Page 89 of Filthy Little Witch
“Moving on,” she said with one final glance in my direction. “What do we know about the Bloody Femmes? Have they been seen riding through our territory again?”
Gullveig gave an update while Aradia pulled up some files on her computer, detailing their last known location. I tried to stay present, to keep my attention on church, but my thoughts went to Atlas and Wes. They were standing their own trial with the other warriors, and when I closed my eyes, I yanked on the bond.
“It’s over,” I said. “Probation and a watchful eye. They’re not kicking me out.”
“That’s great,” Atlas said.
“The other warriors are skeptical,” Wes added. “But happy we’re back. They want to watch us, make sure we’re not a threat.”
“They don’t realize our little witch is the real threat,” Atlas said.
I internally snorted and shook my head. “I miss you.”
“We’ll be together soon,” Atlas said, sending a light caress of affection down the bond between us.
The meeting went on around me, and when Circe called it over, I turned to head back toward my room. The separation from Atlas and Wes ached like a lance to the chest, but I tried to take comfort in the fact my coven wouldn’t take them from me. But…that hollow void inside twisted around my heart, and I knew we weren’t out of the thick of it, yet.
This may have worked out in our favor, but something still wasn’t right. Something loomed just over the horizon, just out of reach, and it was barreling toward us with breakneck speed.
CHAPTER 29
Wesson
I fucked up. I knew making a deal with the demon would cost me, but I didn’t realize exactly how much. I’d been so ready to sacrifice myself to save them, I didn’t count on them doing the same to save me. Atlas, sure. He’d run through hell if it meant finding me on the other side. But Marta? I expected her to be the voice of reason. I expected her to read the cards on the table, take her chips, and yank my brother out of there.
I didn’t think they’d burn it all down to make sure I left with them.
I was thankful, infinitely so, but now the shame ate away at me like a sculptor chiseling away at marble. Something wasn’t right in me, in us, and it was my fault.
The Harlots kept us isolated for three days afterward, someone always on guard in my room to make sure we didn’t see each other. But on the fourth day, we were brought before the rest of the warriors to stand judgment.
Technically, the warriors were an extension of the Harlots. Lilith and her council reigned supreme, and their choices shaped how the warriors operated. But that didn’t mean we weren’t an entity in our own right. In the end, the warriors had decided to let the chips fall where they may. Leander reiterated that we would be watched, that we would need to play by the rules or face the consequences.
We agreed, of course, but it didn’t change how I felt on the inside.
My broken soul had followed me out of the liminal, and if I stuck around, I would bring everyone down with me. I’d given up more than my free will when I let that demon possess me. Atlas and Marta thought they’d banished it, but something still wasn’t right. That monster, that darkness inside me, slithered around my chest like a hookworm, battering against the farthest recesses of my mind, wrapping its clawed fingers around the bars of its cage and shaking the confines of my control.
Eventually, it would overpower me, and I didn’t know what would happen when it did.
I have to get out of here.
I’d never felt that impulse as strongly as I did while walking back to the estate. We went through the motions. We ate dinner with the rest of the warriors and the Harlots, celebrating our safe retrieval and a return to normalcy.
It will never be normal again.
Marta emerged from the crowd and rushed toward us, wrapping her arms around Atlas first before doing the same to me. The connection between us sizzled at the proximity, reminiscent of how it felt after the rituals, but now… more. Different. Intense.
After the party ended and most of the others dispersed, I disappeared into my room alone and quietly shut the door, knowing tonight would have to be the night. Sitting on the edge of my bed with my head in my hands, I realized I couldn’t stay here any longer. I could put them in more danger by waiting around to see what would happen.
The separation would hurt, but we’d survived worse. They’d survived worse, and they deserved better.
I sensed my brother coming closer before the door to my room opened, and he stepped through.
“Atlas,” I said, my heart twisting at the sight of him in sweat pants and a black T-shirt. After everything that happened, I only found him more beautiful. Now that we were on the other side, the human side, perhaps I should have felt ashamed of my attraction to him. What happened in the liminal had definitely not stayed in the liminal.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. “Where’s?—”
“We haven’t had a chance to catch up since we got out,” he said, crossing his arms as he came to stand in front of me. His biceps bulged under his shirt, and I ignored the twist of heat in my gut at the sight. We may have told the others how deeply we were connected, but we hadn’t shared everything with the rest of the class. They didn’t know what transpired between Atlas and me. It wasn’t their business. “I should beat your ass for leaving Marta and me that night in the church.”
