Page 35 of Son of a Witch

“Pascal.” Astra set a hand on his chest, but he waved her off.

Impressive. His more assertive side had emerged since he’d taken the Elysian nectar. He was off the stuff now, onto the thief avatar’s medicine, and doing better. I admired and respected the hell out of this new side of him.

“No!” Pascal stood stiff and tall. “He doesn’t get a pass to be rude because he’s injured.”

“Fuck you.” Tor threw the stave and it landed at Pascal’s feet.

Loco’s knuckles went white from gripping his stave tightly.

Serena’s jaw rippled as she quickly lost control of the group.Welcome to my world. Good luck.She was going to need all she could get.

Fuck. I scrubbed a rough hand over my stubbled cheek. It really was the end for us. We were disintegrating before my eyes. All my effort to hold us together had destroyed us. We needed Raze back. Our calm and center. A role Astra used to also play but she was losing her shit and wouldn’t be able to be our eye in the storm anymore.

“Line up,” Serena interrupted, not having any of it. She would get this team’s asses into gear. Maybe it was for the best. I couldn’t do anything but fuck us over. “Demonstrate your magick.”

I hung back, being the only one without magick, while the rest of them did their thing. Astra dissolved the stake in Serena’s hand then reversed the effect and made it reform. Yesterday, I’d watched Loco teach her a new skill, joining two pieces of rock together. He was right. She was powerful, and I had a hunch we hadn’t seen half of what her powers could do.

Pascal made a big show of lifting and lowering objects with his sound magick, flinging them across the room.

“Don’t hold this against me, Dad.” Tor brought Loco to his knees, clutching his head, screaming, and rolling over the floor. His powers of tricking and persuading people hadn’t lost their touch from the accident.

Pissed, Loco repaid the favor, making Tor’s wheelchair armrests disappear and reappear, locking around his throat.

“Okay, thanks, team.” Serena stepped between them, nudging Loco, prompting him to restore the wheelchair.

Tor glanced up at her with bloodshot eyes. “And what have you got,fearless leader?” he asked, sarcasm hanging heavy in his tone.

She accepted the challenge with a smile. The stave that Pascal had dropped in Tor’s lap exploded, but she controlled the level of explosion, preventing his legs, nuts, stomach, and face from being pricked by splinters.

“Impressive,” Tor conceded, brushing away splinters out of the path of his cock. Protect the crown jewels at all costs.

Serena rolled back the explosion, restoring the stake. “You’ve done a fine job training the team, Knoxe.” Unexpected praise. I noticed she left out the wordyourbecause they’d always bemyteam, regardless of who substituted for me. “But you’ve all got to sort out your shit before we go out on a mission. I won’t have this discord and friction in my team when it could cause a lethal mistake. Do I make myself clear?”

I didn’t know how she thought we were going to fix this. We’d suffered a lot together. Lost two members of our team on the same day. The warden wouldn’t let Tor out of here in his condition. We’d inherited two new members, one bound to create conflict with Astra, and a new leader that I wouldn’t get along with.

Power to her, though. She had a big job ahead of her. Part of me was relieved I didn’t have to deal with it any longer. One less thing to worry about. Didn’t mean I’d give up on my team, it just meant she could deal with the hows and whys, leaving me to work on the interpersonal relationships aspect and get my team oiled and working in perfect harmony. Then I’d restore the warden’s confidence and trust in me and get my fucking team back.

“We’ll work it out,” I assured her, once again taking responsibility, because it was clear my team needed help in that respect.

“You better.” Serena’s warning pressed down on my shoulders as we left the training room with Loco to practice with our new leader.

CHAPTER13

Astra

“Get your ass up here, Supergal.”Tor patted the space next to him. His forehead was a little sweaty after a physiotherapy session with Carmichael.

Previously, when my men had been in the infirmary with injuries, they were able to shuffle aside to make room. Not Tor in his present condition.

“Can I fit?” I chewed my bottom lip.

“I’ll make you.” Tor’s arms shook as he scooted over to the edge, allowing me to lower the gurney arm and climb on and snuggle into him. “Mmm. That’s better.”

We stayed like that for a long while, enjoying the feel of each other, getting reacquainted with each other’s bodies. His fingers stroked my shoulder and arm, lighting me up all over. I ran my palm up and down his torso.

After yesterday when we collected broken fragments of wall, Knoxe had a little chat with Tor to determine his frame of mind. I hoped Tor wouldn’t be as snappy or negative today as the past few days.

The pit of my stomach ached with the question I came here for. The one I desperately needed to know. After his earlier response to queries, I stuffed it down in the ask again later box.

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