Page 101 of Charming Her Monsters

Maxum snaps it shut and grips me to his chest. “You okay?”

“Yeah?”

“What the hell was that?” he asks.

“She threw a damned lightning bolt like a mage!” Calder’s eyes are round, and I’m not sure if he’s scared or excited.

“Is that bad?” I ask.

“Having a huge aura and getting zapped in the bunker was one thing. That could easily have been a regular yet powerful witch’s magic, reacting instinctively,” Calder explains.

Maxum continues, “But the way the magic came out of you now was more like a mage. You didn’t need to use a spoken spell to create it.”

“I need a spell?”

“Witches usually need a verbal incantation to focus their intent,” Flint elaborates. “You are too new to magic and untrained to throw a spell like that.”

Calder rushes up and hugs me, surprising thehellout of me. Wow, any phrase with the word hell in it will have a lot more weight after my last field trip.

“Thank you for saving me,” he whispers.

“Who dares to trespass?” a deep, growly voice echoes from the surrounding forest. Then the fiery eyes of a hellhound appear.

“Oh, fuck, it followed us,” I say and feel my energy swirling and waiting to be unleashed again.

With a quick squeeze of my shoulder, Maxum silently pleads for me to bring my anxiety down a notch. Then my demon holds his arms up in a show of surrender. “It’s Maxum, a friend of Amira. I seek asylum and a witch’s protection.”

“Dammit,” the hellhound grumbles. “I thought I was going to get to eat you.”

The huge demon dog glowers at all of us. I get the impression he’s psychically reading us. He flicks his head at me. “What the fuck is she?”

“She’s the reason we are here,” Maxum says.

The hellhound sniffs the air. “Mostly a witch, but why do I pick up an incubus and something else?”

“Long story, but she won’t harm you.”

“This is the same witch Amira and Raithe aided?” the hound asks, with a curled lip.

“She is,” Maxum confirms.

“Very well, come with me,” the hound gives me a suspicious glare.

Nothing like a warm welcome.

31

SANCTUARY

JADE

Very much like Maxum’s lake house, Amira’s place seems to be in the middle of nowhere. As we follow the giant hellhound, I get a strong urge to turn away, avoid this place, and forget it exists. I wonder why. Is it not safe?

Osen perks up in my mind.“That’s a witch ward. Well, it’s their first line of defense. If they can make you go around and ignore their existence, then they don’t have to bother with people wandering onto their property. I’m impressed you identified the intent, since the point is for you not to notice.”

I hate to admit I preen a bit with Osen’s praise, but I quickly dismiss what I did.“Could it be that I only noticed because I’m following someone and going against the spell?”

“Hey, sweet witch. Don’t downplay your accomplishments. I bet the guys only feel anxiety. They might have put it together by now since they know what to expect, but you don’t have their years of experience.”

---