Chapter 2 #2
I arched my stick above my head, reversing my grip on the other so they both pointed in the same direction.
Determination filled every part of me. I imagined them daggers and hoped I was sinking them into that Elf’s flesh.
Moving through one form and then the next took all my concentration.
Learning from a book was difficult, but I had to prepare for the next murder attempt.
I would not get a second chance at surprising that asshole.
And he deserved to be as dead as I could make him.
I still couldn’t close my eyes without seeing Rue’s blood all over her cottage floor.
My sister could keep her Fated Mate. Fate brought me my revenge when it put Noth and I together.
It didn’t matter that killing Noth wasn’t something Rue would have approved of.
Oh, she would have couched it in terms of the rebound on my magic, my soul, but she would disapprove nonetheless. But Fate had all but decreed it.
I sliced through the air with my stick, using my hips to snap into the turn.
Rue was my everything growing up. The one person who turned my rage into something positive.
Every hookup I used to soothe the pain of her death was a pale comparison to what she taught me.
After all these years of trying to summon it, tapping into my magic seemed fruitless.
If I would never be a proper witch, maybe I could be a real killer.
Noth’s impending murder made me feel alive for the first time in a long time. Now I just had to finish the job.
I moved through the forms until my arms trembled, and the sun rose high in the sky. I flopped back down on my mat into corpse position, slowing my galloping heart, stuffing the anger back down into any semblance of serenity.
My emotions were at least contained enough to wash up, change and find Emrys, the local bartender at Bar None. Running away into the woods to collect herbs together was a fine way to spend the rest of the day.
“I’m grateful you convinced me to do this,” she replied with her usual amiable smile.
She touched the leaves above us as if they nourished her. The dappled sunlight and hushed quiet didn’t settle me.
“Don’t get too excited. It’s nothing.” I realized that sounded prickly, but Rat Face was still on my mind, and he soured everything.
Instead of being insulted, Emrys linked arms with me as we wandered further into the woods.
I was so glad that Evie’s birthday had expanded our friend circle out of our tiny human village and into the greater Harrowlands.
Since the Elves kept us secret for their own purposes, we hadn’t met many of the other monsters of our own realm.
Emrys was a keeper, even if she was a Druid.
“This one?” I pointed at the fuzzy purple bloom with pointed leaves, keeping my hand a safe distance away.
Emrys looked over. “Soft Shadowblow. I wouldn’t recommend touching that one. It's a peaceful death, but you would still be dead.”
Even the plants differed from those found around Rue’s cottage.
I picked some pods off a long-leafed plant. That felt right. Herbs were basic witch magic even I could do.
“This?” I asked Emrys.
“Cardamom,” she said.
I almost dropped the pods. That we had in our village. Rue handed it out often enough for lust, love, and fidelity. She told the people who came for it; it sweetened the personality. I was doing just fine with mine.
“I don’t know why you bother with that trash. It will only get you in trouble.”
Emrys quirked a smile at me, unbothered by my curt response.
“If you don’t want them, I’ll take them. One man’s trash is another woman’s date with an orc.” Emrys popped the last ‘c’.
Her smile grew wide and cheeky. The sparkle in her eye was an appropriate way to approach sex.
Not the all-consuming, blackout hunger I seemed to have.
That scared every one of my partners… well, except the Elf.
But that remained too tangled up in my trying to kill him to be anything real.
Emrys’ teasing demanded a light response.
They came harder and harder since my frustrating encounter with Noth.
Every day he was alive made me feel more like a failure.
Everything was fine. I reminded myself. I could interact with another being without getting angry for unreasonable reasons, right?
“Sounds like a wild ride. Does everything fit?”
“If you put your mind to it,” Emrys replied with a chuckle.
Maybe that’s what I needed. Something to put my mind to. I laughed with her, and we headed back up to the Keep with our harvest.
Entering the steamy kitchens, I found Fallon hard at work making dinner.
Emrys headed straight for her orc, cardamom in hand.
Noise and wonderful aromas battled with the sound of smashing cleavers and flickering shadows from the hellfire-like roasting pits.
My sister’s best friend had slowly taken over the kitchen, much to everyone’s delight.
Fallon shoved a ladle back into the kitchen boy’s hands.
“What did you bring me this time?” Fallon asked, wiping her hands on her apron.
I didn’t miss that they shook a little, but if I couldn’t ask my sister for forgiveness, I wasn’t ready to pry for Fallon’s secrets.
I dropped a basket full of Vival Greens onto the large prep table.
You would have thought I had brought her a mottled green nugget of fuchsite with the way she clapped her hands.
“I can always count on you to bring me something difficult to make delicious.”
“And you always rise to the challenge,” I reminded her.
Though Fallon and I weren’t besties, she always kept my plates full of clean food even when she was serving everyone else decadence. I appreciated it more than words could say. So maybe we were closer than I thought.
“Do you want anything else?” she asked.
“Just some game. No cake, please.”
Fallon smiled. “I’ll just set it on Evie’s side of the table. It will be gone before you know it.”
I smiled back. My sister and her husband would definitely demolish it.
“Well, don’t be late again or you’ll miss out on how I turn these green bastards into perfection.” Fallon shooed me out of her kitchen.
She made fun of me ever since she had to come get Noth and me from his room. If she knew what had occurred between the Elf and me, she said nothing to the rest of the group. I should revise her into bestie category.
