Page 8 of Hexual Healing
Just that.No.Like he had any right to keep me here.
“You can't just…”
“I can do whatever I want.You're onmyland.You damagedmyproperty.You brought goddess-knows-what tomydoor.Until I know what's following you and how much danger you've put me in, you're not going anywhere.”
The curse practically purred, sending waves of heat through my chest that had nothing to do with anger and everything to do with the way his voice got gravelly when he was laying down the law.
No.Absolutely not.I was not getting turned on by the mountain man holding me hostage.
“That's kidnapping.”
“That's consequences.”
“I'll scream.”
“No one will hear you.”
“I'll hex you.”
“Just try it and see what happens.”
“I'll—” I stopped because what I wanted to say wasI'll burn everything down, but given that I'd apparently already started that process, it lacked a little punch.
He waited.Patient.Unmoved.Like he had all day to watch me cycle through empty threats.
“I need to see Gary,” I said softly.“He’s my familiar.I have to know he's okay.”
Something shifted in his expression, a barely perceptible softening around his eyes that suggested maybe he wasn't completely made of stone and judgment.
“Can you walk?”
“Yes.”Probably a lie, but I'd crawl if I had to.
He stepped back from the doorway.Not helping.Not offering a hand.Just creating space for me to prove I could stand on my own.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed, and the room cheered me on by doing a little celebratory spin.I gripped the sheet tight and willed my knees to lock.Standing was an adventure in physics I wasn't prepared for, but I made it vertical through spite alone.
“Kitchen’s down the hall,” he said.“Don't touch anything.Don't cast anything.Don't even think too hard about anything magical.My wards are already suspicious of you.”He turned and walked out, clearly expecting me to follow.“Whether they're friendly is entirely up to you.”
I took one shaky step.Then another.The curse seemed happy to be mobile again.Happy to be here.Happy about something I really didn't want to examine.
The hallway was narrow, lined with photos I didn't have time to study.The floor creaked under my weight in a way that sounded like gossip.By the time I reached the kitchen, my magic was doing that thing where it tried to leak out through my pores like flop sweat.
Gary was indeed on the windowsill.Shell gleaming.Absolutely still in that way that meant he was either deeply asleep or plotting my elaborate death.
“Gary?”
One eye stalk emerged.Slowly.Dramatically.Like a middle finger made of mollusk.
“Oh, she lives,” he said, voice dripping with the kind of disdain only a British-accented snail could achieve.“How delightful.I was just getting used to the idea of being adopted by someone competent.”
Relief hit me so hard, I almost collapsed.He was okay.Bitchy meant okay.
“I'm sorry.”
“You're sorry?You teleported us through the InBetween without a proper exit strategy, crashed into some woods that absolutely reeked of territorial pissing, literally exploded with enough magical force to announce our location to anyone within a fifty-mile radius, and then had the audacity to pass out, leaving me to negotiate with…” He swiveled an eye stalk toward Baz.“This.”
“This has a name,” Baz said mildly, pouring water into a kettle like we weren't having a whole moment.