Page 39 of Familiar of the Witch

When I walked into my living room it was ogre free. Krieg had wasted no time making tracks, eager to either connect with his mate or to leave my Coven; both were fine with me.

Bastion had boiled the kettle. ‘Tea?’ he asked lightly.

I hesitated. The last time I’d had a cup of tea, it had been poisoned. However, I didn’t want Becky to have any sort of long-term effect on me and I trusted Bastion implicitly so I nodded. ‘Yes, please. That would be nice.’

If he was surprised by response, I didn’t feel it through our bond; rather, I felt a tendril of something I’d havecalled pride. He was proud of me? That felt surprisingly nice. I hadn’t had anyone other than my mother, Oscar or Aunt Abigay feel proud of me before. There is something possessive about a sense of pride, and I found that I quite liked the idea of Bastion feeling possessive about me.

He made the tea and brought my cup over to me. His mug had a picture of a unicorn on it and said:Back the hell up, sparkle tits. Today is not the day. I will shank you with my horn.

I snorted with amusement. ‘Now, Iknowthat’s not one of mine. I knew you’d been expanding my collection! Have you been amusing yourself with buying mugs, sparkle tits?’

He flashed me a grin and his pecs did a little dance under his shirt, making my chuckle transform into a full-blown guffaw.

I examined my own mug: was it an old one or a Bastion one? It said:I’m not an early bird or a night owl, I’m some form of permanently exhausted pigeon. I laughed at that. A Bastion one, for sure, and it wasn’t wrong. I burned both ends of the candle, but who had time for sleep? After all, you could rest when you were dead.

My phone rang before I had taken my first sip of tea. It was Voltaire. I took a deep breath. I was tired after spendinga six hours making a complex potion and I didnotwant to be going to some sort of black-witch auction just now.

I swiped to answer. ‘DeLea.’ My voice was terse.

‘I have something of yours,’ he groused. ‘I’ll dump him tonight in the shadows by the Coven tower.’

‘Is he in one piece?’ I asked calmly.

‘For now. He’s an annoying little prick so my answer might change.’ He cleared his throat. ‘The soul auction is tomorrow night. I’ll send further details once I know them. I trust you have a disguise ready.’ He rang off.

I glared at the phone. ‘Bye-bye,’ I said to the disconnect tone. ‘Nice chatting to you.’

‘You know that your passive-aggressive sarcasm works better when they can hear you?’ Bastion quipped.

‘He is such a jerk.’ I sipped my tea to calm my nerves; it was like manna from the heavens and I gave a happy sigh. ‘Oh tea, I have missed you.’

‘I think I’m jealous,’ Bastion laughed.

‘Don’t be. I make better noises than that for you.’ I winked.

He grinned broadly. ‘You do. Drink up so we can make some more.’

I do not react well to orders, but this was one that I could get behind. I drank up.

Chapter 32

Oscar joined Bastion and me for breakfast. ‘How was Mum?’ I asked over a blueberry muffin and a cappuccino. I already knew the answer, since Oscar had brought me the blueberry muffin and the cappuccino.

‘She knew me.’ He hesitated. ‘She thought you were eight so I didn’t mention you much. I’m sorry.’

I ignored the sting that brought; my turn to be forgotten, then. ‘That’s fine,’ I said brusquely, even though it wasn’t. ‘The codes?’

He shook his head. ‘She didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. Possibly she made the CD later in her life. She got distressed when I pressed her so I left it alone. I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be,’ I said firmly. ‘You did the right thing.’ I looked at Bastion as I said the next words. ‘But I think itleaves me with no choice. I need to break the clearing on my mind.’

‘Bambi,’ Bastion growled. ‘No! It’s been in place for too long. It will hurt like a bitch.’

‘I can handle a little bit of pain.’ I can’t, I’m a total wuss, but I lied anyway. ‘We can’t go to this auction tonight and not have every weapon in our arsenal. What if my dad is there and I could recognise him? I can’t go in ignorant. This is something I have to do.’ I wasn’t asking for his permission.

He felt my determination as much as I felt his sudden resignation and I smiled at him as he accepted my choice.

‘Who will you get to break it?’ Oscar asked.

---