Page 97 of The Unbound Witch

Willow’s eyes bulged as she whipped around, mouth gaping.

“You’re a moon witch. It’s time you start acting like one,” I said.

The rest of the witches cowered away from me as I strode toward the small group of heroes that had my back and raced into danger to save me. “We are going to leave this coven behind and not look back.” I stared at the terrified witches still standing. “I suggest you honor your dead and go about your lives. If I ever see a swamp witch again, I’ll kill them on sight.”

Willow walked out first and ran off, her boots fading down the wooden walkway. Before I could pull the door shut, a single spell whipped passed my head. I didn’t know what it was, but it barely missed. Bastian spun on a heel, heading straight back into the hut, the door slamming behind him. I tried to follow, but the door was sealed shut with Bastian’s power.

Torryn grabbed my shoulder. “Let him go. You don’t want to see this.”

And so, we waited. Through the screams of torture and the crash of magic as the Dark King did what he did best. It was not in his nature to leave crimes unpunished. I no longer faulted him for that fury.

When the door opened once more and he stalked outside, rage melted into something on his face that was broken as he fell to his knees before me, wrapped his arms tightly around me and hung his head.

He whispered. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to cast that spell again. I’m sorry for losing it. I’m sorry this is what our lives have come to and being with me has made it so much harder on you.”

“I’m not sure that’s true at all,” I confessed, running my fingers into his disheveled blond hair before brushing my lips along his.

Atlas limped across the deck, placing a heavy hand on Bastian’s slumped shoulder. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

37

KIRSI

The phantom heartbeat I wasn’t supposed to feel stopped in my chest as I approached Crescent Cottage. To anyone else, the windows provided a dark glimpse into a ransacked store, but to me, given immunity to the barrier cast like a second skin over the building, there was a beautiful woman standing inside that I seemed to always be leaving behind. Since the moment we decided to be together on All Hallows Eve, our world had been turned upside down, and no matter how hard I endeavored to right it for her, I failed.

Each moment that passed without answers to end the Harrowing was another step closer to death for Nym. I didn’t want to picture Death’s cold hands wrapped around her throat. The forlorn look on her face the second before she was ripped from this world. The twist in her gut as she realized what was happening and could do nothing to stop it. But those were the images and thoughts that plagued me each second the deadly curse ripped through our lands.

Circling the back of the store so no one would see the front door open, I slipped through the gate and knocked quietly. Nym was there to greet me, beautiful green eyes falling on the River Coven book in my hand before moving to the side so I could enter.

“Don’t cast,” I warned her and Eden.

“I hardly remember I can,” the older witch answered.

After placing the newest Grimoire on the table, I realized it meant nothing to me anymore. Beyond the fact that it was dangerous, I didn’t feel a connection to it. Didn’t mourn its loss or celebrate its return. It was just another item in the world. But Nym eyed it carefully, looking at me with a question in her eyes.

“We need to wait for the others to get back before you can touch it. It’s not safe right now. But I did get this.” I held out my palm to show her the stone from the waterfall.

Nym peeked over her shoulder, her brown hair falling forward before leaning into me.

I concentrated on touching her with my forehead instead of my fingers and when we connected, a small gasp left her lips as that beautiful smile spread across her golden brown face. I needed her desperately. Wanted her when I didn’t think I would ever want for anything again. Beyond the sensations and rewards of life, beyond the afterlife even, she was all I wanted. And I feared I’d never truly have her. And that was so unfair to her.

She closed her eyes, sighing, and I knew she needed this moment as much as I did. It wasn’t until Scoop walked toward us that I lost all sense of self, faltered, and floated backward.

“Don’t move away from him,” the drunken captain said. “Just give him a minute to reacquaint himself with you.”

I rolled my eyes, but did as he suggested. I’d seen the panther nestled in his arms and honestly, I would have tried anything. Pushing all my focus forward, as he neared me, I brushed a finger through the thick, black hair behind his oversized ears. I prepared myself for him to cower away, to hiss at my closeness, but instead, he took another small step forward, tilting that adorable head into my hand.

“Told ye so.” Crow laughed. “He knows who he belongs to.”

“Used to,” I whispered, afraid to scare him off.

Nym knelt down, her skirt pooling on the floor, scaring him enough that he took a step away from us. “Try lifting him.”

“I can’t. What if I drop him?”

She rolled her eyes. “You carried that book all the way here from the River Coven. I’m certain you can lift a cat for a few minutes.”

I reached under his belly, waiting for him to arch his back and scramble away. But he did none of those things. Instead, he simply paused for me to bring him to my chest. And so I did, forcing the physical touch there as well, more for him than me.