Page 51 of Witches and Wine
“Your promises are worth about as much as a werewolf’s promise to shave, Stilts.” I jabbed him with the pine cone.
Riley stood on his haunches, hissing and baring his teeth at Rumpel. Rumpel snarled at the ferret, making him leap from Chelsea’s shoulder. Instead of cowering away like any other small animal in the same situation, Riley snatched a small bread knife from the table. It happened so quickly that I barely caught it, and within moments, he was back on Chelsea’s shoulder, the blade proudly clamped within his teeth.
Chelsea folded her arms, stepping to my side from behind me. “Care to challenge my familiar still,Rumpelstiltskin? And, of course, I’ve heard of you.”
“Ah, yes. From all the stories I imagine?” Rumpel leaned away from the knife-bearing ferret. “They only got about half of it right.”
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Chelsea repeated with more fire in her voice, her stance widening, fists clenching at her hips.
That spitfire at my side wasmine.
“Love, I thought it was obvious. I toyed with you for my own amusement.” Rumpel scoffed, dragging a hand down the sad excuse for a grey beard grown on his pointy chin.
Chelsea took another step forward, and I struggled with an internal battle of convincing her not to provoke him or sitting back and watching the damn show. “So, none of it was true? None of it?”
“I wouldn’t go that far. Youarea moon witch.” Rumpel swiped an iron spoon from the table, held it to the hearth’s light, shrugged, and slipped it into his pocket.
Slowly, I lowered the staff but kept it poised in Rumpel’s direction.
“How would you know that? You’re not the High Priestess,” Chelsea argued.
Get him, Red.
“I may be no Crone, but Iama warlock.” Rumpel bowed with a flourish. “We appear to be woven from the same cloth, Chelsea.”
“We are not the same,” Chelsea spat.
Rumpel cackled, revealing rows of rotting, yellowed, and blackened teeth. “That’s right. BecauseIknow how to usemymagic.” He raised his hand as if getting ready to snap, and I lurched forward. “Ta.”
I lunged with the staff but only met with air as Rumpel disappeared.
“Well, shit.” Chelsea flopped her arms at her sides. “Where is therealPriestess?”
Using the pine cone to scratch my head, I grimaced. “Suppose we should’ve led with that one, huh?”
“Any idea how we look for her? If he’s this powerful of a warlock, she could be virtually anywhere or appearing as anything.” Chelsea paced a square on the wooden floor. “Ifonly I could use my power.” Frustratedly, she fanned her hand, sending a sizzle of starlit magic at the hearth, igniting the flames.
Frowning over her dismay, I lifted my fingers toward the raging fire, dousing it with trickling water, my maroon magic coiling around my arm. “That was a good start.”
“I almost burnt down an ancient witch’s cottage, Dion.”
Leaning on my thyrsus, I tilted my head. “Semantics.”
Letting out a cub-like growl, she stomped past me toward the door. “I’m going to check the surrounding woods.”
“Then that’s what I’m doing, too.” I beat the butt of the staff against the floor, bouncing it into my grasp to use like a walking stick.
Chelsea whirled around, her cheeks flushed with crimson, lips parting to protest, but I stopped her with a kiss. She melted against me, whimpering into my mouth.
“Baby, I know you can fend for yourself, but I’m going to ask you toletme help protect you. Can you do that for me? Rumpelstiltskin is nothing compared to what could be crawling in those woods. Not everything in the Cove is righteous. That’s the whole point of this place acting as a refuge for anyone magical.” I lifted her chin with my knuckle, flashing her a pleading, hooded gaze. It was also an uphill battle trying to mask the unease I’d felt from a ferret with a blade in its mouth staring at me.
“Alright,” Chelsea whispered, slipping her hand into mine. “We’ll watch each other’s backs.” She urged Riley from her shoulder, encouraging him to stay in the cottage, promising that we’d be back for him. He whined, still clutching the knife with his teeth, but soon relented and curled into a ball on a chair.
There was no telling what I would’ve done if she hadn’t agreed so easily. We’d yet to accept the mating bond, and already I felt such an overwhelming need to protect her—to kill anything who dared harm her. I secretly prayed no one would ever darethreaten her. Chelsea met the beast, but she’d yet to witness it untamed.
Night had spilledover the Cove from the time we’d confronted Rumpelstiltskin. We trekked into the forest in search of the Priestess. I wished I’d brought Riley because his absence weighed heavy on me. Today would be the last time we were separated like this. For an animal I once thought to be my adopted pet, he’d become spiritually bound to me. The more my magic settled, the desire to have him at my side increased.
“I’m not sure if it’s finding out I’m a moon witch or this place in particular, but the night sky feels incredibly calming to me all of a sudden,” I admitted, sighing at the way the moon’s glow felt like iridescent velvet blanketing my skin.
