Page 4 of Her Blood Revenge

‘Evening, Archie,’ Leo says, peering up from his work.

The air witch sits at the base of the stairs, whittling yet another flute from a piece of wood. Judging from the large pile of shavings around his feet and the two flutes he’s already made, he’s been there a while.

‘Good trip?’

‘My idea of heaven,’ I groan back, massaging my arse. ‘Do you have nothing better to do than make a mess on the stairs?’

‘Not at the moment. Your girl’s screaming is making it hard to sleep. Also, some earth witches approached the border a couple of hours ago, so I had to check the spell’s strength was still good after it killed them. I’m all pumped up with power and full of energy.’

‘Then grab one of the selkies and expend some of it,’ I reply. ‘You like getting hot and heavy with those things.’ I look up the stairs. ‘Gotta be better than sitting here and listening to her.’

His hands fall still as he looks up at me with a sympathetic look.

‘What?’

‘They left, Archie.’

‘Shit. The Selkies left now, too? All of them?’

He nods. ‘Left this morning. Took a couple of the horned guys with them and went north to the lakes. Halio and… what’s his name? Errrm. Frank.’ He continues to whittle. ‘Stupid name for a horned beast with three balls and a forked nob.’

Shit. That’s more than half of those living in the castle gone.

Since Kieran“disappeared”and several others going“bye-bye”because they overheard things they shouldn’t have overheard, more and more of them quit trusting us. They’ve been leaving one after the other in the middle of the night. And we’ve been too distracted to really notice.

I don’t blame them. We promised to give them sanctuary. Instead, we’ve killed a fair chunk of them.

They saw things they shouldn’t have seen or heard something they shouldn’t have heard.

‘Other than her screaming, the Selkies legging it, and the dead earth witches by the border, has it been quiet whilst I’ve been gone?’

‘Yep. Well… I fed the girl downstairs, and she threw a bucket of piss at me.’

‘Better than last week when she threw a turd at ya,’ I remind him.

He chuckles.

‘I was impressed with her arm,’ he says. ‘Not many girls can throw a shit with such precision.’

I sit beside him and let out a breath.

‘You ever gonna tell me why you have an earth witch with her tongue cut out locked in the basement?’ he asks, ignoring the wailing from above us.

‘No. And I wouldn’t advise asking.’

‘Can I ask how long she’s gonna be staying? Just so I know.’

‘That’s up to the screaming woman upstairs.’

Thalia is still down there. Long gone is Cole’s meek and obedient little mistress. She’s a feral little mudbitch now. Well. She has been down there a while and grows more desperate and angry with every day that passes. Plus, Leo enjoys pushing her buttons. We’re not going to kill her without Pix’s say so. Best not to add to the list of reasons to hate us.

He’s helped bury the bodies of others who poked their nose where it didn’t belong, so he knows not to push. His morals are in the gutter. But he’s loyal and doesn’t ask too many questions. He knows better than that. So, I asked him to ensure our guest is fed and watered.

He was caught fucking his coven leader’s daughter three years back, just before her rite night. A big no-no in the covens. Girls need to be virgins to give their rite night the most powerful boost possible. And she was promised to her second cousin.

Leo’s smart in all ways except where he chooses to put his dick. And he’s the most powerful air witch I have ever come across. I like him despite the fact he’s what he is.

He was sixteen when he ran into me on the road. I was travelling back from some shit-hole human village, and he leapt out from the trees, slamming straight into my horse, almost knocking himself out. I laughed as I looked down at him, his trousers around his knees and dick swinging in the breeze. When the three soldiers chasing him arrived and trapped him in an orb of wind, I demanded to know what he had done.

---