Page 16 of The Witch's Heart
“Our magic.” She nods at the cell across from her own where I’m startled to see a sleeping wolf sprawled across the floor. At least I hope it’s only sleeping. “The strength of their beast.” Finally, she nods at the cell next to her own. “And his immortality.”
Someone snorts. “Shit. At this point, he can have it.”
The male voice startles me, and I take a step back as a set of arms appear, dangling between the iron bars of the cell.
“You don’t mean that, Angus.”
“Bah.” He dismisses her words with a wave of his hands. “When you’ve been here a hundred years, you can tell me I’m wrong.”
“A hundred years?” I wander closer, curious to get a look at him.
But he looks no older than my own father would have been.
“That’s not possible,” I say. “You look so young.” His beard makes it hard to gauge for sure, but he can’t be older than fifty.
He winks. “You don’t look so bad yourself, sweetheart.”
My face heats. “That’s not what I—”
“By the goddess, stop hitting on her, Angus, or I’ll hex your foot so that it lodges straight up your ass.”
“Be the most action I’ve had in a century.” He laughs. Though it’s a dark sort of laughter that raises goosebumps along my arms.
Has he really been here a hundred years?
“Angus is ageless,” Maria explains. “His life has no end.”
Her words sink in slowly, disbelief coating the edges of my thoughts, but it’s weaker now. As if the longer I’m here, the easier it is to believe the impossible.
“Are you actually immortal?” I ask him.
“Why? You lookin’ to make a switch?” Another wink.
“Angus, I mean it. If you don’t stop flirting, I’ll—”
“Relax. I’m just having fun.” He looks back at me. “Gotta take what entertainment you can get in here.”
“What do you mean about making a switch?” I ask, still trying to understand even half of what they’re saying.
Power. Draining. Immortality.
I’m losing it.
Or this hallucination is even weirder than the rest.
“Don’t listen to him,” Maria says. “Besides, immortality is overrated.”
“At this point, I’m inclined to agree,” Angus says with a distinct note of sadness as he stares back at me. “Your nightmare will end long before mine.”
I look up just as something flickers down the hall.
Estelle.
Without another word, I hurry towards her.
But she flicks out before I can get far.
A growl sounds, and I leap back just in time to avoid a pair of sharp claws that swipe through the bars and tear at the space where I just stood.
