Page 24 of Jade Lion and the Witch Boy (Haunted Hearts: Season of the Witch #5)

I LEAP FROM treetop to treetop, clawed feet catching the branches, as fast as I can. No one should see me in the dark, not that I care. I’m letting my inner lion run free with rage. Right now, my animalistic fury is nothing compared to the anguish that my human side carries.

Seb, the man I fell in love with, the only thing that has guided me all these weeks, lied to me. He wanted my powers, or at least, his coven did. And he didn’t tell me.

I was so foolish to trust him. Did he ever care for me?

I roar at the night sky, then leap off another tree. When I land on a neighboring branch, it snaps, and I tumble. I fall down several feet, my shoulder banging on a boulder. My body rolls to the side, and pain sears through me.

But I do not care. My lion skin is stronger than rocks, and I will heal.

And the pain is nothing compared to my heartache.

How could Seb do this to me? I thought he was my fated mate, the person who would love me for all time.

Now he’s just like the coven, the wizards, and everyone else I’ve ever met.

With my back to the dirt, I gaze up at the night sky past a canopy of leaves. I recall walking among the trees for days with Seb. Was it not yesterday that we were trying on clothes and kissing in a dressing room? Did he lie when we made love in the clouds?

I sigh and reach up to grab nothing. I stare at my paw in the dark and flex my claws. Who am I supposed to be? Why was I given the mantle of the Jade Lion only to walk alone? When is someone going to care for me, completely?

Then I remember the first day I came to this century. My lion roared when I was freed from my prison. I did not even know Seb, but when I looked into his eyes, I felt…peace. And every time we’ve kissed since then, my affection for him has only grown. No one has calmed me down like him.

When I think of his awful ex-lover putting his hands on him, I still want to tear that blond boy to shreds. My urge to protect him has not dissolved. It has only been two hours since I ran from Boysen House, and I still feel connected to Seb.

The witch boy has my heart. Perhaps I should go back and let him explain his side of the story.

“Hello! Mr. Zhou!” A voice in the distance has me sitting up abruptly. Who is that?

“Mr. Zhou!” The high-pitched voice is literally calling to me. I’m a kilometer away from Boysen House, deep in the woods. But the voice is closer, drowned out by the sounds of crickets and other forest fauna.

“Hello Zhou…Zhou…Mr. Zhou! Please.”

I stand up and brush the muddy leaves off my back. In the distance, I spot a light source. Someone is using one of those handheld lanterns that I read about—a flashlight?—here in the woods. I dash through the darkness toward the sound of my name. Who is that?

I reach the dark silhouette calling to me. “Mr. Zhou. Mr. —ack!” When she shines her flashlight at me, she yelps. The woman startles at my presence and almost stumbles back.

“Ashley.” I shift down so I’m in my human form. Now I am only towering over her several inches instead of feet. “What are you doing out here?” I did not expect her to come looking for me in the woods. It can be dangerous out here in the dark, even for experienced mages.

She catches her breath and shuts off her flashlight. With her light source tucked away in her coat pocket, she gazes at me in the dark. “Mr. Zhou. You’re here.”

I cross my arms. While I am not as physically upset as I was two hours ago, I am still not happy to talk to the coven. It is not easy to forgive someone so quickly when they tried to steal my magic. “Yes,” I say curtly.

“I…need to apologize. On behalf of Seb and everyone. Can we take a walk?”

Her stature is so small, and her voice makes her seem even more diminutive. I oftentimes forget what the others in the coven sound like, since I’ve been so enchanted by Seb.

I nod. “Very well.”

After ten seconds of walking in silence, Ashley claps her hands. “So, uh, listen. Again, I’m…so sorry. For everything.”

I bristle, and we walk over several logs. I notice we’re not getting closer to the house, so I suppose she wants to apologize while walking along the hiking trail.

“The reason we did that was because…we were so afraid of you leaving us for the wizards.”

“So instead, you opted to steal my powers?”

“I admit, it sounds awful. But to be fair, it was more of a…sharing.” A low tree covers our path, and I reluctantly lift up the branch for both of us to walk under.