In my disheveled room, I changed into something casual, layered and comfortable.
I liked how the indigo fabric shifted, but still left my arms bare and free.
A girl never knew when she would have to move out of the way.
Especially with this crew. Dinner was just with friends.
Our group had gotten tighter after Evie and Ward came back from their quest, and we had dinners together most nights.
It was a comfortable routine, mostly. Other than Noth always ending up across the table from me.
I palmed a Tiger’s Eye, working its natural magic to promote mental clarity, as I took the stairs two at a time back down to the dining room. I could use all the unemotional problem solving on offer because when I entered the dining room, only Noth sat at the table.
Seated was a gracious word for the sprawling lounge he accomplished.
Legs spread, dark hair spilling over his shoulders and hips, he turned the simple dining chair into a throne.
Wanting Noth was pretty much the most deviant thing I had ever done in my life.
The Tiger’s Eye dug into my palm, I willed myself not to notice how it matched the gold piercings laddering up his long ears.
I had no right to know they were very sensitive. I bet it would hurt if I cut them off.
I took my seat opposite him and stared down at my empty place setting, willing the rest of the group to be on time so my heart rate didn’t kick up.
“No snappy barb tonight, Pumpkin?” His low, smoky voice tightened every muscle I had.
I hated that nickname. It was like he found the most vulnerable part of me and made it public.
I wasn’t that round, lumpy girl anymore.
Discipline, control and more workouts than I cared to count made me strong, toned and noticed.
The last was just as aggravating as being made fun of for being fat.
It was the control I was after with all those workouts, not the attention.
In my darkest moments, I admitted that that’s what I wanted from the sex too.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there. What did you say?” I asked while looking around the room, forcing my limbs loose.
Noth’s ego was unflagging, immeasurable, and my campaign of pretending he was nothing got under his skin like the Termian Plague.
From the corner of my eye, I caught shadows flickering over his body, flitting over the raw muscles he had on easy display.
Noth’s jaw hardened to granite, but then his face smoothed into a terrifying blankness.
I locked my legs so I wouldn’t back up in my chair.
His pupils dilated, small, black veins fanning out from his eyes.
I unconsciously stuck my hand in my crystal pouch and pulled out black obsidian.
Even though it sparked against my hand, the rock felt like little protection from the monster across the table.
My teeth clenched until they ached. I vowed to have a dagger with me at all times after this meal. Thighs pressing together, my booming heart couldn’t decide if we were about to fight, fuck or flee. We sat frozen, unblinking, the bowstring between us taught enough to snap.
The scrape of wooden legs against the stone floor jerked my attention to Evie plopping into the chair Ward held out for her. I shouldn’t have taken my eyes off Rat Face, but when I looked back, he was smiling at Ward, lounging again. No inky lines framed his eyes.
“See, I’m on time tonight. I hope that means you have good news for me,” Noth said in his most charming manner. “I told you I would even pay you for the information. What do you know?”
Ward nodded. “After dinner. I want to be thorough in my assessment of what I gathered.”
Rat Face didn’t like whatever that meant. His mouth pulled into annoyed lines as everyone started talking as they piled into the room.
Declan strode in on four paws, shaking off his shaggy wolf form and pulling clothes out of the basket standing by the door.
“I’m on time too. I wouldn’t miss Fallon’s cooking,” the wolf shifter said.
“Well, I prefer fashionably late.” Ruby and her Druid husband, Dane, took their seats, which meant Emrys was at their bar. Her date with the orc must have been after closing. I didn’t know how the girl kept up.
Fallon entered the room, laden with a huge tray just as Declan took his seat. I doubt she even realized she served him first, or saw us all stare down at our plates when she kissed him on the cheek like a brother. There would be a reckoning there someday.
Noth’s face twitched in proportion to the volume in the room. Everyone but him settled in for an amazing meal. The servants helped Fallon with the rest of the dishes and trenchers, so she was free to join us at the table.
Noth’s fist came down on the table with a boom, cutting through the chatter. “Enough of stuffing your face. You’ll tell me where you found the Calix. Now.”
Ward wasn’t the type to get ruffled, but he dragged Evie’s chair a bit closer to his.
“As well-mannered as ever,” Dane grumbled. His wife, Ruby, elbowed him in the side.
Noth looked like he wanted to spit something back at the Druid but this Calix must be important because he kept his gaze on Ward.
“In Portsgrave Harbor, my friend,” Ward said.
I took a bite of Vival Greens, thinking that was the end until we finished dinner. Noth pushed back his chair and clapped Ward on the shoulder.
“That meticulous mind of yours can find anything,” he said and turned to leave the room. “I’ll be forever in your debt.”
Disbelief struck through me. What!? Everyone was just going to let him toddle off?
I spat out the Greens. “Wait!” I called. “You can’t just leave.” I hadn’t figured out how to kill him in his sleep.
He swung back, his hair fanning out behind him in a dizzying display. Rushing to my side, he grabbed my face and planted a giant kiss on my lips that arrowed straight between my legs. I didn’t even have time to fight him before he opened his arms wide.
“Oh, Pumpkin. Wait for me with that shattered heart. I will return to our fun and games with a crown on my head.”
The kiss and the declaration were so over the top, everyone laughed but me. He even did a little finger wave as he left the room.
Burning rage lit inside me. This would not stand. Him alone, on the road, might be my perfect opportunity. Because the only way that Rat Face was going to finish this quest was in his grave.