Page 13 of Rise of the Witch
My lips uncontrollably twitched as I paused to observe Tan and Nox playfully banter across the clearing, chests puffing like a couple of proud roosters. They had claimed an old bushel basket of mine a few days ago, stabbing it through a post to play some sort of odd disc-throwing game. It seemed easy enough, but they claimed it took an incredible amount of skill and strategy, which Tan proceeded to explain to me until I wished I’d never asked.
Nox, of course, hadn’t bothered. He’d barely acknowledged my presence these past two weeks besides the occasional grunt and glare. Of course, the ogre seemed more than happy to take full advantage of my hospitality without feeling like he had to give anything in return, including the tiniest crumb of information about the Facility or its purpose.
Typical male. He’s probably a taker in bed as well.
A vision of half-naked Nox tangled in my blankets sent a shiver down my spine, much to my annoyance. Shaking it off, I briskly walked to where Asa was harvesting my vegetables—a task he’d taken on without even being asked—to collect the basket he’d filled. His hopeful smile at my arrival caught me so off guard that I smiled back. This, in turn, caused his smile to falter and the two of us ended up simply staring at each other in awkward silence.
I no longer know how to “human.”
Even with our forced proximity and uncomfortable moments, I found myself enjoying Tan and Asa’s company. Tan was warm and open, even while shamelessly flirting, and Asa was polite and thoughtful, although I suspected he was acting coy. And while I struggled to find anything positive about Nox’s personality, it was apparent these three men were close and deeply cared about each other like family. I often found myself secretly watching them as they laughed and joked, endlessly intrigued by their casual interactions.
In fact, the first time I saw Nox's smile, it startled me so severely I flinched, but the immediate surge of longing it awakened brought me back to a state of irritation in no time. I quickly reminded myself he was consistently disrespectful to me, despite his ease with the others. Although I could say I found his presence equally abhorrent, him eyeing me with such distaste bothered me for some reason, especially knowing he wasn’t looking at the disguise of the Yaga.
About a week after they arrived, another wayward human had wandered into my clearing. This was the usual encounter; In this case, the trespasser wanted me to impart wisdom on his love life of all things. I responded by making him sort poppy seeds out of a pile of ashes under threat of death. Tan and Asa had watched the exchange with open amusement, making no attempt to intervene or help the terrified human with his task. Nox looked like he was considering following the man out of the forest when he ran off but then surprised me by remaining behind.
He’s probably waiting to slit my throat before he leaves.
This unsettling thought drifted through my mind just as I passed the lumbering oaf in question on my way to the compost pit. He glowered at me, as usual, so I waited until his back was turned before casually flicking a finger, causing a nearby tree root to catch his ankle and send him crashing heavily to the earth with an undignified yelp.
Oops.
By this point, the stalemate we all seemed to be in had left me constantly on edge. I was used to my intuition informing my dealings with humans—nudging me to assign appropriate tasks or recite words of wisdom or warning before sending them on their way. With these three, the only glimmer of guidance I received was that there was areasonthey were here, a connection between us that shouldn’t be hastily discarded.
After stirring my compost, I made a stop at the beehives to check on the colony. My bees had recently lost their queen but seemed to be starting the process of converting larvae to make the colony right again. Anthia had offered to track down a mature queen—something you could buy online, apparently—but I wanted to see what my worker bees could accomplish on their own.
My attention was so transfixed on the inner workings of the hive that I didn’t sense Tan until he was right beside me. “No sexy beekeeper outfit, hmm?” he smiled, so close to me I could feel the delicious heat radiating from his toned body. It was close to midsummer, so all three men had taken to walking around shirtless most days. All this did was reveal the intricate, tribal tattoos covering their arms also extended over their well-defined pectorals, although Nox was so hairy it was hard to see the designs in most places.
It also revealed the need for me to take a cold soak in the cabin’s tub at night rather than my usual trip to the thermal pools.
They were all extremely pleasing to look at in their own way, but Tan was the most classically handsome of the three. His hazel eyes seemed to glow against the naturally tanned coloring of his skin, especially when they were full of his signature playfulness. Tan’s warm brown hair was cut short—surprisingly neat compared to the blond curls of Asa or Nox’s long mane—but paired with his cultured accent, I assumed the choice was more thanks to his upbringing than any need to impress.
I shrugged in response to his question. “I trust them not to sting me, althoughyoushould be careful,” I added, eyeing his naked chest purely out of concern. “They lost their queen recently, which makes them more agitated than usual.”
“Mmm...understood,” Tan hummed, looking down at me with an expression of bald hunger. “There’s only so long a man can go without his queen.”
Afraid he would be able to sniff out the desire now gathering between my thighs, I casually laughed, “Oh, but Asa’s prettier than most queens I’ve met in my time.”
The smile he was giving me had turned predatory, an unmistakable invitation. “He sure is. Although a dirty birdie told mehethinksyou’rethe prettiest queen of all…” His full lips were so close to mine I could feel his breath on me, the scent of exotic spices clouding my thoughts until my only thoughts were of him. My mouth opened as if to reply, but no words came out as he inched closer, eyes darting between mine to gauge my reaction.
“Tan!” Nox’s rumbling voice snapped me out of my lust-filled trance, and I spun to find the beast of a man standing behind us, his dark eyes narrowed in my direction as he finished tying up his hair in a topknot. “Can I snag your phone? I’m going to try messing with it some more. See if I can get a signal over by the gardens.”
“Sure thing,lan,”Tan replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice as he removed the phone from his pocket and tossed it to the other man. Nox smoothly caught it in one of his enormous paws, briefly running his judgmental gaze over me again before walking away.
Mission accomplished, I’m sure.
Whatever spell existed between Tan and I had been broken, leaving our usual companionable silence in its wake. After a few minutes of watching me poke at the hive, he suddenly spoke. “When I was in England, I learned about a tradition called ‘telling the bees.’ You were supposed to keep your bees informed of important events in your family’s life—births, deaths, marriages, departures, arrivals—otherwise tragedy could come to the hive.”
I stilled. Doing a quick mental tally, I realized I’d stopped seeing evidence of the queen soon after these men had arrived. While I’d never heard of “telling the bees,” I’d also never had anything worth telling.
Until now…
Clearing my throat, I added, “Your ancient Greeks believed bees possessed the ability to bridge the natural world and the afterlife.” Seeing Tan’s confusion, I huffed a laugh. “Don’t you remember? You were worried I was Artemis the day you found me at the pools.”
A playful smile twitched his tempting lips. “Oh yes, I most certainly do remember. Although now that I’ve gotten to know you a bit better, I’ve decided you are definitely more of an Aphrodite.”
Horrified that I could feel myself blushing, I redirected the conversation once again, “You lived in England?”
Wisely not commenting on my reddening cheeks, Tan nodded. “Yes, my dad sent each of us there for a proper boarding school experience from age 14 onward. He was constantly deployed, and there were too many of us for mum to deal with, even with help.” Pausing, he clarified, “I’m the seventh of 12 or 13. All boys.”
