Page 85 of The Witch's Pet

I wince as Elizabeth’s front door slams shut, the sound echoing through the house.

I’m alone again, just as I’ve been for over a century.

Except now, for the first time, something is missing.

24

Hannah

Frostcrystallizesonthelawn as I march back to the road, my ragged breaths forming clouds that dissolve into the darkness. The cold bites my skin, but I barely feel it past the burning in my chest—half pain from the binding spell, half something I refuse to name.

I get to the iron gates and loop my fingers through the icy bars, using the bite of freezing metal to distract me from the pull that demands I go back.

Do I believe Julia’s promise to keep me safe, or is she just saying whatever she must to break the binding spell?

I want to believe her. I want to think I’m different from everyone else—that she secretly cares about me, and I’m the only person she can feed on without killing, and this irresistible spark between us is real.

But I’d be a fool to trust a sanguine witch.

Fuck, I need to talk to someone.

My hands shake as I pull out my phone, my fingers so cold I nearly drop it. The screen’s brightness stings my eyes and makes me squint.

It’s five in the morning. An ungodly hour to be calling. But Dean has talked me down from major life crises before, and if he managed to talk me through the day my parents moved away on me, he can talk me through anything.

My thumb hovers over his name for several breaths before I get up the nerve to tap it.

Dean answers on the third ring, his voice groggy from being woken up. “Han? You okay?”

“Yeah. I mean, not really.” I know he can’t do a thing to help me, and if I tell him what’s happened since he left my yard, he’s going to think I’ve lost my mind, but… “I just need your advice.”

“Sure. What’s up?” He sounds more awake now, maybe reading the distress in my tone.

“I’ve…spent all night with a woman,” I say, hoping this is a good enough metaphor for being magically bound to her.

“Tonight?” A pause. He gives a muffled grunt, like he’s rubbing his face. “Did you go clubbing after I left or something?”

I hesitate, my breath fogging in the pre-dawn air. It’s the most plausible explanation that doesn’t open an entire barrel of worms. “Yeah.”

“Wow. I’m offended you didn’t invite me, but go on.”

“Sorry. Well, we hooked up, but it’s hard for me to… Like, I’m having a hard time surrendering to her.” I cringe as the words come out.

“Surrendering? That’s a poetic way of putting it. Or a kinky way, maybe. I’m not sure which.”

Despite everything, I huff out a laugh. “Trusting her, I mean.”

“Youjustgot your heart broken, Han. Give yourself time.”

I tip my head back. The sky is still so dark and the stars so bright, belying how little time we have left. “Right. Yeah.”

How do I explain that I don’thavetime? That I need to surrender in the next couple of hours if I don’t want to be tethered to a sanguine witch for the rest of my life?

“What’s she like?” Dean asks.

I turn around. Down the long driveway, Elizabeth’s house sits like a Gothic shadow against the night sky. What’s Julia doing right now? Is she hurting as much as I am?

Her face swims into my vision, with her wicked smile, wild hair, and piercing blue eyes that make me forget what life was like before she came along.