Page 119 of Hellish Witch

Ungrateful ball of fluff.

Her angular feline eyes, the same blood-red shade as mine, narrowed.

She gave an indignant meow and another hacking hiss.It is, though, silly cub. Claws are for slashing the soft underbelly of your prey, not digging holes like some bored hellhound.Her raspy words were spoken straight into my mind, clear enough to drip with mocking.

“It’s calledgardening,” I huffed back, accidentally brushing mud on my cheek as I swiped back a stray curl, but my lips twitched at my familiar’s sass. “My trowel broke, and there’re only two more left to plant.”

Hearing her voice in my mind—actually being able tospeakto her—was going to be a double-edged sword from my absent magic, but I cherished it anyway. The hellcat had been a prickly kitty ever since Killian and I had made it back into Hell a week ago.

She’d waited for me at the portal the whole time. Days of watching and waiting, and if she was to be believed, many successful hunts of demons she considered stupid enough to become prey.

I hadn’t asked too many questions about that part, but I had given her the cat-shaped shortbread I’d bought in the human realm just for her. A hungry hellcat was a dangerous one.

Reuniting with my familiar had been beautiful and heart-warming. Until she’d hissed at me for taking so long and tried to bite me again.

Even with my magic gone, the bond sang between us.

She hadn’t stopped sassing me, but like a complete sap, I’d still used the last ingredients stashed in my pantry to bake her a whole batch of darkberry scones this morning. I’d saved a few for Killian too, but I had no idea where he’d snuck off to.

We’d only got back to the Hybrid Kingdom last night. After giving a quick summary of events for the monarchs and enforcers, followed by a long telling-off from Rex, we’d finally gone to bed.

Separately.

Until Killian had snuck into my bedroom in the middle of the night. I’d woken up this morning in his arms, feeling safer and happier than I could ever remember being.

I scooped another hole in the ground, getting even more dirt under my scarlet claws, and buried the next set of seeds in the mud.

Given how close my cabin was to the Bloodwood, the tall trees cast a dappled shade over the end of what I considered my garden. Nobody really bothered with fences here, but I was set on expanding my plant patch.

I may not be able to heal with magic anymore, but I knew how to make a mean salve or two.

Cookie lifted her head, angling her face over my shoulder.

I had a second to brace.

Something knocked into my side. White softness wrapped around me, and then I was rolling along the grass in a cloak of feathers. The sunny garden and blue sky blurred in a dizzying tumble.

Silver glinted in Killian’s eyes as he cuddled me tighter than a basilisk, pinning me beneath him in a way that had my blood heating.

He flashed me a fanged grin like the psycho he was. “Need a hand, sweetness?”

I quirked a brow, barely resisting the urge to squirm beneath the delicious weight of his muscular warmth. “You’ve got mud all over your pretty pigeon wings now.”

“Worth it,” he murmured, eyes dipping to my parted lips. “Seems your gardening is going better than the last time I found you at the edge of the Bloodwood.”

“You mean that time you stalked me in the dead of night like some creep?” I poked my tongue out at him, and a playful giggle bubbled up my throat.

His voice dropped to a husky rasp. “We both know I was stalking you long before that, and have been every day since.”

I threw a mock glare his way. “You know, you’re not meant to say crazy shit like that.”

“And why not?” He pouted. “You’re my future mate.”

“How very presumptuous of you.” I snorted. “You haven’t even asked me.”

He bared his fangs in the biggest grin. “Yet.”

I sucked in a needy breath.

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