Page 57 of Witch Unexpected
I’d stayed for Fee. “Okay, I get it. You stay for Charlotte.”
“She needs me.” She touched the bracelet again. “She gave me this a week ago, a piece from her private collection. She told me that no matter what happened after the new anchor took over, there’d always be a home for me with her.” She sighed. “She’s going to need me even more afterward…”
“What do you mean?”
She waved a hand. “Charlotte will explain it.”
She was giving her life to Charlotte because she loved her and felt beholden to her. It was no way to live. She needed to find herself. Find her purpose.
“I used to think Fee needed me. Then I realized she had enough people around her to keep her safe and bring her happiness, that I could leave and find my own path if I wanted to.”
“And here you are, about to stick a lock on your vagina.”
I snort-laughed. “There’s nothing wrong with a dildo.” I winked at her. “And I’m sure there’s nothing in the rules that says I can’t have foreplay with a guy.”
“Ooo, looking for loopholes already. I love it.”
“Always. So, tell me about Charlotte. How come she doesn’t live at the mansion?”
“She’s where she belongs, with her wolf mates,” Bramble said.
I was confused. “They live together?”
“That’s right.”
“I thought there was no sex allowed?”
“I didn’t say they were banging. Love and intimacy aren’t all about sex. The bond between an anchor and her mates is… It’s something else. Pure and—”
A sharp crack cut through the air, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention. The world was suddenly absolutely silent.
“Something’s here.” Bramble drew her daggers.
“I thought this land was warded?”
“It is.”
I dipped and drew Trixie from my boot.
“I’d be ready with some of that magical mojo if I were you,” Bramble said.
“It would help a shit ton if I knew what we were dealing with.”
A low keening filled the air. It swelled and grew louder, pressing in on us.
“Fuck, cover your ears now!” Bramble pressed her fists to her head, daggers pointing up like lethal ears.
I blocked out the wail with my hands, but even muted, it filtered through to gnaw at my mind like a rat on a dismembered finger.
I turned to Bramble. “What is it?”
She shook her head and squeezed her eyes closed. “Banshee. Run.”
Banshee? What? Another fae creature? I broke into a run, hands still pressed to my head, hot on Bramble’s trail as she cut down the path.
But the keening grew louder, making my head swim. My knees went rubbery and buckled. I hit the ground, hands shooting out to brace myself, and the full force of that keen sliced through me, squeezing the breath from my lungs and making my eyes bug.
Hands grasped at me, trying to lift me, but the force of gravity was a tangible weight holding me down.
