Page 18
Story: Bewitched
And if I don’t get back before sundown…
Doubled fucked.
But my intuition isn’t warning me off this trail, and Ididfind my familiar by listening to it earlier. Technically, thisiswhat a magic quest is—listening to that untamable inner voice that leads all witches.
Nero lunges toward the river, nearly capsizing the boat.Again.I grab the sides of the dinghy for balance while the water near us churns. I hear a crunch, and then the panther is backing up, dragging some writhing thing along with him.
What in the…?
Nero turns toward me, and clamped in his jaws is the biggest motherfucking snake I’ve ever seen, its head and neck hanging lifelessly, even while the rest of its body still spasms.
Ho-ly shit.
“Good boy,” I croak.
He gives me a look like he might eat me next if I treat him like a pet again. He pads back to the middle of the boat and flops down, the huge twitching snake tumbling in along with him.
I grimace.
Clearing my throat, I say, “I feel like we need to go over some boat rules. Rule one—”
Nero sinks his teeth into the creature’s belly.
Going to hurl.
“No eating animals on the boat.”
Ignoring me, the panther continues to chomp on the dead snake.
What am I supposed to do if my familiar doesn’t listen to me? Aren’t familiars supposed to give their undivided loyalty to the witch they’re bonded with?
I take a few deep breaths and decide this is not the hill I want to die on today.
“Fine, ignore boat rules, just don’t get any blood on me—”
I feel something warm and wet hit the back of my hand.
I glare at my familiar—who isstillabsorbed in his meal. “Don’t make me turn you into a housecat,” I warn him.
He pauses eating to flash me his fangs.
Guess he doesn’t like the idea of that all that much. “Then behave.”
He stares at me for a moment longer, then goes back to eating his nasty snack.
The blue magic pushes us along, and slowly but surely, we cross the river. Overhead, the rest of the magic hangs above us like a contrail, the line of it disappearing into the trees on the approaching side of the riverbank. I swear it looks denser than it did at the crash site.
I can still feel the power pressing against my back, but it’s begun to creep over my shoulders and around my chest, and a strand of it brushes against my jaw, feeling for all the world like the light stroke of knuckles against my skin.
I think it would be better if I found the touch repulsive, but I…don’t, and that leaves me confused.
Eventually, we reach the riverbank. I wait until the dinghy has nearly beached itself on the shore before hopping out with Nero and dragging the boat as far ashore as I can.
Dusting my hands off, I turn to the dark jungle beyond.
Come to me…
I pause. That phantom voice is so much stronger now.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18 (Reading here)
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185