Page 41 of The Unbound Witch
Torryn jutted his chin toward Kir. “Thank the wraith, Atty. She ripped a heart out to save you.”
Bastian slipped away from the man-hug to come and stand beside me. One small motion, and his wings appeared. Beautiful, dark and smooth, reflecting the midday sun shining through the dust coated windows.
“Don't get cocky,” Kir smirked. “You still smell like a dog, Atlas.”
“Pretty sure you already told us you can’t smell. But speaking of rancid…” He pinched his nose and stepped away from Torryn. “Try bathing.”
“Yeah, I’ve been attached to you all day, and wet dog doesn't flatter anyone,” he answered with a grin.
“Any and all bets are welcome, but I'm guessing this was Nikos,” Kir said, eyes pulled together in concentration as she pushed a plant upright. “That aside, what are we going to do about Captain Human over there?”
“I have ears, Ghosty,” the captain said sadly, slumped in the corner, his head buried in his hands.
He’d lost his whole crew again. The men on that ship might have been close friends of his, and I hadn’t even thought of that loss for him. I’d been so wrapped up in my own feelings, I hadn’t truly considered those lives.
Eden crouched to the floor, lifting his chin so he was forced to look into her eyes. “Thank you for your sacrifice, Crowen. You’ve always done everything you could for me, and I know this loss is devastating.”
He forced a smile to his lips. “You’re worth every sacrifice, every ship and every drop of water in that sea.”
I walked to the back room, giving them their own space. The devil’s ivy that normally covered the door from floor to ceiling had been ripped away, the leaves scattering the ground already drying out, and the crunch beneath my shoe was a tiny prick of pain as I considered the state of my livelihood.
I reached for the broom, but Bastian was there first. He snatched it from the hook on the wall and leaned against it as he stared at me as if expecting something.
“What?”
“I thought you would be forced to finish the death spell when we got back. I didn't want to tell you in case it would change your mind about coming, but there it is.”
I turned, my heart feeling the betrayal, even if it was only a small thing. “You make it very hard to trust you, Bastian.”
He set the broom aside. “When you cast that spell on me the last time, I thought for sure you were going to kill me. The only thing I could think of was what they would do to you if that happened. I didn't consider my own life, of fading away, only the shifters shredding you to pieces. It was a torture I couldn't bear. I sent you to the human lands to save you, only realizing at the last second that I could possibly save myself as well. I wasn't sure if we'd come back. I wasn't willing to risk your life to reverse the decision I'd already made. If it meant I died, I was okay with that.”
“You still could have said something.” I grabbed a sack from the long wooden countertop below the circular window, noticing the hairline crack in the glass. “My grandmother loved this window.”
A heavy hand gripped my arm. He lifted my fingers to his lips before pulling me to him, wrapping me in a hug. I needed those arms around me so badly, nothing else seemed to matter. He was here and alive, and that was a far greater future than I'd thought possible only days ago.
“I need you to stop withholding information from me. It can’t be your rules, your world. If we're going to be on the same team, it has to be united. I understand the fear you had, and I'm sorry you didn't think you could trust me, but we're here now. Let's move on and set this right. No more dancing around each other because we think the other is too fragile or volatile.”
He pulled away, staring into my eyes with so much relief I thought he’d burst. With a single gesture, his shadows covered the door, giving us privacy. “We're here now,” he repeated. “That's enough.”
Moving his fingers into my tangled hair, he pressed his lips to mine, and I melted for him. For the wings at his back I thought I'd never see again, the silver that lit differently in his eyes when he had his magic. And for the shadows pooling on the floor and over the door as if his magic yearned for this world. He moved his hands down to my neck, fingers grazing over my collarbone as he devoured me, massaging my tongue with his in a fury of motions that instantly consumed. This was Bastian. In all his glory, just a man, but always a king. Always demanding and always taking me to places I'd never known.
I gripped his damp shirt, pulling him to the back of the small room, pushing aside the debris as I collided with a wall. Shoving his fingers back into my hair, he tugged my head back, pressing heated lips in a trail to the hollow of my neck, letting out a subtle groan. My knees weakened at the sound, his unbridled desire for me as fierce as my own for him. Purposeful hands and tongue and teeth consumed me as his silky, dark wings moved in, cocooning us in a warmth that could have lit the world on fire. Outside this space was chaos and danger, but here, with him? It was only us and the unspoken promises of a future full of these moments.
“Ahem.”
“Go away, Moondance,” Bastian growled. His fingers gripped mine against the wall.
“Have you kissed Grey yet? I'm not saying I'd judge you, Rave. Just curious.”
I couldn't help my smile. The queen of deflection had struck again. Dropping my hands, though reluctantly, I slipped away from our space, leaving the comfort of those wings. “What's wrong?”
“I mean, aside from the obvious state of this place? We've got to do something about the captain. And I'd bet my nonexistent life Endora already knows that Grimoire is back. Plus, the guys are showing off their battle scars and Crow took his shirt off. I'm thoroughly disturbed.” She shuddered. “Boys are gross.”
“Men,” Atlas shouted from the shop front.
She tossed her hands in the air. “I said what I said.”
Torryn's low chuckled filled Crescent Cottage and I grabbed the broom and headed back to the front to find him lifting a shelf that had been toppled over, trying not to step on the wares that lay in tatters on the floor. “Tell me again what you think happened here.”