Chapter 44
Nevan
Enid sat on the healer stool in my lab, leaning over the injured man and cleaning the gaping cut on his leg with a new salve I’d made from one of her plants. This salve had the ability to disinfect a wound. This would make it far easier to keep my patients’ injuries from getting reinfected.
She finished layering on the salve. I’d never seen Enid so determined than I had in these last few weeks as she shadowed me and learned about healing. She’d make an amazing healer one day. I was sure of it. “Done.”
I nodded at the man. “Enid is going to bandage it, and then you can come back in a few days so we can check on you.”
He gave a grateful smile to both of us before leaving the room.
Enid wiped her hands on a cloth, her hair tied back, wisps escaping and framing her face.
A white apron hung over her brown dress, cinched tight around her small waist. She bent slightly, giving me a perfect view of the swell of her breasts.
My cock twitched, and I already knew exactly what I wanted to do right now. I strode toward her, and she straightened as I pushed her against the back counter, then lifted her onto it.
She clutched my shoulders and shot a look at the door. “We’re at work right now, and I’m trying to be professional.”
I kissed her neck, and she shuddered. “I thought you wanted me to have better work-life balance.”
“And you consider this work-life balance?”
“Absolutely.” I skimmed my hands up her legs and under her dress, then to the area between her legs, and she gasped. “Already wet for me.”
“Always,” she said as I stuck a finger inside of her, making her head fall back and her eyes flutter. “Godwitches, Nevan. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you had magic of your own.”
“No.” I crooked my finger inside her, grazing the spot that I knew drove her wild.
She moaned.
“I just happen to be obsessed with every part of your body.”
“Lucky me,” she panted as I added another finger, using my other hand to massage her clit.
She leaned back, lifting her pelvis and rubbing herself against my hand. I loved when she took control like this, when she used me in the exact way she needed.
“When’s our next client?” She gasped as I stuck a third finger inside her.
“Not the best dirty talk I’ve ever heard. I prefer things like: Yes, Nevan. Harder, Nevan. Faster, Nevan.”
“That’s a lot of Nevans—Ooh,” she moaned out as I circled faster around her clit.
“Oh my godwitches. How am I already going to come? You’re going to have to slow down. I’m going to . . .” She trailed off as her walls clenched around my fingers, and her body shattered.
Enid didn’t lose control very often. Others might have seen her as a temperamental person, but I knew how guarded she actually was, how close she held her true emotions.
Which was why I loved knowing that I could see her come apart like this.
See her lips parting, her chest heaving, eyes fluttering.
I loved it all.
I slipped my fingers from her, and she let out a long breath right as the door burst open.
I whirled to see Cillian standing there, hands on his hips.
“Do you two ever give it a rest? This is the fourth time I’ve walked in on you.
You know, there is such a thing as bedrooms. Closed doors. Not having sex in public spaces.”
“The door was closed,” I said, annoyed that he’d interrupted. I’d planned to do more to her. We had no more patients today, so I had all the time in the world to ravish her body.
Enid hopped down from the counter. She and Cillian had made a fragile truce, and I hoped I could convince her soon that it would be safe to tell my family the truth about her identity, but she wasn’t quite there yet.
I grabbed a wet rag, wiping my fingers. “To what do we owe this pleasure?”
Cillian swallowed. “It’s not great news.” His gaze flicked to Enid, and instinctively, I pulled her into me.
“What is it?” she asked.
Cillian shoved a hand through his hair. “People from a nearby town, if I had to guess. A lot of them. With torches and weapons. They’re shouting for you to come out.”
Her brows furrowed, and the hairs on the back of my neck raised. “Come out from where?”
“Where they saw you and Nevan enter a week ago. One minute you were there, and the next, you were gone. I have spies who overheard them talking. Which means they know there’s something hiding in your bog, some kind of magic that made you disappear.
They probably don’t know what yet, but if they keep searching, they’re bound to find out about Fairwitch Isle. ”
Enid and I looked at each other, and I knew immediately when they’d seen us. After I’d gotten stuck in that mud pit and carried Enid back to the city.
