Page 44 of Liar Witch

There’s something almost…calm about it.

It’s a stupid thought.

My blood can’t calm him. He’s battling bloodlust because of it.

So why is he just sitting there?

What if I was here, and not under any perceived kind of threat?

I’m not stupid enough to try it out and I don’t have time for this dallying. I turn on my heel and make a beeline for the hole in the wall.

Only to find it gone.

Val’s immortal healing has fixed it.

There’s nowhere for me to go except the bathroom.

Or out of the window.

I cross the room, heading for the open sea air.

Cas’s leviathan is circling the boat, his eyes searching for me through all of the windows and doors.

If I jump. He’ll catch me.

He has to catch me.

Right?

I don’t have time for this! Opal’s reserve of power is dwindling by the second.

I take a deep breath and hold one foot over the edge.

Just take the step.

The waves below crash like cymbals, the noise deafening.

Cas is there. He’ll catch me.

For Goddess’s sake. I cando this.

The last pieces of power start to flicker, and I grimace.

Now or never.

My hold on the spirit realm slips just as I take that tiny step.

Air rushes past me for the briefest second before something slams into me, pushing me off course.

Rysen.

I should have accounted for his speed. I shouldn’t have dawdled.

The weight of him sends both of us flying through a lower window, but, impossibly, I don’t feel a thing. I’m so small compared to him, and he’s wrapped himself around me so thoroughly, that the glass misses me completely.

He even manages to shift so he takes the impact of our landing on his back, me sprawled on top of him in a room I’ve never seen before.

The air is knocked from my lungs and I hack and cough, trying to force myself to breathe.