Page 81 of The Unbound Witch

Nym twisted her wrist and the snake coiled once more. She stared through gritted teeth as bones snapped, cracked. As Ophelia’s eyes bulged, her face swelled, and she was crushed to death, the light leaving her eyes.

I could not look away. Death. A sweet escape. Venom. A moment of bliss. A dagger of deliverance. That single second between this world and the next hovered in the room, and I could nearly feel it, taste its bitterness on my tongue. And then it was gone. As completely as the old witch dead on the floor.

“Kir?” Atlas yelled from the hall. “Are you alive? I mean, still dead?”

“Yes, asshole, I’m still dead.”

He filled the frame of the door with his broad shoulders, the scar on his face seemed redder, as if colliding with the barrier of witch magic irritated it somehow. He swept his hand through his thick, white hair, forcing a smile. “Do you guys ever notice death literally follows you?”

“More like chases,” Nym said quietly, still staring down at Ophelia, the snake gone.

* * *

“I really don’t mind,”Atty said, standing outside Nym’s hut. “Take the time you need with her. I’ve got plenty of … friends around here to keep myself busy.”

“You don’t have to lie, Pup,” I said, biting back my smile. “Only a mother could love that scraggly face.”

He stroked the stubble along his jaw and grinned. “Only someone that hasn’t had a beard brush the inside of her thighs would say that.”

“Ignoring half the shit you say brings me far more pleasure, I can promise you that. Asinine comments aside, since the barrier was a failure, we don’t really have time for leisure. Every second Nym is not protected, she’s in immediate danger. One night only. And then back to work. You’re sure you know where to find the fireseed?”

“Relax, Ghosty. I’ve got this.”

Nym stepped behind me, the gold bracelets on her arms jingling. “Meet here in the morning, then? We’ll have a check in with the king and then head to the River Coven.”

He wiggled his eyebrows. “Don’t stay up too late.”

“Fuck off, Pup.”

For years, when I’d seen Nym in a group of people, when she’d stopped by the shop for crystals or herbs, or when she’d occasionally met us for moondancing, I’d had to control my glances. I’d had to hold myself back from making a damn fool of myself for her. I never shied away from anyone. I never backed down from a dare. I’d punch anyone in the face that deserved it, but she was always my single allowance for vulnerability.

As we watched Atty saunter down the road, calling out a name and waving, Nym moved closer to me, staring. All the nerves I’d ever had with her returned.

“Do you remember that time when we were thirteen, and we snuck into the bakery on All Hallows Eve?” she asked.

I nodded, shifting backward.

“You convinced me we’d never get caught stealing those three loaves of bread because you’d gone in and watched. Sure the baker would never miss them because he’d forgotten to write down his daily baking that day. You knew my mother was sick, and we hadn’t eaten in days.”

I nodded slowly. “I remember.”

She took a step closer. “And when we were sixteen, Onyx shoved me down into the river, and I cut my foot. You ran and got Raven, convinced I was dying, though it was only a cut.”

Again, I nodded.

“Our story,” she gestured between us, “didn’t start when we entered that castle. Our story started ages ago. When we were kids and didn’t even really know what love was. What it meant to be dedicated to someone changed on a whim back in those days. But not for you, Kirsi. You never wavered.”

“Not once,” I whispered. “I had a reckless crush on someone I didn’t have a chance with.”

A breeze picked up, lifting her dark hair from her neck. She closed her eyes, turning away from the chill. “The chance was always there, waiting for you to get the nerve to take it. I thought about that a lot after… you died. How losing you wasn’t like losing someone I’d just fallen for. I’d been falling, inch by inch, my whole life.”

“I’m so sorry this happened to you, Nym. This isn’t the future you dreamed, nor the one you should have.”

She balked. “I’m not sorry, Kir. Not for a single second of time I get with you. I’ll take it in whatever form I can.”

The gold marking on her forehead flashed, and Talon stepped from the hut, Scoop at his heels. She moved toward me, holding a hand out. I took it, focusing on the sensation of holding her hand, of feeling her.

“I have an idea.”