Page 11 of Witch Unexpected
I turned my head to the side, breaking eye contact, pissed that I’d blinked first, but self-preservation was a fucking thing. “What’s the deal, Jasper?”
“The deal is that when you next remove that amulet, you do so with the knowledge that you must never put it back on and the understanding that you’re mine.” He gripped my jaw and forced me to look at him, his fingers hot against my skin. His warm breath kissed my mouth. “An oath, Cora. Say it. Say the words.”
I’d broken the first deal between us by using the amulet, but the deal hadn’t been fully binding. Jasper hadn’t had the power to exact an oath; he’d relied on my naivety and my honor to abide by the terms. Yeah, turned out honor could take a leap if it meant being free of his touch. But things were different now. He had more power, and if I took the oath, if I said the words, I’d be bound. But if I didn’t, then he’d take me now.
I needed the chance to have a choice.
“Fine.” I gritted my teeth. “I give you my oath.”
He smiled, showcasing even, white teeth. “Oh no, Cora. Say it all.”
Fuck. “I give you my oath that the next time I remove the amulet, I’ll be giving myself to you.”
A zing rushed over my skin.
“It’s done,” he said.
I wanted to ask why he’d given me this chance; why not just take me? But only a fool looked a gift horse in the mouth, and—
“Mummy?”
I looked across the clearing at the children, all wide awake now and staring at me in confusion.
“Where’s my mummy?” the girl asked.
“Fuck.”
“Language…” Jasper warned.
He walked over to the children, and my body tensed, thighs bunching, ready to react if he hurt them.
He crouched and tilted his head to the side. “You’re dreaming,” he said. “This is a dream, and when you wake up, you’ll be safe at home with your parents.”
He reached out and touched their foreheads one by one.
Their eyes closed, and their chins fell forward to rest on their chests. He scooped them up. He was wiry, all lean muscle, but he was tall and broad, and the children looked tiny in his arms.
“Shall we?” he asked.
“Please take Wren too,” a small voice said.
My head whipped to the wooden cage where the tiny furry thing was gripping the bars with its little paws and looking up at me with huge brown eyes flecked with gold.
“Please take Wren too,” it said again.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t at the same level as a dog or cat, and it was cute, but… “You helped that thing take those children, didn’t you?”
It stuck out its bottom lip and nodded, tears brimming. “Merkle make Wren do bad things. Wren not want to be bad.” He looked past me into the darkness beyond the clearing. “Wren not want to be alone here. Take Wren with you.” Its eyes grew huge and round, pupils dilating until they were all I could see, and fuck, he was too cute to leave behind.
I had no clue what it was, but it was obviously a prisoner, and ithadtried to warn me about Merkle.
“Fine.” I crouched and reached for the cage.
“That’s a bad idea,” Jasper said. “Mogwai are dangerous.”
“Mogwai?”
“They’re rare,” he said. “And like I said, dangerous.”
