Page 18 of Make Me (Immortal Vices and Virtues: All Hallows’ Eve #1)

Kinsley

I sat at the edge of my coven within the House of Earth and Emerald, staring up at the bright moon. The surrounding trees hid me from the view of the coven, and I closed my eyes, trying to soak up the energy I could feel moving around me.

After all these years, one would think I’d have accepted my lot in life, but I hadn’t been able to. Well, not entirely.

There were pieces I’d grown used to, like accepting how people had first seen me as nothing more than the orphan witch to be pitied. When I’d grown older, their view of me had changed to the weak… broken one to be kept at a distance.

Nobody wanted to be friends with a witch whose parents had abandoned her and who couldn’t fully access her magic. After being kept at arm’s length from my fellow coven members, I’d finally learned to stop caring what they thought and focus on what I believed.

Hiding in the woods, staying home by myself, training in the gym, talking to the moon as if it was my only friend… I had to discover what else was out in the world.

Though, my lack of a House ring prevented me from leaving anytime soon. Unless I wanted to risk No Man’s Land on my own.

I’d been told that I wasn’t allowed to have a ring for my own protection. That it wasn’t safe outside of the protection of our coven for a nearly no-powered witch. That I was best with the ones who protected me.

There seemed to be a thin line between protection and captivity.

Though, No Man’s Land was no joke. I wasn’t na?ve enough to think I could survive that cesspool on my own, and I’d yet to make any friends I could rely on that would watch my back when I finally fled the coven.

With a heavy sigh, I pushed up to my feet and gave the moon one last glance. “I guess it’s time to go back to my cell… house .”

If I were being honest with myself, I’d admit that the coven hadn’t treated me badly . I’d been given food and clothes and always had a roof over my head, but there had never been a “home” for me.

No pseudo parents who gave a shit about me, merely rotating caregivers who made sure I never got into trouble.

Once I’d become an adult, and it became clear that I wasn’t going to be some remarkable witch, I’d been transitioned from living with different families every few months to a small studio space above the coven’s gym.

My feet began carrying me back toward my apartment, and I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jeans as I trudged through the grassy field.

When I’d made it a dozen or so feet from the treeline, something stirred behind me.

My shoulders stiffened and I glanced up, spotting the main part of the coven a mere fifty yards ahead of me.

If I was a normal witch, I could simply teleport back to my house, but of course, I couldn’t even conquer the most menial of magic abilities.

Knowing that and hearing whatever was behind me getting closer, I tilted my chin up, hung my arms loose at my sides, and strode forward as if I didn’t have a clue that someone was lurking in the shadows.

If I was attacked, I wouldn’t be completely defenseless. A benefit to failing all of my magic teachings was that I’d at least used those disappointments to excel in combat classes. Plus, living above the gym gave me all the after-hours access to training that I could want.

Physically, I could take down a couple-hundred-pound man, so there was at least that.

Another ten feet closer to the coven and my chest was feeling a little lighter. Maybe I’d just been imagining whatever I thought I’d heard in the trees…or maybe not.

“Kinsley Ash,” a deep man’s voice said from behind me.

I couldn’t have heard him correctly. Nobody would ever be out here looking for me specifically.

A random attacker, sure, but someone using my full name? Not likely. I kept walking.

“Stop,” the same voice demanded.

My left foot paused in the air, almost as if his command were laced with magic, but it didn’t quite stick.

I slowly turned around, widening my stance and preparing myself for a fight.

If this guy wanted me, I wasn’t going to be taken easily.

He stepped out of the shadows from the forest, and I sucked in a breath when my eyes took in his dark glare.

My heart momentarily stopped before it began racing again, and I felt myself being drawn toward the rigid stranger.

Mate.

This man… He was… Mine .

Feelings erupted inside me that I’d never experienced. My skin heated and my mouth ran dry while my heart felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest.

Was he going to take me away from this lowly existence I’d been living? Was this the answer I’d been searching for all these years while standing under the night’s moon?

“I’m going to kill—” His words cut off as I assumed he’d finally realized the same thing I had.

We were mates. A bond created by the fates that could tie us together for life.

Yet, I hadn’t missed the malice in his previous words or the way the moonlight showcased dark, menacing eyes directed right at me.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he snarled. Then he quickly added, “I reject you, Kinsley Ash.”

Five words. That was all it took to cut me down.

To smother the softer emotions I’d so easily clung to for those brief seconds.

To shred any hope that I’d had for a life more than what I’d always known.

Still, my head shook. “No.”

His head reared back, and I tried—yet failed—not to be enamored by his roguish features. He had thick, ebony hair that naturally seemed to swoop up by a couple of inches on the top and was just slightly shorter on the sides.