“How so?”

“You would have gotten your powers back,” Ashley explains. “You’re the Jade Lion. Arcana is generated from deep within you. You have no idea what it’s like to feel so powerless, so impotent. We witches have been persecuted by mortals for centuries, and we’re also shunned by wizards.”

She sighs, and sympathy aches in my chest. Yes, they manipulated me, but I can see how difficult life has been for them. Then again, it is possible I forgive too easily.

But if I forgive, perhaps I can work things out with Seb. He seemed more remorseful than Ashley, and she came all the way out here to apologize. The coven has become a home to me.

We come upon a clearing surrounded by trees on all sides.

I estimate a diameter of several yards makes up this circular, flat land.

“In any case, I understand if you want to leave Boysen House.” Ashley stops in the middle of the clearing and turns around.

She smiles at me, an expression that I suppose means goodbye.

I nod. “I will need time to think about it. Alone. So much has happened…”

“I won’t try to stop you. Can I give you something before you go running off as a lion again?” She grins and takes something out of her pocket. “Like a goodbye present?”

Ah, another American custom, I assume. I step forward and squint my eyes, trying to discern what she’s holding.

“Hold out your hand,” she instructs. “Open up your palm.”

I do as she says, and she places her hand above mine.

“This…is an ebony spirit blade.” She reveals a palm-sized dagger, no bigger than a butter knife. The dark metal is contrasted by the glowing red gem in the center of the handle.

“It can cut through all magic.” She quickly turns the blade so that she is wielding the handle. “And flesh.”

I don’t have time to react as Ashley grabs my wrist, holds my hand in place, and slices down my palm.

“Ah!” I hiss. I can barely process the pain before she lets go and uses the blade to cut her own palm. “What…what are you…?”

“I’m doing this to protect witches. You’re going to help me right the wrongs generations of wizards have inflicted on us.

” Ashley flicks her bloody hand down and steps back.

In a flash, the ground beneath us glows with red markings.

As I look around at the circle of illuminated symbols, Ashley begins to chant.

“Bloody water, thorn and vine. Wrest this body, soul, and mind.”

Suddenly, my body stops moving. I gasp as my every bone and muscle tense up. Panic fills my heart as I realize what is occurring. All around me, crimson runes shine and begin to float upward.

“Bloody water, thorn and vine. Wrest this body, soul, and mind!”

Ashley’s chanting grows louder. I try to cast any magic, but it is too late. The runes around me have bound my body, and the woman before me is clearly in control.

I have been betrayed by a single witch casting this hex on me.

Now, I’m drowning in fear and panic as Ashley takes over me.

I sense her ill intent, her lust for violence.

She wants to murder wizards, I feel it. Before she can completely engulf my mind, I think of the one thing that has grounded me in over a hundred years.

“Sebastian…stop Ashley,” I whisper. He is asleep at the house, and I sense his presence flicker in my soul for two seconds before my magic is cut off. I am unsure if he heard my desperate message, but I am no longer connected to him.

With a blinding flash of red, the runes fall back down to being chalk carvings on the muddy ground. I fall on my knees and try to control my breathing. I hear the sound of three steps slowly approach me, and my eyes burn with fear and anger.

“Show me the Jade Lion,” she says in a sinister tone.

“Auggh!” I roar as a shift is pulled out of me. I’m in my lion form, still on my knees.

“Good. Now look at me.”

My head pivots upward on its own accord, or rather, Ashley’s control. She grins, a look of pure malice in her eyes. “You should have let me share in your arcana. But now I have my sights set on a bigger prize.”

I want to growl, scream, claw her eyes out, or run. But of course, her hex has full power over me. “Bring me to the Union of Mages. It is time for me to take back the power and destroy all the wizards.”

I stand tall and put my arms out. Against my will, my arcana flows out of me and into the dirt below. The earth rises against gravity, a small platform made of rocks, and takes us into the sky. My arcana is lifting both of us, and I fear for what Ashley wants me to do.

This witch is going to use me to commit unspeakable atrocities, and I have no say in the matter.