Page 66 of Will It Hurt?

Aisla

“I’ll walk you home.”

Snow crunched wetly under my boots as I turned to glance over my shoulder at Jinn. Every part of me still tingled pleasantly from the after effects of her tongue.

“You didn’t offer to walk me home last night.”

“Yes, but we didn’t part ways at three in the morning with the unsavories milling about.”

“Unsavories?” I echoed.

“Drunkards.”

Did people still use those words?

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, boomer.”

“I’m much older than a boomer, little wytch.”

I cringed. “That is not a sexy thing to say out loud.”

She fell into step beside me, her footsteps clicking with my own.

“Are you staying at a hotel?” I asked.

I’d never been one to leave silences alone—the need to fill them was always overwhelming.

“No.”

“So you’re just squatting somewhere?”

It wasn’t unusual for vamps to be found in the strangest places.

“There is a nest that’s hosting me,” she said instead.

“The one above the Conan Doil?”

She seemed surprised. “You know about that? ”

“Of course,” I scoffed. “They’ve been there a long while. Not as long as us, mind you, but a long time nonetheless.”

“And yet, you’re not…” She paused as though looking for the right words. “Allies?”

“There isn’t a need for us to be allies,” I said. “We both report to different authorities.”

“You live barely a mile apart,” Jinn continued. “The High Coven is in Paris and the Night Council is in London. Surely it would be easier to make decisions directly with your local nest.”

I shrugged. “Our ancestors never thought it was wise to mix with the undead.”

“And you?” she asked. “Do you think it’s unwise?”

I gazed at her with narrowed eyes. “Let’s see. So far, you’ve tried to kill me, you’ve broken into my dreams—”

“Not on purpose,” she interjected.

“It’s not a glowing recommendation for an ally,” I said. “Maybe there’s a reason they kept us apart.”

Jinn was silent for a minute as we trekked up the slight incline towards home. The dark house rose against the almost-full moon, and I felt its pull as we neared.

The iron streetlamp flickered as we walked past, and I wondered if it was my residual magick that couldn’t stay contained.

We paused in front of the towering front gate. Unwittingly, my gaze dropped to her lips. They looked so pink and plump and…

“Okay, goodnight.”

The words were flecked with awkwardness.

This wasn’t a date—definitely not. But I desperately wanted her to kiss me. The memory of her tongue and lips and teeth made my belly quiver and tighten.

She stepped forward .

This close, the ward should have flung her away from our iron gates. But instead, the protective spell remained quiet, as though still in a deep slumber.

“Aren’t you heading inside?” she asked, her gaze pinned to mine.

“In a minute. Could you do me a favor and put your hand on the gates?”

Her brows rose high on her forehead. “I’ve done that once before and it wasn’t pleasant.”

“Yes, but… I have a theory.”

“And what theory might that be?”

“Just do it.”

Her sigh was long-suffering, but she raised a palm tentatively to the iron.

“Interesting.” I watched her fingers slip through the protective barrier without a twitch in sight. “You don’t mean us harm.”

She glanced over at me. “Why would I? I’m relying on you, little wytch. I have no reason to harm you… Not anymore.”

“Interesting,” I found myself saying again.

I wanted to believe her. Needed to believe her. Not long ago, her hands had been around my throat, her fingers digging into my skin, her rage a razor-sharp thing that had turned me into prey.

But now? She stood before me, her presence still unnerving, still too sharp, too otherworldly—but different. The predatory edge remained, but the intent had shifted.

She watched me, inky eyes unreadable, fingers twitching slightly as if she wanted to reach for me but didn’t dare. The streetlight flickered against her pale skin, making her look almost human.

Almost.

“I assume I passed the test. ”

Her voice was quiet, steady. The same voice that had drifted up to me while she was on her knees.

I exhaled, my heart thumping a little too hard.

“Big day tomorrow,” I said instead, the words reedy like a flickering flame. “So, uh, goodnight.”

I brushed past her and reached for the latch at the top of the gate. It was open, of course, because both my siblings had no sense of safety and relied on our wards far too much.

Jinn’s fingers closed over my wrist, stopping me before I could step into the walkway. Her grip was cool where she touched me, not harsh. Not forceful. Just firm enough to send a curl of something warm down my spine.

She didn’t pull me closer, didn’t drag me into her… because she didn’t have to.

I was already caught, already moving, already seeking the touch that was becoming unnervingly familiar.

With a muffled oomph, I landed against her chest.

“Little wytch,” she said, her words ghosting against my lips. Heat pooled low in my stomach.

She leaned in, holding herself just out of reach, teasing, testing, waiting. Clouds of my breath puffed between us, the moment stretched too thin, too wide—

She kissed me.

