Page 73 of The Fearless Witch

That’s when it clicked. Taking a step closer, I caught her shoulders and squeezed them until she looked at me.

“Listen to me, Lily,” I said softly, rubbing my thumb over hers. “I know things are different between us and we might never be as close as we were before, but I need you to hear me.” She gulped nervously, shifting from one leg to another. “Your parents…” I cleared my throat. “Our parents love you and I’m sure when they say they are ‘fine’ with it, that is exactly what they mean.” I glanced back the way we had come from, remembering the worried lines on Alice’s face and seeing her in a whole new light. “It doesn’t matter to them if you love a boy or a girl, as long as you’re happy. And it doesn’t matter to me either. So wipe your tears or she might beat me for making you cry.”

Lily scoffed, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Why are you even fretting about this? Have our parents given you the impression that they would….”My eyes landed on the giant, impossibly green tree behind her and I watched it shake its branches, sending a few leaves to the ground. “How the fuck is there a grove here?”

Confusion took over Lily’s features, and she turned to follow my gaze. I hadn’t noticed it before, too focused on her, but now that we were close enough… even without my magic, I could feel it. The power coursing through the ground turned the colors unbelievably vibrant, while the plants buzzed with whispers that were not of this world. Even the fruits that were starting to form on one of the bushes had an odd shape and a striking magenta color.

“What do you mean? Oh!” Lily gawked at the sight, taking a step toward it. I yanked her back before she crossed the line that separated the Fae land from the normal one. “That wasn’t here the other day. Wasn’t a grove where the Fae lived?”

“Yes.” I frowned. “But theirs is in the city. There shouldn’t be one here. And this size…” I looked around the patch of land that was no bigger than the entrance hall of Roman’s house and shook my head. “This can barely be called a garden.” Lily leaned closer for a better view, and I pulled her back again, keeping her behind me. “Do not go in there! You don’t know what you’d find inside or if you’d be able to leave. I—”

“It’s fine. It’s probably Malakai’s doing.” Lily shrugged. “He’s a nice guy. He won’t do anything to endanger us.”

My jaw dropped in shock. “Malakai? The Fae Prince Malakai?”

Lily nodded, looking at me like she didn’t understand my surprise.

“He said he’d prefer not to be addressed by his title,” she chuckled. “Do you know him?”

“I… uhm, yeah I do. But what is he doing here?”

“He was out of the city when the spell was cast, so he couldn’t go home…” Lily explained. “He’s been staying here. I guess he missed home, and that’s why he created this place.”

I shook my head. She didn’t get it, she couldn’t get it.

“Lily, the Fae cannot create groves. Groves occur naturally, and the Fae find them and inhabit them. This…” I motioned toward the patch of magical land again, fear and awe battling in my chest as I studied it for any danger. “This isn’t normal. Stay away from it.”

Lily grinned. “Alright, but I’m telling you. He wouldn’t do anything to—”

The hair on the back of my neck rose in alarm and I reached for my magic on instinct, only to be met by an invisible wall. My body rebelled against the binds, but when the cuffs’ spell didn’t budge, I reacted on instinct, shoving my sister aside.

She landed in one of the flower beds, scrambling to her knees while I spun in search of the danger. Something flew between the bushes across from the small square we had stopped at, and the faint light from the gloomy sky reflected on its shiny surface right before it sunk into my thigh.

The knife buried itself almost to the hilt, and I screamed as pain stole my vision. My fingers instinctively wrapped around its handle and yanked it free, cursing under my breath. With my magic, I could have easily diverted it, but my body was too slow and weak to react the way I wanted it to.

I was just raising the blade to look at the runes etched on its surface when a second one embedded itself into my shoulder. The third one missed me since I threw myself to the ground next to Lily.

“Move, move, move!” I hissed, nudging her with my good hand toward the thicker shrubs a few steps away from where we were lying. “Have you had any hunters’ attacks here before?”

“Only a vampire, I think,” she whispered, helping me to my knees as we hid behind a bush.

“Vampires don’t use blades or walk in the sun,” I snarled as I yanked the second knife free and threw it in the grass. The runes stopped glowing the moment I was no longer touching it, confirming what I had suspected. That thing… it had magic in it.

Lily tried to look over the side of the bush, but I grabbed her by the shirt and tugged her back just as another dagger flew past her head. She gulped, the color draining from her face.

“That was… I almost…” she whispered, taking several sharp breaths as panic made her shake all over.

“Breathe, Lily, breathe!” I whispered, catching her hand and squeezing it. “You’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it.”

She nodded, but then her eyes landed on my shoulder and she squealed. “Oh, my God! You’re bleeding! Oh, shit! Oh, shit!”

“Lily!” She tore her eyes away from my wound, looking at me. “This is a big stretch, but… Can you try taking my cuffs off? Do you have the authority?”

“I-I don’t know,” she whispered, grasping my left hand with trembling fingers and pulling on the metal. We both stared in surprise as the manacle opened and magic flooded my body in an overwhelming wave. She grabbed the other and undid it while I stared at her in disbelief.

My request had been nothing but a fool’s hope, but to think Roman would give her, a mere human, such power was… mind-boggling. Did Roman really trust Lily that much? He was a vampire! He didn’t care about anybody!

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