A Touch Bewitched

A Touch Bewitched Zodiac Cove: Book Four Sonia Hartl Zodiac Cove Publishing LLC Copyright Published by Zodiac Cove Publishing, LLC Copyright © 2023 by Sonia Hartl All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people, places, or events are coincidental. Cover Designed by Natasha Snow Designs www.natashasnow.com Copy Editing by Monique Conrod Contents 1. Chapter 1 Content Warnings 1. Kenna 2. Galen 3. Kenna 4. Kenna 5. Galen 6. Kenna 7. Kenna 8. Galen 9. Kenna 10. Galen 11. Kenna 12. Kenna 13. Galen 14. Kenna 15. Kenna 16. Galen 17. Kenna 18. Galen 19. Kenna 20. Galen Kenna Epilogue Afterword Sneak Peek A Touch Dazzled Character Key Also by Sonia About the Author To anyone who’s been told he’s “such a nice boy” when you knew better… No, he wasn’t. It wasn’t your fault. You deserve real love. Content Warnings Violence Body horror Past physical abuse shown in flashbacks Past watching a parent die shown in flashbacks Scars from abuse Talk about abusive history On-page PTSD On-page anxiety attacks Please take care while reading and also check my website for the most up-to-date Content Warnings for all my books, I do frequent updates there whenever I’m alerted to any I might’ve missed. Chapter 1 KennaI didn’t ask for this. There were hundreds of other Leos on the island. Probably at least a dozen within my own family. Why did the magic choose me? And why did it pair me with him?I stood on the sidewalk outside the Zodiac Hotel—now empty save for the staff that the Lathams kept on payroll as an apology for not getting everyone off the island before the curse trapped us here. Since my bar ran better when I wasn’t there, lately, I’d left everything in my manager, Zoey’s, capable hands. They had been with me since I took over the place from my dad, and I trusted them more than half the people I was related to.Now that I more or less had mandatory free time on my hands, I had planned on spending the afternoon with Jocelyn, breaking the bad news of everything magic-related. Someone needed to do it. And since I was one of the few people in town who gave her the time of day, that responsibility fell to me.I should’ve had a few shots first.Not that I was a big drinker, despite owning a bar, but some things were better done numb and half-remembered. Like telling my cousin, who had been through more than enough shit to last a lifetime, she had to work in close contact with Rafe Wilder.Speaking of the asshole Wilder brothers, just as I took a deep breath and clenched my fists, preparing to enter the hotel, Galen Wilder came into view. He carted a bunch of mechanical equipment behind him. His biceps flexed under the light blue T-shirt that was a size too small for him, and I swallowed.Really could’ve used that drink right about now.The way I felt when I touched him wasn’t something I’d be forgetting any time soon. It was like being burned alive from the inside out, and the only thing that would soothe the ache was his hands on me. I didn’t even like him. And he definitely didn’t like me.Which was ridiculous. I was delightful. And he was the one who set my bar on fire, but he acted like I’d caused him personal harm. Again. Ridiculous.This was the first time I’d seen him since I’d set fire to the forest two days ago during the rescue mission Violet had dragged me into. If anyone else had asked that of me, I would’ve told them to fuck off. But Violet didn’t ask for help unless she really needed it, and she’d always been there for me, no questions asked. So I went, even though I’d been a complete bitch the entire time. I only felt a little bad about it.Violet said Galen had been busy dragging his equipment around the island, looking for holes in the curse’s barrier so we could get the residents off the island before things got worse. Not that I’d asked. Or cared. Fate might’ve paired me with him, but I still had a mind of my own.The wheels on his cart squeaked as they bumped over the cracks in the sidewalk. He stumbled before righting himself, and I almost smiled despite myself. In high school, he’d been awkward and clumsy, and I kind of liked that he hadn’t lost that part of himself. Probably because he spent so much time buried in his research, he had no clue how hot he’d become. It was like he was completely oblivious to the effect he had on women.If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve said it was an act. But he genuinely didn’t seem to understand or respond to flirting. I’d seen plenty of women try over the years, and they always walked away confused or disappointed when he treated them with little more than polite indifference.He ran a hand through his tangled mop of dark blonde curls and adjusted his thin, wireframe glasses. He paused to stretch—stopping midway when he laid eyes on me.The look he gave me wasn’t anything close to friendly. I blew him a kiss, and he scowled. There wasn’t much that brought me joy these days. Pissing off Galen Wilder was one of the few things I had left.I gestured to the cart he dragged behind him. “What’s with all the equipment?”I already knew, but I wanted to act like I didn’t so I could take the opportunity to try my hand at polite conversation. Violet would be so proud.“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m looking for a way off this