Free 1 Witchy Business by Eve Paludan, Stuart Sharp Page A

you have never used your own abilities in the course of your job?”
    Of course I had. But I’d never used them just to get a table somewhere. I’d never used them for something so trivial. But how could I say that without seeming accusatory?
    “What about the risks?” I asked instead.
    Niall reached out and touched my hand then, just lightly, but the contact seemed strangely electric. “What risks did they tell you existed, Elle? What did they warn would happen if you went too far in exploring your powers?”
    He made it sound like they were threatening a child with monsters under the bed, but I knew better than that. I’d felt the edges of it when I got into places with too much emotion. Even here, in the restaurant, I had to keep my powers locked down and my emotions shielded to avoid the rush of feelings that swirled around me in every direction.
    “What did they say would happen, Elle?” Niall repeated.
    “Madness.” The word came out quietly. “They said I would go mad. That my power would eat me from the inside. And they were right, Niall. I’ve felt it. A big room, too many people…it’s too much.” I paused. “You must know what I mean.”
    “I do.” This touch was gentle. Soothing. Warmth bloomed from the point of his tender contact to my extremities.
    “Are you using magic on me?” I asked him.
    Niall shook his head. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. Even the weakest of what we are can keep out the powers of others, and you…you are stronger than me, Elle, whatever you think.” He lifted a glass of wine. “A toast: to us, the only people who can be truly certain of what we feel.”
    That was easy for him to say. Right then, I wasn’t sure what I felt.
    “To us,” I echoed.
    The Orkney Lobster was divine. He had ordered the same thing and we savored it together.
     “Now,” Niall said, “I have to ask you. Do you trust me, Elle?”
    “No.” That was too blunt. “I’m sorry. It’s my job not to trust anyone. Then there’s my training. I was taught to close myself off, for protection.”
    “What a shame, when you are capable of so much that you don’t even know exists.”
    Niall left it there, talking of simpler things, my job and my life, while the next few courses came. Almost before I knew it, the chocolate coulant came, whisked before us like a religious offering. We lifted our mouthfuls at the same time, our eyes on each other. I thought I would pass out from how delicious it was.
    “You like this place?” he asked, seeming to sense my train of thought.
    “I love it. Thank you.”
     “You’re worth it,” he said quietly, and in that moment, I realized I could feel the chatter of the restaurant as my shields slipped slightly. Knowing what everyone else felt wasn’t as worrying as what I felt, though. I liked Niall. A lot.
    “Will you at least give me a chance to show you that some people can be trusted?” Niall stood, holding out his hand. It felt like another test, so I took it.
    After they brought back his credit card, he said, “Ready?”
    “Are we going somewhere?”
    He smiled, still holding onto my hand. “You’ll see.”
    He led me out of the restaurant, walking with me through the Edinburgh evening, first on the waterfront and then heading into the middle of the city, where there were people out on every side, enjoying the kind of nightlife that only a city built on its tourist reputation could offer. It was only as I started to guess the direction we were taking that I began to tense up.
    “Trust me, Elle,” Niall said. “The night is too beautiful to leave it here and go home. I promise you, I would never do anything to hurt you.”
    Even so, when we reached the club, it was hard not to pull back against his hold on my hand.
    “We should go back to where Trixie is parked. Aren’t you worried?”
    “No, I left a shield around her. A layer of fear. Anyone who gets too close will feel distinctly…uncomfortable.”
    “Oh, of course you did.” I