Page 26 of Hellish Witch

I snorted, shaking my horns. “You are such a human sometimes.”

Killian’s husky chuckle reached me too, and I turned to watch him lingering at the edge of the path. His eyes raked me one last time, sending warmth spiralling through me. White feathers spread wide as he flared his wings. With enviable ease, he launched himself into the air and soared gracefully towards the far side of town.

“Yeesh, just fuck him already.” Zoella slapped me on the back with a giggle.

“Oh my fires, could you have said that any louder!?” I hissed, whirling around to see if anyone had heard her, but the streets were mercifully empty, and peering past her into her house didn’t reveal my overprotective brother lurking around.

“Quit your worrying. Rex is still out hunting.” She slapped me on the shoulder. “Come on in. I’m guessing you’re not here for saucy girl talk about why a certain feathered friend was walking you to my place in the early hours, dripping blood and bad intentions, hmm?”

I swallowed thickly. “If only.”

Chapter 9

Just say it.

Say. It.

“I’m broken,” I blurted the words.

Zoella’s lilac brows lifted as she glanced at me over a shoulder, striding into my favourite room of the house. I followed her into the newly refurbed space, lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and stuffed with exotic houseplants until it was more jungle than library.

The floral scent of poisonous flowers soothed the raw edge of my nerves.

Haunting lilac and black hell-fire crackled in the fireplace, nestled deep between tall bookshelves. Creeping red vines draped its sides, reaching towards the flames rather than away.

A monster sprawled beneath.

He lifted his boxy head from meaty front paws, watching me enter his domain with fiery purple eyes. The hellhound’s head was twice the size of mine, his maw filled with more sharp teeth than I could count. Rich black fur reflected the firelight, interrupted by too many white lines scarring his flesh.

The intimidating sight was tempered by an adorable lilac sock pattern on one of his front paws, matching the shade of one ear and cresting his fluffy chest.

“Hey, Alpha.” I gave him an awkward wave.

It was so much more embarrassing to have this conversation in front of the proud hellhound, but Zoella never separated from her familiar for long.

She’d reunited with him in the human realm when she’d freed him from the same hunters who’d captured me. He’d followed Zoella here, to live in the Bloodwood with his pack of pups, and like his bonded witch, he’d been healing, getting stronger and healthier with every passing day.

Giving me a peek at his vicious fangs, he rumbled a sleepy growl like he was greeting me right back, and returned his muzzle to his paws before closing his eyes. His tail swept back, the end dipping right into the fire without a care.

In a way, I felt like Alpha and I shared a bond too, enough for me to understand his meaning in my own way. It was just another strange thing I’d been experiencing lately, like I could understand a creature’s intent more than I should.

I brushed off the crazy before it could add more anxiety to an already messed-up situation. Hellhounds were highly intelligent animals, and being familiar bonded to a mage meant he was more in tune with magic; that was all.

Zoella lifted a glass pot of coffee from the low table in offering, and I silently shook my head, my stomach in knots as I waited for her to say something about my blurted confession. I took a seat on the sofa opposite her, sinking into the worn leather. She topped a ceramic cup to the brim with the dark brew before returning the pot to the scratched table.

The queen plonked herself onto the other sofa beside the vast windows, her back to the fireplace, somehow not spilling a single drop of liquid joy.

Taking a delicate sip, she leaned back amongst the fuzzy cushions and crossed her legs, seeming to ponder her response until I wanted to flip the coffee table between us and run around screaming.

“And what makes you say that?” she asked.

I was grateful for the lack of judgement in her tone, even if her arced brows hinted at disbelief.

I fanged my lower lip, debating where to start. “In the hunter compound, where they held me captive…something happened.” I swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the memories surging up.

It had been terrifying, but things weren’t nearly as bad for me as they were for others there. One of the hunter’s scientists had even tried to protect me.

And at least I’d made it out alive.

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