Page 9 of Witch Unexpected
The creature in the cage trembled and opened one eye. Its gaze tracked over the gray-haired fae’s head and locked on me. Both its eyes popped open, and then it shook its head slightly as if in warning.
Or maybe I was imagining shit. It was an animal, like a cat or a dog, or whatever equivalent the fae had.
As far as I was concerned, the coast was clear, with only one fae to take on. I could do this.
I stepped into the clearing, boots crunching on bracken, ready to confront the creepy little gray-haired fucker. The first indication that I may have made an error in judgment came from the fact that the abductor didn’t even flinch at my presence.
Instead, he poked the fire and raised his rheumy eyes to look up at me. I bit back a gasp at the sight of his mottled, sagging face. It looked like moldy cheese. I mean, I wasn’t into facials and all that shit, but this guy could definitely do with a deep cleanse and a huge injection of collagen.
The second indication, and the nail in my metaphorical coffin, was the toothy, plaque-coated smile he gave me—as if he’d been expecting me. As if he’d been waiting for me.
The urge to hurl was real. I swallowed bile and flexed my hands in preparation for a fight. Not a fistfight, cos there was no way I was touching his moldy ass, but I’d happily fry it with a shot of lightning from my fingertips.
“I was wonderin’ when you’d make yourself known,” he said. “Smelled you a way off. Gots my knife all sharp and ready.” He pulled a blade from the folds of his jacket and held it up in the firelight. “Human skin comes off nice and bloody, and the flesh beneath…” He licked his lips with a slimy black tongue. “Delicious.”
“Or…” I held up a finger. “I could fry your ass.” I flicked my wrist, and power crackled and wove between my fingers. “And take back what doesn’t belong to you.”
I caught movement behind him—the thing in the cage shaking its head frantically—but the fae was still smiling. My stomach knotted, and then a hand closed around my nape and I was lifted off my feet.
What the fuck?
The creepy fucker grinned. “Nice weight. You’ll make a nice meal.”
Weight? “Cheeky fucker.”
I grabbed at the thing holding my neck, hands lighting up with a sizzle. The fae screamed and I was free, hitting the ground in a crouch, Trixie already out of my boot holster, her hilt snug in my hand. I spun, looking for the other attacker. Nothing.
The crunch of bracken had me whipping back to focus on Moldy Face, but he hadn’t moved. What the fuck attacked me?
“Don’t make me cut you.” I held the blade at an angle, ready to attack as my eyes scanned the shadows around us. “Who else is here? Show yourself.”
“Ain’t no one here but you and old Merkle.” The fae said.
Then he leaped at my face, dirty hands and moldy fingers reaching for me. I sliced the air with my blade expecting to snag flesh but met only thin air. The fucker was gone.
Laughter bubbled up behind me. I spun to face him again, my heart pounding because this fucker was wilier than he looked. Time to employ some chat, get close, and take a stab.
I locked gazes with him. “Back off and let me take the kids. They don’t belong to you.”
“They don’t belongs to yous either.” He snarled, and his face contorted into something feral and monstrous,
My pulse spiked in fear, but like hell would I let him see that. Fuck this. I attacked, lunging at him, eager to get Trixie a bite. He raised his arm to deflect my attack and the blade snagged briefly on his limb, but then he was gone.
Shit, shit, where was he?
Pressure circled my ankle, and the world slipped out from beneath me.
I hit the ground with my back, knocking the breath from my lungs, and then thick ropes slid over me, snagging my wrists and my thighs, tugging and holding me down.
“What the fuck?”
I turned my head to try and catch a glimpse of my abductor but caught sight of the furry in the cage instead. It continued to sing, but its mouth was downturned, eyes mournful and sad.
I strained against the ropes, which on closer inspection weren’t ropes. They were thick, fleshy, mottled appendages. Oh, hell no.
Lightning shot out from my hands in an attempt to burn free.
“Oh dear, you almost hit the childrensies,” Cheese Face said. “You don’t want to hurt the babies, do you?”
