Page 18 of Our Dark Winter Wish

None of which I particularly care about. Those aren’t the things that keep me up at night or fuel my nightmares. The witches I killed barely register to me. Their faces aren’t even worthy of being a blur. But Neve’s face does. The way she stole my freedom. How she manipulated and controlled me in a way I could never comprehend.

How she and her sisters made Archie and Dorian suffer so much.

How she almost destroyed our wild little witch.

I may not care about the death we brought into this world nor the copious amount of blood we devoured or shed.

But Pixie does. And that bothers me more than I wish it did.

I’ve never cared about the opinions of others.

But hers is all I think about.

I can be a monster. A villain. A killer. A soulless beast.

But not to her. Never again. She saw that side of me and loves me still.

Archie passes us again, one leg in the air and his arms outstretched.

Pixie laughs and nods as he speaks to her in his mind.

‘What did he say?’ I ask.

‘He asked if I was having a good time.’

I pull her further along, encouraging her to brave the ice a little more. She does, letting go with one hand so she can give it a go.

‘I’m sorry,’ she says.

‘For what? You’re not that bad.’

‘Archie and I have our Mate Bond. Dorian and I share a bit of our souls. They feel a bit of me that you can’t. I would carve out something for you to keep if it would make things fair.’

‘No carving, thank you,’ I reply. But I don’t argue that I resent the fact that they own parts of her I can’t touch.

‘I love you,’ she says.

I look down at her as she peers up at me.

‘I know.’

‘You better. And by the way. If you ever try to leave me again, I will bury you alive and keep you forever in a cave where you’ll never be able to escape.’

‘Is that so?’

‘Yep.’

‘I may like that. Sealed away. Having you all to myself. Deep underground where no one can hear you scream.’

‘Well. I already have your Christmas gift organised. But your birthday is just around the corner. Perhaps we could organise something.’

‘My birthday? I don’t have a birthday.’

‘I think January is a good month to have a birthday, don’t you think? Seeing as you don’t actually know when your birthday is. Dorian’s birthday will be when the first bud blooms without my intervention, and Archie’s birthday will be when the first leaf falls.’

Only she would think it’s worthwhile to give us birthdays. I have no intention of marking off my years. Especially as we have no idea yet how or if a creature like her ages.

‘What have you got me for Christmas?’ I ask.

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