symbols on the top of my head, forehead, throat, working her way down. I could feel the familiar tingling feeling of magic flowing through my body. As she worked her way down it was as if weight was being pulled from my body. Little by little I felt lighter.
She placed the palms of her hands on the bottom of my feet and it was as if I were standing on sun-soaked grass as the warmth spread across my feet before moving through me as if it were clearing out whatever was left behind from what Isobel had just done.
Tears started to slip out of the corners of my eyes.
"Blessed be," Isobel said quietly.
I wiped the tears from my eyes. "What was that?"
"I am a healing witch. I aligned out chakras and cleared your body both physically and metaphysically. It can have a strong effect on people sometimes."
"You can say that again." I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"I will let you get changed. I will be back in a few moments with a bottle of water. Would you like champagne as well?"
"Sure, that would be great, thank you."
"Certainly." Isobel nodded once and then left, shutting the door quietly behind her.
I got up off the table and put my robe back on. I pulled my hair back and tied it with a hair tie around my wrist.
There was a light knock on the door after a few minutes and Isobel entered with the water and champagne.
"Your mother and friend are waiting in the lobby for you."
"Thank you so much for, well, everything."
"It was my pleasure. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day." Isobel smiled and opened the door.
I made my way to the main lobby and met Abbi and my mom. We made out way back to the locker rooms and changed into our swimsuits.
We all took our glasses of champagne to the pool side as we eased ourselves onto a bench in the water.
We all sat quietly for far too long before Abbi finally broke the silence. "Did your person make you cry too?"
"I thought I was the only one," I shouted a little too loud. I clamped a hand over my mouth and Abbi and my mom both started laughing.
"Healing witches can have quite the effect on the mind and body," my mom said with a smile.
"I've never met any other types of witches," I said.
"That is partially my fault. I was hesitant to get too close to other witches after what happened with your father and our pack. There can be strain between wolves and witches. I was too worried about anything happening to you if we got too close to another group of witches. I am really sorry that I kept you away from that part of you all this time, honey."
My mom's brows furrowed, and she brushed the loose strands of my hair.
"It wasn't your fault, mom. You did what you thought was best for us."
It was nice being able to spend time with Abbi and my mom without having to run to the next thing. It seemed like it had been way too long since I had a real chance to sit down and talk with either of them.
"Am I crazy to be going through with this, the Merge with Neal, so soon? I feel like everything about this has been rushed. What if we aren't actually compatible and we are making some huge mistake?"
"Cyn, the goddess matched you two for a reason. If you weren't going to be compatible then she would not have paired you."
"But not everyone joins with their mated person. Not every mated pair works out."
"The ones that don't work out are the ones who don't want it to work out. If this is truly what you want, honey, then you two will make it, of that I have no doubt."
"I wish you could send some of that doubt-free life my way. It feels like all I have been doing lately is doubting. Doubting me, my powers, Neal, our ability to work through the issues we have, this war..." I trailed off, staring at the reflective pool surface. "I just need one thing that I feel absolutely sure about."
"You have something you're absolutely sure about Cyn."
I looked over to Abbi. "What's that?"
"You know Neal is crazy about you. He challenged his father and told off one of the strongest packs in our area, all for you."
"So at least when the entire pack dies or is taken over I will know that Neal was crazy about me."
Abbi glared at me.
"Cynthia Lawson, you know that our pack is strong, Neal is strong, you are strong. The days are not numbered for our pack. They never could be with a Mentalist like you and a strong Alpha to lead us."
A man came in with a platter full of meats and cheeses. We all started to nibble away.
"Cyn, you really need to keep this place in mind, because I am thinking you and I will need to take regular trips to help us unwind. Being the friend to the wife of the Alpha is going to be hard work, I think I will need at least monthly massages from now on."
We all laughed again. I tucked away a reminder to thank Neal again for this opportunity.
I grabbed another piece of cheese and looked at the clock. "I think it's about time we grab those showers. We have hair and makeup in about a half hour.
We grabbed the remaining snacks from the tray and set it on a table as we made our way to the locker rooms.
I turned on the water to the shower until it was nice and hot and grabbed a towel to hang up just inside the shower.
There were even essential oils in the showers. The smell of eucalyptus filled my nose as I tipped my head back to wet my hair. The water felt amazing as it beat against my newly massaged muscles. The heat seeped into me and I could feel myself relaxing even more. If I wasn't careful I could get used to this. Neal may just have to visit me here from now on.
I finished showering, taking every second I could until I needed to get out and get dressed. I hoped that going in with already cleaned and still-wet hair was acceptable. I really hoped so because I was not planning on putting anymore work into my appearance when they were about to change it all up anyway.
I met Abbi and my mom just outside the locker room and their hair was wet as well. At least if we were wrong, we were wrong together.
"Are you ready for your Merge hair?" Abbi smiled and started jumping up and down with excitement. I swear she was happier about all of this than I was. Probably because she wasn't as concerned about what would come after.
"I am ready," I said, smiling back. I couldn't help it, she was contagious.
"The let's get going," my mom said before ushering us back down the hall.