Page 22 of Rise of the Witch
Even after how I’d treated her like shit since we’d arrived, she’d rescued me. She’d bravely led my friends into these cursed woods and retrieved me from the clutches of that monster when she could have just left me to my fate.
Rage was coursing through my veins when I stalked away from the hut last night. I couldn’t even remember how I’d convinced that possessed hut to lower itself so I could leave, only that I’d chosen my path based on nothing more than basic instinct and blind fury. I’d been so fucking furious at our situation, at Asa for lettingpussycome between us, that I let down my guard.
The last thing I remembered was hypnotic music suddenly filling my head as an enticing figure appeared on the path before me, like something out of a wet dream. She’d seductively beckoned me to follow her, her every curve and feature seeming as if it had been created just for me. In all my life, I’d never seen a woman as perfect as her.
Well, except for one other…
Although the effort made my body scream in protest, I lifted my head to look at the witch walking ahead of us. Tan and Ace had me propped between them as they half-guided, half-carried me through the woods, our steps excruciatingly slow. Vasi was leading the way but would occasionally glance back at me, her mouth set in a grim line. Gone was the haughty disdain usually apparent when she looked at me—an expression I actually enjoyed coming from her—replaced with unfiltered concern. Dropping my head again, I focused on moving one foot in front of the other, on anything to avoid thinking about what a fucking asshole I was.
I don’t deserve her sympathy.
After what felt like days, we arrived back at Vasi’s clearing, where she immediately started barking orders. “Asa! Go fetch clean clothes and find some fresh towels in the chest near the washbasin. Tan, bring Nox into the sauna and help me get him undressed.”
As I’d been uncontrollably shaking for the past hour, I didn’t argue when Tan herded me into the sauna and started wrestling off my damp clothing. My brother had seen me naked more times than I could count, and while he may have made a joke under different circumstances, he was all business at the moment. It was only when I realized Vasi was still inside the sauna with us that I stilled his hand, throwing a glare her way to scare her off.
As expected, that bossy witch didn’t budge. “Oh, don’t flatter yourself, Nox. I’m here to get the sauna going, as I assume neither of you knows what you’re doing. But I assure you, the last thing I’m interested in is your hideous penis.”
Tan snorted a laugh, all business forgotten, as he smirked up at me and yanked my pants down the rest of the way. “She called your dick ‘hideous,’lan.”
In no mood for his bullshit, I snapped, “Yeah, well, she probably got turned off by whatever limp twig you’ve been waving at her lately.”
An infuriatingly smug smile spread across Tan’s face as he stood and gathered up my discarded clothes. “Oh, I don’t know...Vasi seemed more than pleased with whatbothAce and I had to offer last night…”
A hiss of steam sounded to my left, bringing my attention to the witch carefully ladling water over the heated stones. She threw a sidelong glance at Tan, but instead of looking annoyed at his insinuation, a secretive smile played over her lips as they made heated eye contact.
Oh, hell-fucking-no.
I sat heavily on the bench as any gratitude I’d been feeling toward Vasi evaporated like the water she was pouring over those rocks. It was bad enough she was preying on Asa, but Tan didn’t need to go sticking his dick into the situation, especially as I continued to bust my ass trying to find us a way out of here. Taking a steadying breath, I channeled my outrage toward imagining the ways I could make her suffer. Anything to stop me from imagining that curvy little body of hers wrapped around the two of them or what her deceptively attractive face looked like when she came.
Tan apparently had a death wish as he called over his shoulder on his way out the door, “Hey, doll, maybe you should stay with Noxy for a while. You know...just to make sure he doesn’t have any lingering effects from his harrowing experience battling sexy women in the woods.” He paused in the doorway to throw one of my dirty socks onto my lap. “In case you need to hide anything hideous!” he cackled, slipping out and slamming the door behind him before I could strangle him.
My blood was so heated at this point, I wondered if I needed to be in a sauna at all, but if I stood, the witch would get an eyeful, and the last thing I wanted was formydick to be next on her list.
Vasi gracefully sank onto the bench across from me, deliberately maintaining eye contact as if to remind me how uninterested she was in the rest of me. The sweltering heat in the sauna prompted my lizard brain to wonder why Vasi wasn’t also removing her clothes, but I quickly buried the thought. We sat in silence a while before she looked down at her lap, plucking at an invisible piece of lint on her leggings before asking the one question I didn’t want to be asked. “Are you all right?”
My muscles tensed as I remembered being helplessly pulled beneath the surface of that pond. I’d been paralyzed, fully aware of the horror unfolding but entirely under the creature’s control, despite me being so much larger physically. With horror, it suddenly dawned on me why Vasi never seemed intimidated by my size—she could probably incapacitate me the same way that monster did.
Determined to not show any weakness, I nonchalantly shrugged in reply. “I’m fine. That’ll teach me not to let my dick call the shots. Just because a woman has a pretty face doesn’t mean she should be trusted.”
Ignoring my blatant dig, Vasi raised her gaze to mine, those jewel-toned eyes of hers causing me to momentarily lose some of my smugness. “She was going to eat you, Nox.” I stilled as she continued, almost hesitantly, “That’s what Rusalkas do. They lure men from forest paths to feed their insatiable hunger—not for sex but for flesh.”
A long moment passed while we stared at each other across the small expanse and the creeping realization hit that this woman had indeed saved my life for some ungodly reason.
What is your endgame, witch?
I cleared my throat. “So, that was a Rusalka, huh? My baba...grandmother used to tell me stories about them, although I always thought she was making them up.”
“Did you think that at the time, or just since you stopped listening?” Vasi’s unwavering gaze cut through me, down to the bone, deep down to the darkest part of my soul.
To avoid the emotions she was stirring up, I rolled my eyes, “Well, I can’t say I’ve listened to her stories in a while since, one, my father saved me from that backwoods life when I was young and, two, because she’s dead.”
Instead of taking the hint to pick a new subject, Vasi leaned forward, her delicate hands clasped together as she intently studied my face. “How did she die?”
“She was awitch,”I bluntly answered, making it abundantly clear in my tone and expression that the conversation was over.
Vasi sat back as surprise washed over her face, followed by a careful consideration as she mulled over what I’d said. Realizing I’d told her more than I’d wanted to, I snipped, “You can go now. I think I can handle pouring water on rocks.”
Shockingly, she listened, her thoughtful expression still in place as she headed for the door, her ass in those leggings delivering another unwanted vision of her naked with Tan and Ace. “I’m notyours,you know,” I growled, suddenly feeling the need to cut deep.
