Page 15 of A Witch Out of Time
Although Matthew’s attention was on me, he didn’t miss Nox drawing his weapon. In one smooth motion—almost too fast for me to register—Matthew lifted his gun, aimed it at his son’s head, and pulled the trigger.
Chapter 12
Nox
She fucking saved me. Again.
First with the Rusalka and now this. Instead of waking up in the Nav with a hole in my head, I was staring down an oddly shaped bullet magically hovering in mid-air, two inches from my face. And no way in hell did that power come from me. I’d barely gotten my gun out of its holster, much less been able to react to the sound of a barrel emptying.
My own father just tried to kill me.
“Nox..?” Vasi's voice sounded at my elbow, an odd waver to it that wasn’t usually there. “Step away from the bullet.Please.”
It was then that I realized the bullet wasn’t frozen, but moving ridiculously slow. Shifting out of its trajectory, I swept my gaze over my father and his men. A quick glance confirmed that they were also in the throes of whatever slow-motion witchery Vasi had just unleashed.
How powerful is this woman?
“I am going to slit his throat on our way out,” Vasi snarled, back to her bad self as she stalked toward my father, claws lengthening with a metallic sound.
“Wait!” I hissed, noticing the bullet—and the men—starting to incrementally pick up speed again. “We don’t have time, and who knows if you killing one of them will snap them all out of it.”
Her primal growl had my dick twitching, as usual, but she nodded in agreement and followed me around the guards and out the exit. “Very well,” she muttered once we were outside. “But his bloodwillcoat my claws, eventually.”
Chuckling, I grabbed her little hand to drag her along faster, eyes peeled for patrols, thankful for the heavy clouds blocking the moonlight. “You may have to fight me for the privilege because my father is now number one on my personal shit list, even above Veles and Koschei.”
Not knowing if whatever Vasi had done to literallystop timeapplied to the guards at the main booth, I steered us toward the back entrance instead. The rear gate was padlocked, but Vasi simply sliced those razor claws through the thick chain like it was butter. I swallowed hard, realizing this witch could have murdered me with a claw punch to the brain similar to what she did to thatsvolochguarding Anthia’s cell
Vasi’s a fucking psychopath.
With a nice ass.
We ran for the forest, Vasi picking up speed as we drew closer, probably siphoning power off the greenery somehow. It was ridiculous to think how adamantly I’d called bullshit on her magic when we first met, when it was so obviously real. The great irony was my grandmother had raised me to believe in the supernatural. It was my father who beat the supposed ignorance out of me once I came to live with him. Now I knew he not only believed in the legends but was well-versed enough to recognize Vasi—to lay claim to her for some fucking reason. And that betrayal was just more fuel for my simmering rage.
What else is my father hiding?
I hadn’t realized how much I’d been expecting a bullet in the back until we entered the tree line, and my tension immediately lessened. Strangely, it looked like a wildfire had recently swept through; the ground blackened and mucky, with more dead trees than live ones. This surprised me, as a fire this close to the Facility would have been enough of an emergency for even the lowest recruits to know about.
Unless this was no ordinary fire...
Anthia moaned in my arms, and I gingerly adjusted how I held her to not aggravate her injuries more. The swan and I may not have gotten off on the right foot, but I now found myself oddly protective of her, simply because she was important to Vasi.
“Shit,” Vasi uncharacteristically swore, calling my attention back to her. “I was hoping the horses would be here waiting for us, but they must be traveling back from the crater still. We’ll have to get started on foot... ”
A twig snapped in the darkness just as an infuriatingly familiar voice had me reaching for my gun. “Well, shit, Françis, Bossman was right!” Ethan barked in that nasal tone of his. “This ass-humperwasstupid enough to head for the back forty.”
How is my father able to anticipate my every move?
Although I could already hear distant shouting coming from the direction of the Facility compound, I adopted a relaxed stance and tone as I replied. “Well, in that case,otsosi, potom prosi, Pindo.”
Ethan frowned, clearly not caught up on his Russian insults. “What was that, dickweed? I don’t speakfaggot!”
My tattoos pulsed as Vasi silently materialized behind the two men, deadly claws already reaching for their throats. “That’s too bad,” I smirked, more than happy to play the distraction so my witch could spill their blood. “Because I just told you to blow on my cock and make a wish, you stupid fucking American.” As Vasi readied to strike, another familiar sound filled the air—one that made the blood turn to ice in my veins.
Rusalka.
I wasn’t as affected by the melody as before, but Ethan and Françis immediately went still, their faces slack and eyes vacant. I smiled and shook my head at Vasi, deciding their deaths should be slower and more terrifying than what she would offer them. She lowered her weapons, and we silently watched as the twosvolochswandered off toward their watery doom.
Hearing the recruits’ voices growing closer, I gestured for Vasi to lead the way. She nodded and took off running, due north, and I followed, surprised to find my usually heavy steps were swift and soundless, just like hers. My awareness of the surrounding forest seemed enhanced as well—the sights, sounds, and smells were all magnified to the point of feeling like an extension of myself.
