Chapter 47
Enid
“Kill her already!” a woman shouted from the back of the crowd.
I struggled against my bindings, strapped to a tree and completely defenseless. I’d tried to break through the townspeople surrounding me and run, but it had been futile, and now I was trapped and likely about to die.
If I saw Vine again, I would have a strong word with it about taking my magic like that.
“Oh, I intend to kill her.” Bald Man stood in front of me and jabbed his pitchfork at my stomach. I winced at the sharp pricks of pain. “But not before we get information out of her.”
I spit in his face. The sticky wad hit him in the eyes, and he raised his hands to shield himself a second too late.
“I already told you—I have no information.”
“You disappeared,” he growled, baring his teeth, many of which were rotted and black. “I saw it with my own eyes.”
Murmurs of agreement rose up behind him.
“One minute that man was carrying you through the bog, and the next, you were just gone. So what are you hiding behind that barrier?”
“Maybe I wasn’t hiding anything but me and him. Maybe I’m so sick of all of you coming to my bog and trying to attack me or steal my food or my plants that I decided it was time to disappear.”
Bald Man bared his teeth. “Except you shouldn’t be able to make yourself disappear.”
“Witch,” a short man with a goatee mumbled under his breath, and I rolled my eyes.
“You do know there’s such a thing as magic in this world, right?” I asked. “I found a magical object that creates invisibility.”
“And what godwitch could that have come from?” Bald Man asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe the Fairwitch herself.”
Everyone gasped.
Bald Man laughed. “Right. No one has ever found any magic powerful enough to belong to the Fairwitch.”
I swallowed thickly, realizing just how precarious a situation this was for Fairwitch Isle, why the brotherhood was so desperate to get their hands on that magic. It was so very rare.
The pitchfork jabbed at my stomach again, and this time, it ripped my dress and sliced my skin, causing blood to well.
“There’s something unnatural about you,” Broken Nose said from the front of the crowd.
“What tipped you off?” I asked. “Was it the green skin?”
“Just kill her,” someone yelled. “She’s not going to give us any information. Once she’s gone, we can take that magic for ourselves. Think what we can do with the power of invisibility.”
“I’ll kill her now.” A woman with a dagger surged forward, but Bald Man held out his pitchfork, stopping her.
“I’ll be the one to kill her.”
The woman backed off.
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” I said, trying to keep my tone light, even though terror had seized me.
His eyes narrowed.
“It’s just that this is a sentient bog, and as you well know, I’ve befriended it over the years. If I die, there will be no one to hold it back. To keep it from completely obliterating you. From spreading. Perhaps even spreading all the way to your town.”
Whispers spread throughout the crowd, and Bald Man’s eyes widened.
“You’ve never considered it, have you? That I might be the reason you’re not all dead. That this whole time, perhaps I’ve been protecting you, helping the bog satisfy its lust for blood while making sure it doesn’t decimate nearby towns.”
Maybe, just maybe, I could stay alive. Maybe I could get back to Fairwitch Isle. Back to Nevan. Once the thought entered my mind, I couldn’t deny how badly I wanted it. How badly I wanted to stay and survive and live the rest of my life with Nevan by my side.
Bald Man turned, a few of the townspeople joining him. They ducked their heads together in some kind discussion.
My heart pounded at the possibility that I might get free if they believed this stupid lie. Not only would I be free, but they’d leave us alone, believing that I was keeping this bog from killing them all.
Bald Man turned back to me, and my hope flickered at the fear in his eyes. He jabbed the pitchfork again, and I winced as it came near. If I was about to be impaled, these were my last moments on this earth. My last moments to witness the beauty of my bog.
I love you, Nevan.
Bald Man lowered the pitchfork to the rope and slashed it. My mouth dropped open as the rope fell free.
He pointed his weapon at my neck, and I pressed my back against the tree. “That bog better not attack any of us ever again. If it does, we’ll be waiting for you.”
“Fine,” I said. “As long as you don’t bother me anymore.”
He looked behind him, and the group of people he’d been conferring with nodded. “Then we have a deal.” He spit at the ground in front of me, and I could’ve cried with relief.
A whirl of blue and gold magic appeared from thin air, and my eyes widened. I knew exactly who that was, but what was he doing here?
Not now, you idiot. Go away.
No one noticed the magic. It would’ve been invisible to them, but I didn’t need any distractions right now. Not when I was about to gain my freedom.
Except it wasn’t Ambrose who stepped through the portal.
My mouth dropped open when out of the cloud of magic came Nevan, Ceri, Niamh, Wolfe, Cillian, Vine, and a few other townspeople, with Ambrose stepping out last.
My mouth dropped open. “What are you all doing here?”
A few people screamed, and one woman in the crowd fainted.
“Did you see that?” The man with the goatee pointed at them. “They just stepped out of thin air.”
They wouldn’t have been able to see Ambrose, but they could absolutely see everyone else.
“And they brought that vine!” someone else yelled.
Townspeople began backing up and running, some of them tripping over each other to get away while Vine slithered through the crowd, jabbing at random people.
Nevan ran to my side, crouching to look at my wounds. “That fucking bastard,” he said, lunging toward Bald Man, but I held him back as my captor stumbled and fell.
“I had it handled, you know. I was about to go free.”
Nevan raised a brow. “Nice to see you too.”
Niamh, Ceri, and Harriet were chasing after the townspeople while Wolfe swatted one in the butt with his sword. Cillian just crossed his arms and watched it all with amusement.
“And don’t come back!” Niamh yelled as the townspeople ran screaming.
Oh, godwitches. “They’re never going to leave us alone now,” I said.
“I don’t care.” Nevan cupped my cheeks. “All I care about is that I get to spend the rest of my days with you.”
It was hard to be mad at him when he went and said things like that. I glanced over and noticed Ambrose was already gone, and I wondered how he’d come together with everyone. I supposed Nevan could fill me in later.
Most of the townspeople had departed by now, their figures sprinting away in the distance, but the man with the goatee remained, tugging at Bald Man’s arm. “We have to go,” he said.
Bald Man stumbled backward with him. “We’ll be back. We’ll figure out who you people are and what you’re up to.”
That was exactly what I’d feared.
Cillian saluted the man. “We look forward to it.”
And with that, the last of the townspeople bolted away.
Nevan brought me into a tight hug. “Don’t you ever do that again,” he whispered.
“What? Drug you?” I asked innocently.
“No,” he said, then frowned. “Well, yes. But also, don’t ever try to leave me again.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Unless that’s what you really want. I’d never stop you if you wanted to go, but—”
“Godwitches, he’s so bad at this,” Cillian said from next to us, and Ceri elbowed him. “How did you ever manage to charm her?”
I just laughed, staring into Nevan’s eyes. “No, I don’t ever want to leave you, you stupid man.” He took the necklace off and looped it around my neck.
“We’re really glad to see you,” Niamh said, and Ceri and Harriet nodded.
“Fiona is worried,” Harriet added.
I sighed, and Nevan wound his arm around my back. “Let’s go home.”
Home. It sounded perfect.