Page 72 of The Unbound Witch

“Gross,” I hissed, swooping down. “Hey, Nik. How’s it going?”

He peered up at me and then finally to Raven. His voice was like stone against stone. Aged and haggard as his words raced for her. “You were supposed to die. I watched you for years, and the moment my Harrowing finally struck, you still lived.”

“YourHarrowing? That’s not even possible. We know more than you think we do, Nik, so cut the lies. The Harrowing was discovered by Endora Mossbrook before we were even born. Eden overheard, stole the Grimoire, and took off for the castle to try to save the witches,” she said.

“No,” he rasped, a shadow circling his neck. “I discovered the Harrowing in records buried in the Moss Coven mountains.”

“That’s not possible.”

His devilish eyes flicked to Raven. “In this world, there are few things that are not possible, should your will be greater than your obstacle. Age is fluid if you know how to bend it.”

I snapped my fingers in front of his face, trying to peel back his attention. Seconds ticked by as he held that ugly grin on his face, waiting and watching for her to put meanings behind his words.

“But you… It can’t be… M-my grandmother’s Fountain of Youth elixir?” Raven stumbled backward. “That’s why you ransacked the shop? How old are you?”

“More than twice your age, girl. Your grandmother held my youth in her hands until she was killed.”

“But we’ve known each other since we were twelve.”

“Start at the beginning,” Bastian demanded, the calmness in his voice a clear threat.

Nikos tugged, trying to free his arms but could not, and his words didn’t come easily. “I would have never come to this disgusting coven had it not been for my inability to compel anyone but witches or Tasa’s open defiance. She wouldn’t let me get close enough to control her for many years. She refused the Harrowing. Refused to do what must be done to overtake the shifters. The Harrowing is our salvation. Sacrifice a few seedlings for the good of the forest.”

My brows lifted. “How much elixir did you take to go from old as dirt to twelve?”

“Viana Moonstone kept me well stocked, though she did not know it.”

“But why?” Raven asked, her face still twisted into confusion.

His eyes began to bulge as he became more maniacal, even in pitch. “It was a disguise, you senseless hag.”

Bastian struck hard and fast, his shadow magic completely severing a finger from Nikos’ hand. He screamed, this time something far more delirious.

“Call me another name, and it won’t be the king you have to fear,” Raven said, wind that no one else felt whipping through her hair as power oozed from her.

Nikos whispered, his resolve falling. “I can only compel a witch within my own coven. And only one at a time. Control Tasa, control the whole Moon Coven. I killed an entire family line, performed a bloodletting, and joined this coven for one single purpose. To see the Harrowing set into motion. To help the witches out-power the shifters and set the world straight. A cause every witch born to this world should have stood behind. Sacrifices be damned. I could have done so much more, but my conscience is clean. I did only whathadto be done. Even with the mind of every witch in my coven at my fingertips, I still only did the bare minimum. I am not the evil in this room.”

“And what did you do after my grandmother died?”

“You’ve been making the elixir for me for ten years,” he confessed with a demon’s smirk. “I had others gather the ingredients, but I needed you, Moon Witch.”

“That spell has to be stirred for a month straight,” she argued, refusing to believe him.

“Magic, Raven. Use your brain.”

She shook her head, her jaw slackened as the truth of the violation came over her. “You cannot affect the memory.”

“I can tell your mind to forget, and you will obey.” Sweat dripped down his forehead as blood poured from his hand. “You only did things in small moments when no one would notice. I did not steal months or weeks from your mind. Only minutes when you would work late in your little shop. I’d keep you there until the time was necessary, and you were too gullible to know the difference.”

A silence unlike any this world had seen crept through the room like a serpent weaving its way around Raven’s stilled and stunned body.

“Tell us how to stop the Harrowing,” I said, pulling the attention from her. She needed a moment, and he’d never give that to her, relishing in her shock.

He laughed. A full belly laugh, as if he weren’t the naked victim on the floor of my old home. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Atlas’ jaw snapped as he snarled. Nikos flinched but did not crack. Spell circle be damned, the wolf stepped over the line, trapping himself in with our prisoner. He stepped over Nikos, drool dripping from his fangs as he bit into his neck, growling.

“You will answer,” Bastian said.