“They’ve been watching me for a while,” she said. “I should’ve said something.”
I put a hand on her shoulder. “This isn’t your fault.”
Cillian shoved a hand through his hair. “We’re thinking through our options right now, but none of them are ideal, and Wolfe suggested I come and talk to you both.” Cillian spread out his arms. “So here I am. Talking.”
“Where are they right now?” Enid asked, her body tensing in my arms.
“They’re wandering your bog. The plants are helping a bit, scaring them off, but they’re determined to find you, and there are a lot of them.”
My heart pounded in my chest. I’d read enough history books to know that while the godwitches couldn’t be killed, demi-godwitches could. Sometimes mortals would kidnap them, torture them just to prove a point.
These mortals might not know Enid was a demi-godwitch, but if they saw her passing through some invisible barrier, then they knew she had magic.
They could torture her. Give her up to their king.
I swallowed thickly. Give her up to the brotherhood.
Or they could simply kill her. None of those were acceptable outcomes.
“Can we fight them?” I asked.
Cillian spread out his arms. “You want me to make an army appear from behind an invisible barrier? Yes, we can fight them, but that will most certainly lead to more questions about where this army came from. It’ll lead to rumors, suspicions.”
“They want me,” Enid said. “So they can have me. I’ll go and they’ll leave you alone.”
“Absolutely not.” I cut her a glare.
Her gaze softened. “What other options are there?”
I gestured to my brother. “That’s why he’s here. Why we have a council. To come up with solutions. You giving yourself up is not a solution, Enid.” I would tie her to my bed if that was what it took to keep her from doing something stupid.
I straightened my shoulders. “I’ll go.”
Cillian tilted his head while Enid said, “That makes no sense.”
“I can do it,” I said. “I can pretend I’ve been Enid’s prisoner, maybe.
Tell them that she found some kind of magical plant that casts invisibility and planted them around the border of her home.
” I was thinking so quickly I wasn’t even sure this made sense, but I was desperate to keep Enid safe within the limits of Fairwitch Isle.
“I’ll tell them I escaped after I killed her.
It’ll be simple. I’d have no reason to lie. ”
Cillian stroked his jaw. “It might work.”
“We can at least try it,” I said.
“I don’t like it.” Enid shook her head. “It’s risky. If they recognize you as the person they saw entering the city, they could turn on you.”
I stroked her cheek with my thumb. “They’d have no reason to turn on me. Not like they would you. I’ll be safe. I promise.”
She bit her lip and pushed out of my arms, backing toward the counter. She was likely angry about this, but I didn’t care. I’d do anything to protect her.
“Okay, then. I will talk to the council and see what they say about this plan,” Cillian said. “If they approve it, you’ll have to leave as soon as possible.”
I swallowed. “I’m ready whenever.”
Cillian nodded and left.
I turned to face Enid, her hands behind her back as she stared down at her boots.
“Hey.” I walked toward her and put my hands on her arms, giving them a small squeeze. “It’s going to be okay. You don’t have to worry about me. I can handle those people.”
“I could use my magic against them,” she said.
“But then you might drain the rest of it.”
“No. It would take far more magic than that to drain it all.”
“But then they would see you using magic. That would put you in danger. The whole point of this bog, your life here, has been to protect your identity. You can’t go use magic in front of a huge crowd of people to scare them off.
That’ll ensure they’ll never stop coming back, never stop looking for you. Especially the brotherhood.”
Possibly Lor. My heart ached as I thought about my older brother working for the enemy. Choosing to side with them over coming home. But I couldn’t think about that right now.
“I could send Vine to scare them,” she said.
“And risk hurting it?”
She flinched, and I knew if anything happened to Vine, it would kill Enid.
“No,” I said.
“You’re right. I couldn’t send Vine out to face those monsters alone.”
“Then we agree this is the only option. I go out there and deal with this. It’s a good plan, Enid.”
“Actually, we do have one more option.” She finally lifted her head and met my gaze, an apology on her face.
“What—”
“I’m sorry,” she said, and then she brought a needle out from behind her back.
Before I could react, she jabbed it into my neck, and I sank into darkness.