Page 81 of Witch Unbound
I roll my eyes. “Well, duh, I died.”
“I know…” His throat bobs and a look I can’t decipher passes over his face. “I carried you.”
He carried me? Of course, someone had to. Why is he looking at me like that, as if he’s seeing me for the first time?
“Thanks.” I smile, but it wavers because he’s stepping into my personal space. I should step back but my legs refuse to work. I open my mouth to say something witty and sarcastic to break up this sudden tension, anything, but his hand slides across my jaw, fingers diving into my hair, and I stop breathing.
“Bramble, you died, and I wanted to die with you.” He swallows hard, as if the words are painful to say.
I stare up at him, unwrapping the meaning of his words and wondering why in the hell I’m not slapping his hand away or shoving him in the chest. “Lauris…”
“Bramble, all this time that we’ve been bantering, jibing, and basically acting at loggerheads, you’ve been insinuating yourself into my heart, and I didn’t even realize how much you meant to me until I thought I’d lost you.”
My pulse gallops, heart racing as I scan his beautiful face to see if this is a joke, looking for the tell-tale tilt of his lips that denotes amusement. Nothing. The fecker is sincere.
My stomach flips because I have no idea what to do here. I mean, this is Lauris. Annoying, arrogant Lauris, but he leans in and my gaze drops to his mouth, longing tugging me closer and lifting my chin.
He’s going to kiss me, and I want him to.
Oh, God, I actually want him—
“And what do we have here?” The unfamiliar voice drags me roughly out of my revelation.
Lauris spins to face the speaker, blocking me with his body.
“Snoopers?” the man says.
I know instinctively that we’re in the presence of a warlock, and he isn’t alone. There are three other creatures with him. Not warlocks, fae. I sense it in my bones. They’re hunched, muscular, with tusks that push up from their bottom lips and heavy brows that would be perfect on a neanderthal.
My first thought is for the security of the rift, but it’s out of sight around the knoll. As long as we keep them on this side, they won’t see it. My hands itch to reach for my daggers but I hold still, because so far, the warlock has made no move to attack us.
I’m a pixie and Lauris…Well, who the fuck knows what he is, but we’re not human, and we’re not witches, so maybe he won’t perceive us as a threat.
“We’re travelers,” Lauris says. “We got lost.”
The warlock’s gaze tracks over us. “You travel light.”
“We lost our supplies,” Lauris says. “I don’t know how, but we fell asleep and when we woke up our bags were gone.”
I like the way he can lie so smoothly.
One of the monolithic creatures makes a grunting sound and the other mumbles back. The warlock’s eyes glaze slightly, and he tips his head to the side as if listening to something. He’s not listening to the fae creatures because they’re now silent. No, he’s listening to something else.
My scalp prickles and my fingers twitch, eager to kiss my leather-wrapped iron daggers. There’s something here. Something unseen. I scan the air around the warlock and catch a shimmer. Something red. A skinless crimson face.
What the…revenant. Oh, shit. It’s here but not here. Visible but not.
The warlock’s gaze sharpens and a smirk tugs at his lips as his gaze zeroes in on Lauris.
“Take him.” He jerks his head toward Lauris. “Kill the girl.”
I yank my daggers from the holster at my waist and fall into a defensive stance. “Just fecking try it.”
The tusked fae charge toward us and I allow the bitey, nutty thing inside to break free and take the reins.
Time to stab.
Chapter Twenty
