Page 47 of Our Dark Winter Wish

‘Hence the chestnuts. Who knows if it will work, Pixie. But it’s fun to try, huh?’

‘Do I get a say in this?’ I argue.

Dorian returns.

‘He’s ready for you. I’ll stay with her.’

‘Of course, you will,’ Shaw laughs.

‘We’re not done here!’ I snap.

He leaves, patting Dorian on the shoulder as he passes.

‘You can start cleaning up as I torture this one for information. A very merry Christmas indeed.’

Dorian turns to look at me as I fold my arms and glare.

‘Don’t look at me like that. It was Archie’s idea. I just wanted to see you eat them. It was very fucking sexy.’ He shrugs. ‘It won’t work, Poppet. Don’t worry.’

‘It better not. Or you’ll find yourselves single dads with a witch-shaped hole in our front door.’

‘Hmm. We’ll see. Are you going to help me clean this up?’

He sees my frown.

‘Fair enough. I guess I’ll get to it by myself.’

9

Pixie

The blood and guts are cleared by the time Shaw and Archie return. I’m sat on the same table they had me tied down on, in Dorian’s shirt, eating some leftovers that weren’t destroyed or made bloody by the fight.

I used my earth magic to bury most of the mess and enjoyed watching Dorian scrub away the rest. It’s the least he can do after that chestnut trick.

‘Well?’ I ask. ‘Why were they here?’

Shaw and Archie both share a look and don’t say anything for a moment.

‘If we’re going back to the whole thing of keeping me in the dark, I promise none of you will enjoy the outcome.’

‘Ahhh. I’ve missed being threatened by you,’ Archie teases. He comes over and taps me on my nose.

It’s then I see the sheer amount of blood coating his skin. Fresh and dripping.

Onto my clean fucking floors.

I look at the little splats he’s left behind, and with a cheeky grin, he covers them with his foot as if I won’t notice.

I look at my husband instead, hoping to get some answers.

‘They were from an earth coven.’ He starts washing the blood off in the sink as the pit in my stomach doubles. ‘We found a ship anchored east of the island with five more witches onboard. All except one was Earth. There was a water witch with them.’

That pit becomes a knot.

‘We killed them all. The water witch was young and inexperienced, so it wasn’t a challenge.’

‘You killed them all?’ I repeat. ‘Was that entirely necessary?’

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