Page 22 of Hellish Witch

The warm light of my healing magic swelled within me, and my relief was immediate. I blew out a breath as I watched mypalm glow. I hadn’t been able to heal anyone properly since I’d returned. Only the occasional minor injury, if I was lucky.

A wave of tiredness washed over me, and my glow flickered.

Killian stared at my hand, a worried crease between his brows. “It’s happening again, isn’t it?”

“Everything’s fine,” I blurted, struggling to leash the monster hunting through my veins, hungry as it stalked my healing energy.

The glow at my fingertips reddened. Or maybe it was my vision, tingeing at the edges.

Killian hissed through clenched fangs, the wounds across his chest gaping wider.

My heart pounded erratically as I pulled back, stumbling away before I could hurt him any more. “Fuck!”

Guilt nipped at me as my vision cleared. Killian grabbed a tea towel from one of the cabinet drawers, somehow knowing exactly where it would be, and used it to casually staunch the bleeding across his abs.

His eyes met mine, a steady anchor in the chaos swirling around me. “It’s going to be okay.” His voice pitched low, like he was trying to soothe a wounded animal.

“I’m meant to be healing you, not whatever this is!” I hissed, and the fresh burn of tears pressed behind my eyes.

I was the healer of this kingdom. It was my purpose. The one thing that made me valuable.

And I couldn’t even get that right.

A warm palm cupped my cheek. Killian tipped my face up to his, thumb tugging my lower lip out from where I’d been ruthlessly biting it.

“We are going to figure this out.” His lilting voice burrowed down to my soul, wrapping around me. “I promise.”

The way he said “we” almost had the tears spilling over.

Somehow, he had a way of making me feel safe, no matter what chaos was going on. But this wasn’t his problem.

I didn’t want to be another issue for the enforcer to fix.

I pulled my face from his warmth, ignoring the pang in my heart.

His cuts were healing at a rapid rate, meaning he’d fed recently. Gorged himself, in fact.

“This is how you killed that idiot the other night?” he asked, gesturing to his bloodied torso. “It’s happening a lot?”

I stuffed down the truth, spitting out a lie instead. “No.”

His navy eyes churned like an ocean in the moonlight, dark and dangerous. He arched a perfectly shaped brow. “Don’t make me bend you over my knee.”

I practically choked on my own tongue.

My desire saturated the air.

But nobody else’s did.

Killian’s nostrils flared as he inhaled my scent and drew a few wisps of my energy into himself. His navy eyes glinted silver.

I ruthlessly shoved the lust down, cutting him a glare. “Fine. It’s happened a couple of times since I returned from my…visit topside.”

“Who else knows about this?”

This time, the truth came easily, despite the tightness in my throat. “Nobody.”

He nodded, looking contemplative. “It’s something to do with your human magic, isn’t it?”

---