Page 3 of Witch's Fate

The cold determination in his eyes sent a chill across her skin. Fear and loss threatened to overwhelm her, a cold force dragging her down. She was losing this battle. It was clear in his eyes. Sorcerers were cold, determined. His clan in particular. It was in his blood to do this.

But he was part wulver as well. His father’s people, from northern Scotland, were wolf shifters. They were loyal and believed in the importance of bonds, of family. Of love. It’s why she’d been able to overlook the coldness of his sorcerer side. But she’d never seen him turn into a wolf, nor had he mentioned it. Perhaps the fact that he was a half-blood meant that he couldn’t. And perhaps too, he didn’t feel emotion as strongly as his kin.

“I have to become a warlock, Sofia.” His voice was hard. “I love you. But I have to do this.”

“Why?” Her chest ached with loss.

“Because becoming a warlock is the greatest thing I can accomplish.”

Pain hit her. “The greatest thing? Love is the greatest thing.”

“We can have that too.”

Something snapped inside of her and she screamed, “We can’t! You know it. You’ve heard the stories. Our friend was struck low by the Oath Breaker’s curse. Oath Breakers cannot love.” She sucked in a ragged breath. “You can become a warlock, or you can have me. But you cannot have both.”

“You’re wrong, Sofia.”

She drew her wand and shot a bolt of lightning at him. He deflected it with his hand and it hit a tree, felling it. His face hardened and her heart felt like it cracked at the sight of his beloved features twisted in anger at her. The bolt wouldn’t have killed him, but she wanted to make him hurt as she was hurting.

She tried to harden her voice. “Those are my terms. You made a vow to me that we’d be together forever. If you break it, you’re on the path to becoming an Oath Breaker. It’s me or becoming a warlock.”

“You would give me an ultimatum?” Shock and anger played across his features. Understanding dawned. “You will leave me if I become a warlock.”

She nodded sharply, unable to open her mouth for fear that a sob would burst forth.

“You know what I choose,” he said, his voice cold.

She nearly fell to her knees. The earth seemed to tilt on its axis. What had just happened? Had she really just lost everything?

She turned and ran.

1

Glencoe Mountains, Scottish Highlands

Present Day

Sofia stared at the exterior of Malcolm’s enormous castle, unable to believe she was here. For over four hundred years, she’d stuck by her vow to never see him again.

Yet she was now standing on top of a mountain in front of his home, a sweeping vista of snow-sprinkled peaks and valleys stretching into the distance before her. Moonlight gleamed off every white surface.

Rage banished any chill she felt from the cold. It burned away the painful memories of their parting, memories that had torn at her insides for years.

“That bastard had better still have the Demon Blade,” she said to Kitty. She’d used all her magic and the strongest spells she could find and he’d still broken in and stolen it. He’d been cocky enough to leave her a message in the chest where the blade had been locked. In her own home.Come to me.

Kitty hissed.

Harsh wind whipped across her cheeks as she stomped toward the huge front doors. Kitty led the way, her round little body stalking across the snow as if she too meant to make Malcolm pay for stealing the dagger. Sofia would see to it he did.

His home loomed before her, enormous. She scowled. Not only was he an immensely powerful warlock, he was now insanely wealthy, if the size of his home was any indication. But if he had the obscene amount of money it would take to own this place, why the hell was he stealing from her? Why was he back in her life at all?Hewas the one who’d destroyed what they had.

She shook the painful thought away and glared at his house. It was not a typical castle, made of great, ugly blocks with only a few narrow windows. No, this one was both stark and beautiful. Gray stone towers rose from the mountain and glass glowed with warm light. There was no exterior defense wall. There’d be no need, of course. Not with his power. Despite its beauty, it was somehow desolate. As if the person who lived within were as cold and dark as the night surrounding it.

But then, Malcolm was dark and cold and she knew it better than anyone.

She climbed the wide steps and raised her hand to pound on the door.

“Screw it.” She lowered her fist and pushed against the door, sending a jolt of power blasting through his protection charm and forcing the door open. It smashed against the inside wall. He might be ridiculously powerful and wealthy, but she was no slouch herself.

---