Page 36 of The Witch's Pet

“Hey! Get down!” the bartender shouts.

I dance out of his grasp, my voice bouncing as I keep singing.

The patrons are too busy laughing to help catch me, and I dodge him as I hop to the next table. My singing deteriorates as I concentrate on not falling.

Maya tries to grab my arm, and I leap away, landing in a booth between two college-aged girls. They giggle and lean away from me.

I’m running out of time. I pass the mic to the brunette on my left. “Take it away!”

She accepts it with a nervous glance at her friend, and I slide down under the table and onto the ground. I crawl between everyone’s legs and out the other side, adrenaline making me speedy. I scramble to my feet—and come nose-to-chest with the bartender, whose face is the color of the bar’s logo.

Run.

I bolt in the other direction.

His fingers graze my arm, but I pull away, sprinting toward the exit. Julia had better be done, because time’s up.

I’m nearly at the door when Maya appears in my periphery. She sticks her leg out, and I’m too slow to dodge it. My foot slams into hers, and the rest of me is still on a forward trajectory.

I scrunch my face as the floor rushes up to meet me.

I land hard, the impact shooting up my arms as I catch myself with the heels of my hands. I skid across the sticky floor, pain exploding in my hands and knees, my sweater getting wet from spilled drinks. Gross.

A grunt of pain escapes, and I scramble forward, trying to get to the exit.

A rough hand grabs the back of my sweater and hauls me to my feet, practically lifting me through the doorway. “I’ll escort her out, Maya.”

“I’m going!” I cry. “You don’t have to escort me. I’m leaving.”

The bartender ignores me, continuing to drag me outside with one hand.

My heart pounds hard. Is he going to beat me up? Does that actually happen in real life?

Outside, he holds me by the scruff with two hands. “Who the hell are you, and what do you want with Maya?”

“N-no one. Nothing,” I stammer, my breaths coming fast and panicky. “It was—a joke—”

He shakes me. “She told me you and that other woman threatened her.”

Pain shoots through my neck. “This has nothing to do with you.”

His face is even redder, and the veins in his arms bulge as he lifts me onto my toes. My legs shake as I try to keep my feet on the ground.

Abruptly, he flies backward like he’s been hit by a cannon ball, letting out a deep grunt. As the grip on my collar vanishes, I lose my balance and fall to my knees. My ears ring with the sound of him slamming into the brick wall and crumpling to the ground.

I brace my hands against the rough pavement and look up, catching my breath.

Julia stands in the doorway, silhouetted against the warm light from inside. The door swings shut behind her with a bang. Her face is absolutely feral, her eyes blazing with fury and her lips curling into a snarl. Black magic crackles between her fingers and writhes up her arms, making the air around her hands shimmer with heat.

For a second, I can only stare, frozen in fear.

But then she growls, her voice so low and deadly it makes my skin prickle. “Don’t—touch—her.”

Warm, sweet relief crashes through me.

The bartender scrambles backward, unsteady as he tries to get to his feet. “I’ll have both of you arrested.”

Julia cocks an eyebrow, stalking toward him. The icy wind lifts her hair and pushes her cloak back from her waist, revealing her taut, strong body poised for a fight. “Is that all?”