Page 23 of Rise of the Witch
She paused before half-turning to address me, her voice unusually soft. “What do you mean?”
I could feel a spiteful grin stretching across my face as I replied, “When I was in the pond, I could still hear what was happening on the surface. You told theRusalkaI belonged to you. I don’t. And neither do Asa and Tan.”
Expecting the usual fiery response, my breath caught as she instead looked at me with an expression of overwhelming sadness. “Yes,” she breathed before dropping her gaze and turning toward the door again. “You do.”
Silently watching her leave, I realized with a pang that she’d just made a peace offering of sorts by tellingmemore thanshe’dwanted to—by revealing a hidden part of her in return for the crumbs I had offered.
Chapter 19
Vasilisa
Atap on the window brought my attention away from the bread dough I was kneading at the table. Before I could rise, Tan had hurried to let Anthia inside, helping her out of the empty basket so she could shift. Placing the basket on the table, he straddled the bench again, scooting closer so he could affectionately rub his nose behind my ear, making me squirm in pleasure under Anthia’s watchful gaze.
“Well, it appears there have been some new developments since I was last here,” Anthia teased, her violet eyes flickering to the man at my side as he began to torturously nibble on my earlobe.
Playfully pushing him away, I waved at my friend dismissively. “Oh, this one? I made the mistake of inviting him into my bed one night, and now he won’t leave me alone.” Tan barked out a laugh before standing and heading toward the door, muttering something about my “sex magic” on his way out.
Waiting until he was gone, Anthia leveled me with a heavy stare, all traces of teasing gone. “Have you told them yet?”
Sighing, I refocused on braiding the dough to avoid meeting her gaze. “No, I haven’t, ‘Thia. I’m still navigating all of this strangeness myself, and I don’t need to make things more difficult by sharing unconfirmed theories about who I think these men are.”
The silence stretched on long enough that I dared to raise my gaze. Anthia was watching me with both exasperation and sympathy, neither of which I was in the mood for. Abruptly standing, I wiped my hands on my apron and reached for the paddle, sliding it under the braided loaves and turning for the oven.
“You won’t know for sure until you sleep with them, so why not just do it?” Anthia’s voice held a hint of challenge that made me bristle. “Either you finally find your Riders, or you finally get laid. It’s a win-win.”
Try not to murder the swan. Try not to murder the swan.
Unfortunately, my friend took my silence as an invitation to continue. “Ohhhh...I see! Your plan is to simply string them along until they miraculously find their way out of here. That way, you don’t have to allow anyone to get close to you and risk disappointment.”
I am going to murder the swan.
“They’re not just any humans, Vasi,” she was advancing on me now, looking every bit the predator zeroing in on its prey. “I could see the red glow surrounding the pretty one from the sky, the cuddly one has a faint aura already, and the whole forest is talking about how you saved the big dumb one from a Rusalka two days ago.”
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Their names are Asa, Taneer, and Nox, and of course, I would save the big dumb one from a Rusalka. I couldn’t very well let hereathim!”
Anthia snorted. “Since when doyoucare what happens to humans? That alone should tell you this is different.”
Before I could retort, the door banged open as all three men burst into my hut, laughing and knocking against each other good-naturedly like a pack of playful puppies.
Overgrown, tattooed puppies.
With guns.
Anthia addressed the men, “As it seems you are all intertwined now, I suppose this invitation extends to the group.” Ignoring my scowl, she gestured toward the basket, where I now noticed a black envelope tucked away at the bottom.
Distastefully removing the envelope, I sighed as I tore it open to reveal a sturdy black card embossed in gold, requesting Baba Yaga’s presence at a…
“Aséance?”I repeated dubiously before handing the card to Asa, who’d walked over to join me.
“Who is Harbison?” Asa demanded, blue eyes narrowing on Anthia. “What does he want with Vasi?”
Sensing that Anthia was about ready to start squealing excitedly at the sight of Asa’s possessiveness, I quickly cut in. “He’s an occultist Anthia knows and one of my regular buyers for the dream tea I create.”
“And the bath bombs!” my friend chirped before catching my shocked expression. “Oh yes, Harbison just adores your bath bombs.”
“You sell bath bombs?” Nox’s rumbling voice startled me, not least of all because he sounded almost...amused.
“Yes, that coffee you’ve been enjoying, Nox? With half a kilo of sugar in every cup?” I threw him a pointed look. “Not sure if you’ve noticed, but the Russian climate doesn’t lend itself to growing either of those items and, as one needsmoneyto buy things…”
