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Just as he was about to change his size, destroy her home and possibly her, she’d grabbed a cloth instead of the knife next to it. Silently, she shoved that cloth into some water and started wiping him down.

She was trying to remove her concoction from him.

Once it was done to the best of her abilities without shoving him in water, she walked him over to the window.

Grunting with hard tugs, she managed to get the window open with one hand.

“I know I promised to let you rest, but I have changed my mind, Lady Lizard. It is time for you to go home.”

I do not understand.He turned his head to the dark sky outside, the stars glittering on a perfect night.She promised to let me go when the sky was bright.

“Please be safe, okay?” His eyes widened in surprised when she kissed the side of his head. He didn’t try to bite her for it since he was too shocked that she’d done it in the first place. “I am glad I was able to save you.”

Then she placed him on the windowsill. She tucked his tail carefully out of the way before she closed it, not allowing him back inside even if he wanted to.

He turned back to see inside to watch her disrobing to put on a proper gown.

Why am I hesitating to leave?

A screech got his attention just before that fat cat leapt for him on the windowsill. He quickly unfurled his wings to take flight.

The cat gave chase through the forest.

It didn’t follow him forever, but he was far enough away that he could no longer see the cottage through the trees. He stopped to land on a low hanging branch and stared back at the direction he came.

Strange.Then again, he did find the woman rather odd to begin with.She just let me go in the middle of the night?She’d kept her promise though to release him, and he was free of her, of his cage.

It is not my business to understand Witches.

He turned from the direction of the cottage and took flight once more, heading towards his home so he could rest properly and plan for his next hunt.

He’d come to this part of the world for a reason.

But something nagged him on the back of his scales. It worsened the further away he got.

It was that face, the one she’d given him when he thought she was planning on gutting him for his entrails. After she slammed the door closed, it looked like the face of fear.

No, she is a Witch. I kill her kind, destroy them.He pushed his wings harder to leave, hoping distance would help him to clear his mind.She has probably been called to be a midwife again so she can let that human die too.

That nagging on his scales didn’t diminish.

The moon had shifted further down, telling him some time had passed since he’d been flying.

“Damn blood debts!” Rurik growled to the sky when he dipped one of his wings to turn around. “I will just check on her. She is probably telling that blasted cat off again!”

I cannot believe I am wasting my time on a lowly Witch.

Before Amalia could place her boots on her feet, a soldier kicked down the door.

She hadn’t even gotten the chance to scream before she was gagged, and two sets of hands grabbed her wrists to bind them together with rope.

Her fingers were interlocked so she couldn’t weave any magic, and she was pushed to the ground on her front. Metal shackles were also placed on her wrists but her ankles as well.

“Look at the ground! She really is a Witch,” one of the soldiers said to the others.

She turned her head to the charred circle and symbols on her timber flooring, the result of her using blood magic to remove the hex from the lizard.

“Has no one ever been inside her home?” another said while he pointed at all the herbs and spices everywhere.