Page 73 of Bewitchingly Hers
The woods were unusually quiet, and a layer of damp moisture clung everywhere around us. Fog had rolled in, and a shiver ran down my skin. It felt wrong.
Zain wrinkled his nose. “It reeks.”
The ghoul pushed away a layer of bushes. “They’re foul beings. They never should have been able to escape.” He turned to me. “They’re being sent back where they belong.”
I nodded. That was all we—and the witches of this town—could ask for.
That was what I tried to remind myself of as we all stepped through the portal.
Not the idea that my mate was alone and hurting, and I hadn’t been there to protect her.
The darkness dissipated around us, and my eyes adjusted to the low lighting of the cave.
Zain’s hands came to life, electricity—lightning—sparking between them, giving us a better view of what we were looking at.
“They were definitely here,” Cassius confirmed. “Follow the bond,” he told me. “It’s the strongest magic there is. That’s probably why they snagged her after they lost their food source.”
I let out a growl, darting forward in the cave, my supernatural speed allowing me to almost fly through the dark rock. Though I didn’t have teleportation powers like the two demons or ghoul at my back, I wasn’t going to back down from this fight.
Deeper and deeper we went into the cave system, as I followed the thread that tied Eryne to me. It was faint, but I could practically smell her scent, the sweet sugary scent like apples and cinnamon filling the area, pulling me to her. Always, always pulling me towards her.
There was a figure ahead of us, laying in a heap at the back of the cave.
I took a step towards my mate, unable to keep away from her for even a moment longer.
“Wait—”
The sound of nails scraping on stone echoed through the cavern, and then a wail filled the space as the undead being appeared in front of us. It was larger than any of the ones we’d fought, likely the source of all of the attacks on the town barrier. They weren’t capable of speech or rational thought, opening its ghostly mouth to reveal a line of sharpened teeth.
I shuddered, thinking of what it had felt like when I’d been attacked all those weeks ago.Thiswas the creature that had attacked me. I could feel it. Whatever we’d fought before had merely been mirages compared to this abomination.
“Return to the place you belong,”Cassius’s eerie, ominous voice shook the ground. The wraith shrieked, lettingout a sound that felt like nails scraping against a chalkboard. In his hands, a glowing white scythe appeared. It looked like it was made out of bone, the blade of the sharpest metal I’d ever seen.
The thing lunged, and before I could shift again to attack it, a lasso of darkness reached out from both sides of the room, circling it’s hands and wrapping around it’s neck, keeping it in place.
“Finish it,” the demon brothers said, grunting under the weight of holding the creature back.
Cassius nodded, stepping forward and launching his weapon at the head of the wraith.
It let out another sound, though this one was worse.
“Be gone from this earth,”Cassius said. “You are not permitted here.”His eyes glowed as the entity let out one last shriek before the black raggedy cloak it seemed to be wearing collapsed to the ground, empty.
“So, what are you,” Damien asked, turning to the ghoul at our side. “Like, the grim reaper?”
Cassius’s eyes met his. “Worse.”
Ignoring the conversation, I darted forward towards my girl.
Her eyes opened, that beautiful shade of blue blinking back at me, groggy and disoriented. “Barrett?” Her voice was weak, body shaking. I scooped her up into my arms. My mate looked so small, so fragile.
“You’re okay,” I promised her, carrying her out of the caves and towards the morning light. “You’re safe now. And I’ll never let anything happen to you ever again.”
She grabbed at the collar of my jacket with each hand as I walked outside into the sunshine. Whatever darkness and cold had been clinging to the earth this morning, it was gone now. “I was looking for you.”
“I’m here, baby,” I said, setting her down on her feet outside of the cave.
I inspected her everywhere, like I could find proof of her physical wounds. My wolf couldn’t rest until he knew that she was okay. That she hadn’t been hurt. A little bruised, maybe, but still whole.