His arms were covered in black and grey tattoos starting above his short, black sleeves and ending at his fingertips. Hell, I could even see more of them peeking out from above the V in his T-shirt.

His lips begged to be nipped at, and his dark brows furrowed so tightly that I wouldn’t have been surprised if there was a permanent wrinkle between them.

“No?” He growled. “What do you mean no ?”

I took a step back and held my hand out. If he wasn’t outright attacking me, I’d at least pretend like I had magic to maybe scare him with.

“I mean no to your rejection,” I retorted with rising bravado.

“You were about to say that you were going to kill someone, and I can only assume by your twisted, snarling face that you meant me. Well, I’m not in the mood to die.

So let me repeat myself more clearly. No, I don’t accept your rejection. Whoever you are.”

A rumble built in his chest, and he shook his head as if he still didn’t understand. “Quit playing your magic tricks on me, Witch.”

Well, this guy might have known my name, but he obviously didn’t know me.

Just as I was about to refute his statement, the sexy brute came charging at me. Acting on instinct, thanks to all those nights spent in the gym, my foot lifted and connected with his gut. His shoulders pushed forward from the impact, and I took the opportunity to allow my fist to meet his jaw.

The echoing crack made my lips curl upward, and again when I grabbed his neck and slammed my knee into his handsome face.

Such a pity.

Just when I was starting to think I had the upper hand, he recovered from whatever shock he’d been in and wrapped his arms around my waist, attempting to take me down .

His heated skin burned mine, and sorrow filled me at the realization that this man—supposedly the one meant just for me in this world—could be trying to kill me, but I shoved those feelings down and focused on not allowing my face to be pummeled.

When he began pushing me toward the ground, I wrapped an arm around his neck and used my body weight to press down on his head. His six-and-a-half-foot frame started to timber forward, but he reached for my thigh and flipped me up and over him.

I landed on the ground hard, the impact rattling my bones and sending stabbing sensations through me from head to toe.

“Fuck.” I groaned. “Was that really necessary?”

He snarled in return and sat on me before I could get up. “Was it necessary to kill those kids?”

Now, it was my turn to be shocked…

“What are you—” Before I could finish my question, he punched me just beneath my neck. Like really fucking punched me.

Sure, I’d hit him first, but still, I was a little more than shocked by the impact.

Before I could physically respond, his hands covered my throat, but they only squeezed hard enough to keep me pinned. “You’re not my mate. You’re just using magic to trick me.”

He spoke with conviction, but I could see the uncertainty in his cognac eyes that were darkening by the second.

“Listen, psycho stranger. I don’t know who you think I am, but I hardly have any magic.” My words were garbled, and the longer I spoke, the more my vocal cords burned from his touch, but I kept going. “And I wouldn’t hurt a child, let alone multiple of them.”

Flickers of something I didn’t recognize appeared in his eyes, then he blinked several times before finally squeezing them tightly shut.

The weight of his body wasn’t leaving my neck, and even though I knew the truth, he seemed to be struggling a little too much with our predicament for me to allow him to keep me in this position.

With my not-mate distracted, I bucked my hips up and punched his kidney before attempting to roll out from under him. “Seriously. What is your problem?” I demanded, ignoring the stabbing pain in my cheek from his previous punch.

He grunted in reply and got up before me. The black boot on his right foot was coming right for my head. Instead of hoping I got out of the way in time, I raised my forearm, blocking the kick, and reaching up with my other hand to press on his knee.

A fun trick I’d learned throughout my years of training.

He winced, trying to stay upright, but there wasn’t a chance in hell of that unless he wanted to risk breaking a bone or two.

With a triumphant smile, I watched as he fell back on his ass. Though, my glee only lasted a mere second before he was scrambling back to his feet.

The flickers I’d seen in his eyes before turned to flames, and I was pretty sure his skin was darkening with every step forward.

I’d sworn this guy was a wolf shifter from first sight, but no shifter I’d ever seen visit the coven could do anything like that.

Thanks to the distraction, he was able to grab a hold of me again. His fingers dug into my biceps, pressing my arms into my sides and forcing me to remain immobile. “Who are you?” he spat.

“Kinsley Ash. A powerless witch that’s never left this coven,” I answered.

His head shook roughly. “Lies.”

I tried meeting his fiery gaze, but he wouldn’t focus on my stare. “Maybe you can tell me why you wanted to kill me in the first place, and we can answer some of each other’s questions?”

Reasoning with a psychopath didn’t seem like the best solution, but I didn’t see any other way out of this. Sure, thanks to the shitty-but-should-have-been-amazing mate connection between us, he couldn’t kill me, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hurt me if he wanted to.

And I was more than sure he wanted to.

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