Page 19 of Malicent
I don’t want a new witch here.
I don’t want aLe Strangehere.
My mind races, sifting through a catalog of witches’ faces—the ones I knew, the ones I killed, the ones that might still remain.
That’s the problem.
I’ve slaughtered too many to know who even survived.
Anyone I once knew could be a memory now. The witchlings from back then would be grown now, but I never met them.
Maybe it’s one of them.
We breach the entrance to the castle, descending the stone steps toward the carriage waiting below. Guards stand in stiff parallel formations, lining either side of the vehicle. One steps forward, gripping the handle, and pulls the door open.
The moment she steps out, magic slams into me, rivaling my own in intensity. The force is strong, potent. It scrapes against my senses.
Dark magic user. For sure.
The dark knows its own, and mine writhes, awakening beneath my skin in recognition.
Then I see her.
Black hair drinks in the sunlight, swallowing its warmth. Pale skin glows in contrast. It’s almost…ethereal.
And then, her eyes.
Wide. Oceanic. Drowning me in an instant.
I sink.
I descend, a willing victim to the blue depths, as a ghost from my past stares back at me.
I DON’T THINK I’VE EVER seen eyes that blue.
She’s staring up at me, small but unafraid. She has been dragging a stuffed bunny by its arms all over the coven. The thing’s a mess, missing a button eye and covered in a hefty number of frayed patches. It’s probably been dragged through enough dirt to have lived a dozen lifetimes.
Her dress isn’t much better, hanging loose off one shoulder and streaked in grime.
And her hair…
Dark and wild, it sucks in the sunlight without giving an inch of its color back.
I glance down, finding her bare feet pressed into the grass.
“Where are your shoes?” I ask curiously.
She plants her hands on her hips, her bunny being thrashed in the process.
Sassy.
“I like the feeling of grass on my feet,” she declares. Then she taps her foot against the ground as if she’s testing it, debating something.
I wait.
She caves.
I can’t help but smile as she gives in. She’s the most animated person I’ve ever met here. The only other one who actually speaks to me.
