Page 33 of Do You Even Hex, Bro?
Killian's entire body tenses at the man's voice, but his ice blue eyes focus entirely on me with frankly bizarre intensity.
"Not by choice," I mutter, my voice barely audible.
The stranger's eyebrow arches. "Ah." That single syllable contains volumes of understanding. He steps forward, moving with inhuman grace across the lawn.
The wolves growl in warning. All four of them—even the two in human form—bristle as the stranger approaches. They're actinglike junkyard dogs defending a choice cut of meat, and the fucking ribeye isme.
"Fascinating," the stranger says, ignoring their warnings completely. "Perhaps someone would care to explain what is happening here? Why there is enough magic being thrown about so carelessly that it disturbed my evening meditation?"
Killian and Kyle both start speaking at once.
"She's our?—"
"This witch belongs to?—"
The stranger raises one elegant hand. "Silence." The word isn't shouted, yet it lands like a blow. "I wasn't speaking to either of you."
His dark eyes fix on me, patient but unyielding. Waiting.
I swallow hard, my mouth suddenly bone dry. "I know I'm trespassing," I begin, gesturing weakly toward the house behind me. "But I was running."
"From whom?" he asks mildly.
I look pointedly at the wolves, then at Kyle's coven. "All of them."
A flash of what looks almost like hurt crosses Killian's face, quickly masked by determination. The russet wolf makes a soft whining sound, head drooping.
"I see." The stranger's eyes narrow slightly. "And how do you know these witches?" He indicates Kyle, Ryan, and Rebecca with a dismissive wave.
"Those three are part of my former coven," I admit, not looking at Kyle. I don't want to see the rage on his face.
"There's nothing 'former' about it!" Kyle hisses, struggling against the sandy wolf's weight. "Regina is our Thirteenth. OurBonded."
The wolf silences him with another warning snarl, teeth flashing against Kyle's throat. Not enough to tear it out, but enough to draw droplets of blood. Kyle's struggles intensify, his hand flying up to grip the wolf's thick fur in a vain attempt to pull him off. It's like watching him wrestle a mountain.
Rebecca's face is pinched, mouth trembling. I want to laugh. Is she actually worried about him? After the way she smirked at me behind his back for months while fucking him in my bed?
Gods, I was such an idiot. So blind to what was right in front of me. All those late-night "energy workings" they did together. The way Rebecca's eyes would track Kyle around the room. The private jokes. How did I not see it?
Because I didn'twantto see it. Because admitting Kyle was cheating meant admitting I'd wasted five years of my life.
"Now the picture is beginning to form," the stranger says again, interrupting my spiraling thoughts. "A lovely young woman—asiphon, no less—runs from her coven in the middle of the night. And given her desperate situation, an equally desperate motivation must be in place." He pauses, studying Kyle and Rebecca carefully, head tilting slightly. "Given the harmonic frequencies between these two, I'm assuming infidelity?"
Kyle bristles visibly. Rebecca has the grace to look embarrassed for approximately half a second before her chin lifts defiantly.
"This is coven business," Kyle says coldly. "None of your concern."
"That," the stranger replies, smile sharp as a razor, "is where you're wrong. As a member of the University Board and the Disciplinary Committee, as well as an advisory member of the Council on Supernatural Relations, it is the verydefinitionof my concern."
Fuck.
This isn't just some random powerful supernatural who happened upon our little drama. This is someone with actual authority. Someone with the power to send me right back to Kyle once he learns who Kyle is—a witch from the prestigious Starbridge line, with connections throughout the magical community.
Kyle's smug expression confirms my fears. He knows it too. One well-placed name drop and I'm as good as dragged back to Crescent Hollow.
"Would someone get this overgrown dog off me?" Kyle demands, voice ringing with entitled impatience.
The stranger glances pointedly at Killian, who curls his lip in frustration but makes a quick gesture. The sandy wolf reluctantly backs away with a dangerous growl, allowing Kyle to scramble to his feet.
