Page 111 of How to Flirt with a Witch

Wyatt has changed focus—he’s coming for us, his paws leaving prints on the frosty grass.

“Shit,” I whisper, writhing in Oaklyn’s grasp.

She forces me backward, abandoning the copse of trees and taking me further from everyone else.

“Let go of me!” I roar. “You can’t force me to find curses for you—”

Pain erupts in my ankle, and I scream. Wyatt clamps down, the agony of his jaws on tender bone paralyzing me.

“Good pupper,” Oaklyn croons. She releases my neck, and I fall, landing hard on my back.

I cough, gulping down air.

Sky lunges, grabbing for the dog, but Oaklyn stops her with a massive root. It catches Sky in the chest, sending her flying back with the force of being hit by a car.

I try to shout after her, but no sound comes, my throat spasming. The dog is dragging me by the ankle, and struggling only makes his teeth sink deeper.

Neil, still in the trees, summons a chunk of grass to cushion Sky’s fall.

“Katie, don’t let them take you!” Natalie roars from somewhere past the trees—growing further away.

“Obviously!” I grit out. My eyes water as the dog tugs, pulling me by inches.

A wall of pebbles rises up from the nearest footpath, arcing toward Oaklyn like a tidal wave. She ducks and throws up her arms, blocking the brunt of it with a tangle of roots.

The dog tugs again, and incoherent sounds spill from my lips. The world spins around me, a blur of frosty grass and gray sky and tombstones. Nausea floods me.

“Here! Here!” Freddie roars from behind me.

Wyatt drags me in bursts like I’m prey he’s captured. His breaths come in shorthuff-huffs.

Panic mixes with excruciating pain, drawing sharp gasps and cries from my throat. Where is he taking me? I try to kick him with my other foot, but it’s impossible to be coordinated when pain lances through me with every tug.

My breaths escape in frantic whimpers. My limbs are moving of their own accord, trying to get free. Nothing else matters. The whole world is just the primal need to get away from this predator’s jaws.

Cold realization floods me—I’m alone in this. Footsteps pound and shouts pierce the air, but nobody catches up.

Hands close around my upper arms, lifting me roughly to my feet. “Out!” Freddie shouts.

Wyatt lets go of my ankle, and a new stinging pain erupts—probably the punctures left behind.

The flash of relief is instantly smothered as Freddie tightens his hold. He releases one arm to gesture back to the fight. “Get ’em!”

“No!” I scream, fighting against his grip as the dog rockets away.

A cold, sharp point presses beneath my chin, and I gasp, freezing in place.

“Something a little less interesting than magic,” Freddie says, “but effective enough. Follow me, and I’ll be nice.”

I don’t move. If he wants me for my ability, he won’t kill me. I’m no good to him if I’m dead. “I’d rather stay,” I snarl.

The point digs deeper into my skin, and I bite my lip to keep from grunting in pain. I won’t give him the satisfaction of knowing this hurts. Though with blood dripping down my cheek from the branch and a sickening warmth oozing around my ankle, my appearance probably speaks for itself.

Freddie hauls me backward, forcing me down a gravel path toward an exit at knifepoint.

My chest tightens with panic as the prospect of being abducted becomes real. What are they planning to do with me? Are they going to torture me until I agree to help them?

“Just get to Katie! Now!” Natalie roars from across the cemetery. Through rows of tombstones and scattered trees, she and the others bombard Oaklyn and Wyatt with chunks of earth, trying to reach me.