Page 9 of Destiny of the Witch

‘Get his shirt off!’ I barked. Bastion cut away Miles’s shirt and I started to paint frantically:isa,algizandsowilo.

Miles was being poisoned. I had Whole Remedy with me, which would heal eighty percent of poisonings – but not black mordis. Still, it was worth a shot if I could stabilise him first – this wasn’t black mordis so maybe Whole Remedy would work. I painted runes as fast as I could.

He was convulsing violently and starting to foam at the mouth. Despite my efforts, he had one last seizure and I knew instantly that I couldn’t save him.

‘He’s gone,’ Bastion said a moment later.

I droppedthe paintbrush on the cellar floor and clenched my teeth. ‘That’s not just black mordis,’ I said finally. ‘That happened way too fast, faster even than it did for our girl.’ I didn’t name Ria because Dick was listening.

I tidied up after myself and tried to keep my face calm, but inwardly I was raging. The evil Coven’s reach was terrifyingly far. I had no idea how they had killed Miles from a distance. An embedded curse that activated under a specific set of circumstances seemed likely, but that was incredibly complex rune work. I could think of only five witches in the whole of the UK who could do something like that.

Either way, Miles was dead and Dick didn’t look too pissed off with the outcome. ‘Why aren’t you more annoyed?’ I snapped.

He grinned. ‘The water elemental part of Unity is dead so officially Unity is no longer my problem. I’ll deal with the body. Thanks for the favour – it turned out even better than I’d hoped.’

What a complete donkey-butt. I hoped Frogmatch had wreaked havoc on his home. At the very least, I hoped the imp had swapped his salt and sugar round and tied his shoelaces in elaborate knots.

I’d love to screw with Dick further, but quite frankly nature had already handled that.

Chapter 5

I dreamt that night of the fire elemental, Keith. Of a fireball ploughing towards my head whilst I frantically tapped my watch to slow time to give me a few precious seconds to duck. In my dream, the watch didn’t work and Bastion wasn’t there. The fireball hit me and I burned, my skin cracking and peeling whilst the flames consumed me. Keith stood over me and laughed, shouting, ‘Burn bitch!’

In the distance, my mum watched and did nothing.

I awoke with a choking sob. Bastion’s arms were already around me and he stroked my hair, whispering a constant litany of love and reassurance. I shook in his arms as I sobbed my heart out. If anyone else had been there I would have tried to throttle back the tears, but as it was just Bastion I let myself go.

A repetitive tap on my bedroom window finally pulled me out of my crying jag. I knew that tap. ‘Let him in?’ I asked Bastion softly.

He kissed my forehead and padded across the bedroom, naked and unselfconscious. When he opened the window and Fehu flew in, I felt the jet-black bird’s concern like a tingle on my skin. ‘I’m okay,’ I reassured him. ‘It was just a bad dream. A really horrible one,’ I conceded, ‘but a dream nonetheless.’

‘Kraa!’ he said firmly. He flew to me but didn’t land on my naked shoulder; instead he landed on the duvet covers and hopped anxiously from foot to foot.

I smiled. ‘I really am okay, Fehu.’ I reached out and stroked his feathers. ‘I’m sorry I upset you. It was only a dream.’

‘Tell us about it?’ Bastion asked softly.

‘It was about the fire elemental. You didn’t get to me in time and I burned,’ I said, keeping my tone as matter of fact as I could manage.

‘I’m sorry.’

I snorted. ‘For what? In real life, youdidget to me in time. Clearly my subconscious is feeling bad about Keith’s death. It’s harder, now that I know his name – it makes him human, a man that lived and breathed and had a mother and a father,and probably someone that loved him. And I killed him.’

‘He attacked you. You defended yourself. He was a mercenary – he knew the risks of every job he took,’ Bastion pointed out. ‘He knew witches carried potion bombs and yet he chose to attack you. His death is on him – and maybe his employer – but definitely not on you.’

‘A little bit on me, Bastion,’ I said with a wobbly smile. ‘I threw the bomb that killed him.’ Admittedly, I hadn’t intended to hit him, but my aim was terrible.

‘If he’d walked on by, he would have lived. You can’t choose other people’s paths, only your own. Let it go, Bambi.’ He kissed my forehead again lightly. ‘Do you want to try and go back to sleep?’

I checked the time: 3am. I winced, but all hints of sleepiness had faded. ‘No, I’m not going to get back to sleep now but you go ahead. I’ll get up and do some more potion work.’

‘I’ll work out, then we can have breakfast together,’ he suggested instead.

I smiled gratefully. ‘Sounds perfect.’

I slid into the shower and washed the nightmare’s sweat off me. I dried and dressed perfunctorily,runed myself up, then sat on my dresser chair and looked into the mirror to make my affirmations.

‘I am grateful I saw Mum yesterday. I am grateful I have Bastion in my life. I am grateful for all the challenges that I face because life is never boring. Today, I am going to create a potion to save Lucille.’

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