Page 4 of Witch's Rebirth
"Deja!" Sal called. "It's not safe. There could be more."
"Who gives a fuck?!" I yelled, not looking back. "I'm fucking unstoppable, remember?"
He left me alone, thankfully.
I stomped through the forest without any sense of which direction I was going or how far. I just wanted to be away from it all. Away from the possibility that Raum would die, away from having to fight my own kind that betrayed me, and away from my fucking messed up feelings for Seth.
I walked until I simply stopped. Not because I was tired or collapsed in tears but my body just didn't want to move anymore.
I sat on a soft patch of moss, dappled sunlight filtering through the trees. It would have been pretty and peaceful had I been in the state of mind to enjoy it.
Earth magic still pulsed all around me but my senses felt dulled. It was like trying to peer through a dirty window and barely being able to see anything. I felt like a failure for not healing him. Why couldn't I do it? Why wasn't I able to use my greatest gift to save the man I loved?
A rustling nearby jolted me out of my self-pity. I looked up to see a blue-eyed fox with torn, tattered ears peering at me through the brush.
"Hey Astrid," I said. "Please stay in your fox form if you don't mind? I don't really feel like talking to people right now."
She nodded, an oddly human gesture for a fox and crept out of the brush slowly. Her head and tail lowered, and her ears pulled back as she approached me.
"You can sit with me, it's fine," I told her.
She lowered her belly to the ground and began casually licking her paws as if nothing was wrong. Honestly, I was grateful for that. If she looked at me with those eerily human eyes, it might have been too much.
Absentmindedly I reached out and scratched the dense, red fur on her neck. She pressed closer to me and rolled over to show her belly. It made me smile, if just for half a second.
"Raum got hurt by the demon hunters," I told her. "And I couldn't heal him. I used to think losing my guys would be impossible. They've survived this long after all. But now that I could possibly lose him... I'm more than scared. I feel useless. I hate that I've taken them for granted."
Astrid made a small barking sound and nuzzled my hand, rolling her back against my leg. I scratched her belly and under her chin. Seeing her act like a silly dog made me appreciate her being there even more. Words of encouragement were not what I wanted to hear. All I wanted to know was if Raum would live or die. Until then, I would make do with petting a friendly animal who simply listened to me.
2
DEJA
Seth was the one who found me however many hours later. I sensed his aura growing closer like a pleasant, comforting smell becoming stronger. I didn't know how to feel about that. Astrid had curled up in my lap sleeping at that point.
"Do you have anything useful to tell me?" I said more snappily than I intended when he came within earshot.
"Raum is alive," he said flatly. "He's weak but stable."
I expected relief but felt too numb at that point. Gently scooping Astrid off my lap, I rose to my feet and turned to face the stormy-eyed man who had me feeling all out of sorts.
"How?" I asked.
"I'm not sure." He was tactful enough to not shrug, at least. "Ash did it. Because he used to be an angel, he was able to neutralize the magic in the kiss before it did too much damage."
"And why are you the one out here telling me this?" Again, I sounded more bitchy than I meant to.
"Because the other two didn't want to leave his side." His tone was surprisingly patient, with none of that bitter edge I was used to, despite my own voice clearly having plenty of it. "They're patching him up but you can come see him if you'd like. He might respond to healing magic now."
I looked down at Astrid who had woken up. Her ears pricked forward as I knelt down to scratch her between them.
"Thanks for listening to me, friend," I said softly. "I'll talk to you soon."
She gave an affirmative yip and bounced away through the brush in a flash of red fur. With a quick nod at Seth, we walked tensely side by side back toward the house.
"Tell me about the angel's kiss," I said after some silence.
I felt his eyes on me but didn't turn to meet them.
