Page 37 of Rise of the Witch
All joking aside, I understood why he hadn’t succumbed to her magnetic pull. Nox didn’t give a shit about women or romantic relationships. He didn’t give a shit about much besides Ace and me and his future at the Facility. Although why he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his fucknugget of a father, I had no idea. Matthew was a grade-A asshole and treated Nox as horridly as the rest of us when he should have been taking the time to mentor him. Or, at the very least, acknowledge him as family.
Ace and Nox came from very different backgrounds, but neither had an easy childhood. At least Ace’s mom made sure he felt loved, but it was really just the two of them against his conniving family and iceberg of a father. That man was so cold and unfeeling I wouldn’t put it past him to have been the one who blew up his mom’s car. Not that I would ever tell Ace my conspiracy theory on how she died.
Since we don’t talk about the accident at all.
“Hello, boys, what are you looking at over there?” Vasi’s sultry voice made both Nox and me—and my dick, full disclosure—stand up a little straighter. I could see Nox trying to angle his enormous body to hide what was lying on the ground behind us, but it was too late. Those intense blue-green eyes of hers missed nothing, and she was already shoving her hot little body past him to see what we were trying to keep from her.
I shot Ace a warning look to brace for impact the exact moment Vasi let out an anguished cry,“NO!Oh, Misha, nooo….” She dropped to her knees next to the shifter, still in bear form and already rapidly decomposing into the earth. Thunder rumbled somewhere far off as Vasi stared down at her fallen friend, shaking with despair, tiny fists clenching and unclenching, and tears already streaming down her beautiful face.
Unsure if I should touch Vasi while she was so upset, I simply knelt beside her to let her know I was there. “We didn’t see anything, doll,” I offered up what I could. “Nox and I were over by the stable for a few hours, and when we returned, Misha was just...lying there. I am so incredibly sorry.”
She sniffled and fell against me with a tiny whimper, the gesture so heartbreakinglyhumanthat I immediately scooped her into my arms for proper kisses and comfort.
My sweet, sweet little witch.
Nox watched the two of us with an unreadable expression on his face before he quietly spoke, “I can take care of this for you, Vasi, if you want...” He gestured awkwardly at the bear at his feet before bending to retrieve him.
“Wait! Don’t move him yet,” Ace shouted, causing everyone’s attention to snap to him as he circled the body, gaze expertly roaming over the shifter, clearly noticing something we’d missed. Crouching across from us, he muttered, “Judging by the marks in the soil, he dragged himself here on all fours, yet ended up on his back when he expired. And look, one of his paws is partially shifted—almost like he’s pointing to something...”
We all followed his gaze to Misha’s right paw, resting over his heart, human fingers peeking out of the fur with his pointer finger oddly extended. Vasi hesitantly reached down, moving his hand just enough to reveal what his finger was covering.
An incision.
With an object of some sort stuffed inside.
Vasi snatched her hand away with a gasp before looking up at Nox pleadingly. “Will you get whatever that is out of him for me?” she croaked. “Please?”
Nox seemed as surprised as the rest of us that she chose to ask him, but he solemnly nodded and crouched next to her. Gingerly peeling open the wound, he inserted his thumb and index finger, reaching for the mysterious object within. Brow furrowed, he slowly withdrew his hand to reveal a wooden figurine, painted in bright reds, yellows, and greens, smeared with Misha’s blood.
A Russian nesting doll?
Vasi yelped, wiggling out of my grasp to scuttle away as if the figurine was going to come alive and eat her. Her frightened gaze shot across the clearing, and I turned to discover that even her hut looked like it was cowering in fear.
“He’s here…” she rasped, body curled into itself, nails digging into the earth as if she was trying to burrow and hide. “After all this time, he came tomyforest…”
“Who? Kosch…” Nox started to ask before Vasi was on him, hands roughly covering his mouth, apparently unconcerned that she was suddenly pressed up against the man she’d been scowling at for weeks.
“Don’t say his name, youidiot,”she hissed, earning a dark glare from the big idiot himself. Ignoring his grumpy growl, she swept her anxious gaze over Asa and me, harshly ordering, “We need to get inside the hut! Now!”
Incredibly confused by whatever was happening, I stuttered, “But...what about Misha?”
Her expression softened as she sorrowfully gazed down at her friend. “Leave him,” she sighed as the fight left her body. “He is no longer in this world, and his brothers will be alerted to his passing.”
We all wordlessly obeyed, quickly seeing to the horses and gathering whatever we needed from outside before securing ourselves in the cabin. Despite Vasi’s panic, nothing dire imminently occurred, and an hour later, we were back to simply preparing for our move. Asa was busy cleaning our guns as I chattered in his ear, and Nox and Vasi were crowded together at the hutch, bent over one of our topographical maps, discussing where the best location would be for us to relocate.
‘Discussing’ is too polite a word to describe the intense arguing happening over there.
“You could cut the sexual tension between those two with a knife, ya?” I whispered in Ace’s ear, mostly so I could steal another whiff of the post-fuck fragrance still lingering on his skin. As soon as he and Vasi had arrived back in the clearing, I couldsensewhat had happened between them, as if the connection we shared was inviting me to experience it second-hand. I also couldn’t help but notice the little red handprints around Ace’s neck. Clearly, our witch had taken him for a wild ride, and I was dying to know more.
Maybe they’ll give me an encore performance.
“I know you’re just trying to smell her on me,” he replied, lips twisting as he tried not to smile, throwing me some cheeky side-eye, just like old times.
Slipping my hand under the table to trail up his thigh, I took a much more overt inhale before stifling a groan. “Can you blame me?Fuck,the things her scent does to me. It’s like being a cat in heat or something.”
Ace’s shoulders shook in a silent chuckle. “That is the perfect way to describe it. It’s an animal instinct I fear I have no control over. I feel like Pepé Le Pew most days, floating after her, dick-first.”
I barked out a laugh that caused Vasi and Nox to momentarily cease their bickering and shoot us judgmental looks. Ignoring them, I rewarded my saucy American with a kiss before focusing on more pressing issues. “I need to know, Acey,” I spoke low so mum and dad wouldn’t hear. “How did that sweet pussy feel wrapped around that beautiful cock of yours?”