Heat and hunger. Fire and desire.

Soft at first—just a mere whisper of contact. But the moment I tilted into her grip, her lips parted against mine.

With unnerving familiarity, her fingers slid up my jacket and into the little gap of my collar, tracing fire along my skin.

Curse the moon.

The world blurred blissfully in shades of orange and gold from the streetlight as I floated, lost in the taste of her. I knew I’d never get enough of.

And I wasn’t sure I cared.

** *

It was happening.

Jinn and I. Me and Jinn. Stumbling up the hedge-lined pathway to the covenstead, lips pressed tight, fingers roaming wild.

The front door slammed against the foyer wall as we pushed into the house. A rush of footsteps should have warned me that we weren’t alone, but I couldn’t bring myself to tear my lips away from Jinn’s.

“What the—” Maia’s startled shout broke through the hazy web of lust. “Fuck’s sake, Aisla. Do I ask what’s happening here or do I just assume you’ve lost every single one of your bloody brain cells?”

Shit. I pulled away reluctantly, wanting nothing more than to hide from the shock and disappointment in Maia’s gaze.

“Um—”

“I don’t understand,” she cut in before I could get a word out. “This person tried to kill you!”

She spat the word person as though it tasted bitter on her tongue.

Jinn’s touch lingered, the pads of her fingers pressing into my palm as though she was reluctant to let go.

“In my defense,” Jinn said drolly. “I failed.”

Maia scoffed, the foyer echoing with the sound. “So you’re not just a murderer, you’re also incompetent.”

Jinn shrugged.

My sister blinked, trying to make sense of my would-be killer standing in our warded home.

“Aisla—” My name was a warning on Maia’s lips.

I placed my palms in the air in a universal gesture for peace .

“It was a spur of the moment thing,” I said defensively. “You know how it is.”

My sister’s eyes could not possibly get any wider without popping out of their sockets.

“I literally do not. At no point in my life have I ever thought, ‘ Wow, this person who just tried to choke me to death is so fucking hot—what if I sucked on her face?’”

“That’s because no one has ever tried to kill you,” I said simply.

“And that’s bad because…?”

“Maybe you’re not living your life to the fullest?”

Maia choked. “And maybe you need therapy. More therapy than you’ve already had.”

Jinn nodded solemnly. “That is a good suggestion.”

Maia glared daggers at her. “Don’t agree with me. You’re the bad guy. Stick to your role. Be menacing or whatever.”

“I can’t afford to be menacing when I’m at your sister’s mercy.”

“Are you now?” I turned to tug at the lapel of her coat. “And here I thought I was your prey.”

Maia filled the room with a retching noise.

“Please, spare me.” She placed two thumbs on her forehead as she studied us. “This is really a thing? Both of you?”

“Calling this a thing makes it seem like more than it actually is,” I quipped.

“Then…” Maia trailed off, seemingly at a loss for words before her features lit up comically.

“I get it now,” she said, snapping her fingers. “You’ve compelled her! That’s what’s happening. Aisla, I told you to replenish your ward! This is what happens when you forget—”

I plucked the vial from under my jumper and pulled it out for her to see .

“I didn’t forget,” I assured her. “It didn’t react because Jinn’s intention isn’t to hurt me. Not anymore.”

“Besides,” Jinn said, undeterred my Maia’s threats to remain silent. “If I had compelled Aisla, she’d be much less… talky. And a lot more drooly.”

“Ew.” Maia and I chorused together.

“Plus,” I added before Maia could continue berating me for my less-than-desirable decision-making skills. “If I were compelled, I think you of all people would be able to see it plain as day. Do I look like I’ve been compelled?”

Maia’s fingers pressed deeper into her temples.

“I don’t know!” Her eyes moved back and forth between me and Jinn. “To be honest, Aisla, you look a little stupid right now. Which, you know, is not a departure from your usual look, but right now, it’s a little extra stupid.”

Beside me, Jinn stiffened. “That’s rude, human. And a tad insulting.”

“Oh, did I hurt your little feelings?” Maia demanded. “Need I remind you that you’re an undead predator? One that left Aisla bloodied and bruised just three days ago?”

“Yes, but in my defense—”

Maia cut Jinn off. “If you say you failed again, I swear I’ll shave down a tree trunk myself and stake you through the chest with it.”

Jinn’s gaze met mine. She shoved her hands in her coat pockets.

‘Well’ was the only thing that left her lips.

I stepped forward to take Maia’s shoulders in my palms.

“Maia, really.” I shook her without any real force. “I haven’t been compelled. And I certainly know what I’m doing. Maybe, just maybe, it’s not advisable to sleep with someone who’s paying me to cast a spell, but life’s too short, right? ”