Page 58 of The Fearless Witch

“Erm, well.” I cleared my throat. “It appears I’ll be needing some new attire and perhaps a bath. Would you be so kind as to assist me with that?”

Chester looked like he couldn’t remember how to speak. It only lasted a moment, though, then his expression smoothened, and he bowed his head.

“Of course,” he said formally, leaving the bucket on the side of the path and slowly, pointedly, taking his gloves off. Once he set them down on one of the nearby bushes, he turned sideways, motioning toward the mansion. “Please, Mr. Malakai, follow me.”

“Thank you,” I said awkwardly, leaving the safety of my new grove and following him down the path.

“About that… tree,” he said after we were almost on the other side of the garden.

“I’m going to talk to Roman about that,” I said quickly. “And take full responsibility.” Chester nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer. “However, I’d advise against going anywhere near it until I put some… protections.”

The older man turned his head to look at me, his expression one of exasperation.

“You don’t get to be my age by being a fool, Mr. Malakai. With a vampire for a Master and a house full of magic, I learned long ago the importance of steering clear of dangerous things.” He faced forward just in time to open the door to one of the side entrances. “Please, this way. Watch your step and try not to drip too much blood over the rugs. I just had them deep-cleaned two weeks ago.”

Chapter 25

Beleth

“Watch your fucking back!” I bellowed, sending my shadows after Celeste just as she whipped around to face the fire serpent that had burst from the rock behind her. Her calm mask slipped and fear crept into her eyes, but then the ground beneath her shook and giant pieces of rock chipped from it, flying toward the monster. “Fucking hell, this is all your fault!”

‘What do you mean?’ Cyrus shot back, his anger and concern making our stomach twist. ‘She can't use fire because those creatures literally live in it and her necromancy doesn't work because the serpents are made of rock! All things considered, she’s doing a splendid job!’

“Have you been paying attention at all?” I snarled. “She almost died three times already! If she gets killed here, we’ll lose everything!”

My shadows wrapped protectively around her just as the creature’s tail swished underneath the onslaught of debris, smashing into my magic. The pain was a small price to pay for her life…

What the…? My pain was not a fucking small price! Her life would have been worthless if I wasn’t dependent on her power.

I lost my focus and didn’t see the tail of the second creature that crashed into the ground beside me, missing my foot by mere inches. The stone exploded, sending me flying back. The landing forced the air out of my lungs and while I stared at the dark forms circling overhead, I silently cursed this stupid place and that infuriating woman.

Celeste’s scream had me rushing to my feet and when I found her again, she had escaped the protection of my shadows and was just ducking under the tail of the second goddamn snake. The first one was lying squashed underneath a giant pile of burning stones, but knowing its kind, it would soon slither into the ground and come back up in no time. We had to move faster.

‘Where is the third one?’ Cyrus asked, and I froze.

Shit, there had been three. That’s why we couldn’t keep up. But where had it gone?

I got my answer when the earth beneath Celeste’s feet cracked. All I heard was her shouting “Ah, shit!” before the entire section beneath her shot toward the sky. She fell back, rolling to the edge of the rock, but caught herself short of falling over. With a scream of frustration, she pulled herself back up just as the fire serpent let out a deafening roar. ‘Fuck whoever picked this stupid challenge and fuck their mother too!’ I cursed as I covered my ears to stop the drums from bursting.

My eyes never left the woman, who was swaying dangerously while trying to remain upright. I could translocate up there, but the slab of stone was shaking so much that there was a bigger chance of me ending up inside the rock or the empty air than reaching her. But what choice did I have when she was about to be devoured by something even worse than a monster made of stone?

I watched as the three bird-like creatures in the sky dove one by one, hungry red eyes locked on their prey. Their giant forms made them look like dragons from this distance, but I had seen them up close. They were actually smaller, bodies made of cursed bones that seemed to be gathered from all kinds of animals, so deformed and asymmetrical that their shape played tricks on the eye. They had no flesh, just a thin layer of skin over their enormous wings and massive torsos.

And talons. Four enormous talons on every leg, each almost as big as Celeste herself.

Stranded up there, she was basically food served on a rocky platter.

“Fuck!” I cursed, breaking into a run. “I never should have agreed to this! Fuck!”

Celeste’s scream made me look up again, but to my relief, it wasn’t to see her being snatched away. Fire exploded toward the red sky, engulfing one of the demons in a bright motherfucking blaze while the others screeched and drew back. Unfortunately, her victory lasted only a few seconds, because another of the creatures returned, landing on the edge of the rock and reaching toward her.

She ducked and crawled between its talons, grabbing a long, sharp-looking stone and shoving it in what seemed to be its fucking ass. The bird let out a shriek that made even the serpents cower, then flew up, leaving the third one to try its luck.

The final beast circled her, searching for an opening while Celeste raised her pathetic weapon. Her flaming hair whipped into her face every time the rock tilted and she didn’t seem to notice that the bird flew closer and closer while she tried to clear her vision.

Fuck, fuck, fuck! It was going to kill her if I didn’t get her down from there!

‘Catch her,’ Cyrus said in a panicked voice. ‘You can catch her and translocate to safety!’

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