Page 89 of Traitor Witch

The mages have left the ‘outdated’ ways in the dust.

Cawshome is the same, but I won’t tell Nilsa that if this is her reaction.

The heart-rending expression on her face makes my beast roar in my head.

He wants me to fix it.

But sometimes, you can’t fix things. Sometimes, all you can do is show someone the truth, and offer them a helping hand so they can fix it themselves.

So I stand there, behind the living centre of my universe and watch, waiting to follow her lead.

As I always will.

When she turns to face us, her shock is already gone. Replaced by grim determination.

“Where is the Mother Solar?”

At the same time, Elsie skids around the corner, another witch right behind her.

“See! I told you it was her.”

The witch behind Elsie is older, but not by much. Her eyes are almost too wide for her thin face, her mouth pressed into a line as she examines Nilsa. Her robes are greying, stained in places, and she carries herself with a little less enthusiasm and a little more caution as she approaches my mate.

“Why have you come, Shadow?”

“My Goddess sent me,” Nilsa answers. “I beg the privilege of an audience with the Mother Solar.”

“After what you did to the high priestesses of Coveton?” The reply is scathing, and my beast bristles.

“I swear on the Moon Mother I mean no harm.” There’s a pause, before my beautiful mate kneels on the floor. “I’ll submit to whatever magical binding you see fit.”

I take a step forward automatically, but Kier holds an arm out, stopping me.

My motion catches the attention of all three witches, who freeze.

“We wait, outside.” Kier’s hand latches onto my arm and steers me out into the empty square with a surprising amount of strength.

The door slams behind us and my beast roars in my head.

Separating him from Nilsa directly after seeing her in such distress is finally too much for him.

“Water.” Is all I manage to get out past the roars taking up all the space in my mind.

Kier takes one last, fast glance at the door, rightly concerned for our mate, then hooks our arms together andlaunches us into the sky. His dragonfly wings beat furiously as he flits us over the rooftops.

I can see the golden sparks of my transformation flying around my body, but I fight it like hell.

If we shift now…

I can see the blue of the bay ahead.

All we have to do is hold it together for a few more moments.

The blackness is creeping over my vision.

We clear the port just as I lose myself completely, and Kier drops me.

Chapter Twenty-Four