Page 30 of A Witch Out of Time
“Yes, Asa, that’s a good way to describe it,” I confirmed, smiling encouragingly. “I get those same hunches myself. Sometimes it’s a tug in my gut, sometimes a buzzing sensation just below my ear. Although I don’t always register that it’s happening anymore, I simply respond.”
“I wonder if our proximity to each other makes the intuition stronger?” Nox mused. “Like with our...powers. Assuming we even have powers...” he trailed off, his brow furrowed as if he were still struggling to believe this was real.
“Don’t underestimate yourself, my Darkest Midnight,” I teased, feeling a strong pull to head toward a far-off hill. “I saw you fill that horrid Ethan’s throat with black smog when you thought he was going to run off with me.”
Tan perked up. “You choked Ethan with your witchy woo, Nox? Oha! I would’ve paid good money to see you take down that arse biscuit.”
“I let him live,” Nox shrugged, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Although I’m not sorry to say he’s most likely Rusalka food at this point. Him and thatsvolochFrançis.”
“You were almost Rusalka food as well, Nox,” Asa threw him a pointed look. “Until our beautiful and brave witch saved your ass.” He smiled down at me adoringly, although a hint of lust burned beneath the surface, gently tugging on our newly reconnected bond.
We must continue to keep those bonds strong and healthy!
“She saved my ass again,” Nox answered quietly, drawing our attention back to him. “Vasi somehow froze twenty men and stopped a bullet in mid-air, two inches from my face. It was my father who pulled the trigger.”
Tan and Asa stared, open-mouthed, gazes shifting between the two of us as if they didn’t know which revelation to respond to first.
“Isthatwhat you meant by your pussy magic controlling time, Vasi?” Tan’s hazel eyes swept over me with interest. “Do you think you could stop time while I’m inside you and give me an epic orgasm that lasts for days?”
Before I could reply, Asa cut in, his voice deadly quiet and gaze fixed on Nox, although his expression was otherwise unreadable. “Your father tried to kill you?”
Nox solemnly nodded and both men stared at each other as if each had something further to add, but neither spoke. Again, my heart ached, thinking of how Matthew was the reason Asa’s mother was dead—and how learning that may break my Beautiful Sun even more. I felt this was Nox’s secret to share, however, and trusted he would do so when the time was right.
But for now, we need to focus on a different death.
Besides her advice to listen to which way our intuition pulled us, Marena had suggested that I needed to reconcile the “triple goddess” aspects of my past. That this would lead us toward the blessing we needed to save Asa. Realizing the men had no way of understanding this reference, I cleared my throat and brought the conversation back to the instructions we were given.
“What Marena was referring to by ‘maiden, mother, and crone’ is the idea that each aspect represents a different stage in the feminine life cycle. Many ancient religions viewed these three-fold phases as united in a single being—either a goddess or a goddess archetype. These cycles also coincided with phases of the moon and each supposedly ruled a different realm of heaven, earth, or the underworld.” Seeing as my Riders still looked confused, I clarified. “Even though I haven’t physically aged since transitioning to Yaga, I have experienced all three stages in my life, so I assume Marena wants me to confront or reconcile those memories somehow.”
We walked in silence a while before Asa haltingly spoke, “Is there amaleversion of this?”
I shrugged noncommittally. “There are some newer pagan beliefs that view the triple-goddess’ consort as the Horned God, although he’s usually more dualistic—representing light and dark.” Frowning, I thought of the horns I’d distinctly witnessed on at least two of my men.
Nox must have guessed where my thoughts were headed, as he chuckled smugly. “What’s the matter, witch? Are you thinking about how I fucked you so hard you thought you saw horns growing out of my head?”
“You fucked her?!”Asa barked, reddish heat blasting outward and vaporizing the neatly planted seedlings closest to him. “You don't deserve to breathe the same air as Vasi with how you’ve behaved!” He switched his focus to me, tone devastated. “Oh, sweetness, you didn’t need to let him…”
“He got on hisknees,Ace,” Tan soothed, although a smirk played on his lips in response to Nox’s scowl. “HebeggedVasi to let the python slither out of its angry cock cage…”
“Enough!” Nox growled, narrowing his eyes at all three of us. “Why thefuckdid you have to tell him I got on my knees, Vasi? I’m never going to fucking hear the end of it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, how awful of me to share how you redeemed yourself by offering a heartfelt, sincere apology for your incredible rudeness.” Nox snorted, and I turned to Asa, taking his hand in mine to calm the anger flaring beneath his skin. “It changes nothing between us, my Beautiful Sun. All of my Riders are equally important to me.”
“It’s not that,” Asa replied, although he seemed to simmer down. “You just deserve better. You deserve to be appreciated for all that you are, for all you do for us.” I couldn’t help but notice his pale blue eyes shifted to Tan as he spoke, as if his words were also meant for him.
“That’s exactly what I said,lan,”Nox grumbled. “She deserves to be treated like a queen and I need to dobetter.”Asa eyed him skeptically for a moment before nodding, apparently accepting the other man’s explanation as sufficient repentance.
Well, thank Goddess, we settled that.
We must have been walking for longer than I realized. The strange orange sun was rapidly dipping below the horizon, and a silvery crescent moon had taken its place straight ahead. We were almost at the top of a large hill, and I hoped it would give us a better vantage point for finding somewhere to bed down for the night.
I was expecting to find more endless farmland as we reached the summit, but what I saw instead made me gasp. A village lay nestled in the valley below. A small grouping of well-built brick buildings marking the center with rusticdachascramped together in ever-widening circles from there. My wide eyes followed a familiar path I’d walked before, landing on anizbaon the outskirts of town—its neglect and disrepair starkly visible even from a kilometer away.
Picking up on my distress, the men huddled around me, our bond buzzing with alertness and concern. Tan grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips, his expression softening as he gazed down at me. “What is it, doll? Do you recognize this place?”
I flinched as the nickname further triggered my memories of this place. Recentering myself, I squared my shoulders and fiercely lifted my chin. “Yes, I recognize it. This is the village of Toska. And that,” I pointed to the dilapidatedizbain the distance. “Is the house of my childhood.”
Chapter 25
