Page 74 of The Fearless Witch

A loud howl echoed through the garden and we both froze to listen.

“Alice!” Lily gasped, and before I could stop her, she was dashing out of our hiding spot. Pushing to my feet with a grunt, I summoned a ward around her while I tried to catch up. I hadn’t had the chance to study the runes on the blades more closely, but they had definitely been intended for witches because my wounds were barely healing, even after I directed half my magic to them.

A furry brown form soared in the air before slamming into a large man dressed in black from head to toe. The two rolled among the flowers and herbs, sending petals and dirt flying everywhere, and for a bit, it looked like the wolf was winning. Her jaws snapped dangerously close to his neck a couple of times before he kicked the animal with such strength that she flew a good ten feet before crashing into the fountain we had passed earlier. The statue of a woman on top of it snapped in two, and both she and the wolf toppled to the ground while the water erupted upward.

The wolf didn’t stay down. Jumping to her feet, Alice bared her teeth and charged the hunter again. He dropped his knife in favor of a pouch he plucked out of his pocket and threw it at her. She howled as she passed through the cloud of shimmering dust, staggering back and tossing her head violently.

“Alice, look out!” Lily screamed, just when the hunter slid another knife out of the strap on his thigh. I sent my magic forward and his weapon bounced off the ward next to the shifter’s head, disappearing into the bushes.

His head snapped in our direction, and Lily screamed. I threw her a glance to see if she got hurt somehow, but she was just standing there, covering her mouth with her hands while her eyes grew wide with horror.

I considered separating his limbs from his body so he wouldn’t be able to attack or run away, but I didn’t want to do it in front of her. So I sent more of my power to wrap around him and bring him to his knees so I could remove his weapons and we could tie him up. If that didn’t work, then, well… Lily might need to look the other way.

The hunter paused, looking around as the magic tightened its hold on him, and then he… stepped through it. My jaw dropped in shock while I watched him continue toward us with a wide, confident gait, an arrogant smile tugging on his lips. His hair was long and dark, raised in a bun on the back of his head, eyes gray like the sky overhead. He could have passed for a normal, unassuming human if it wasn’t for the dark, ominous tattoos covering his arms, neck, and even forehead. There were so many of them that I was surprised he felt human at all.

Was this how he pierced my ward? The spell was still there, hanging in the air, so he didn’t break it with his runes, he just went through it. Like a vampire would. But he wasn’t a vampire—he could walk under the sun and I could definitely feel a heartbeat coming from him.

“Get behind me!” I told Lily, raising both my hands in preparation. It didn’t matter what made him immune to my magic, nobody was immune to getting his brain bashed in.

I waved toward the statue with the roses from earlier and it tore itself from its pedestal, dragging along the flowers and vines as they snapped one by one. The hunter barely slowed down, unsheathing a long, shiny blade from the strap on his back.

The stone tore through the air and I expected it to pommel him into the ground with the speed it flew, but he sidestepped it with half an effort. The bust crashed onto the earth, rolling through the rolls of neatly arranged herbs and coming to a stop as it collided with one of the smaller trees, almost uprooting it from its place.

He looked back at us, and his smile grew. I felt a set of fingers squeeze my arm and almost jumped when Lily whispered, “That’s him! The one that held us captive! The one that almost killed Celeste!”

The horror in her voice made my blood boil, and I pulled more of my magic to me. Digging my feet into the dirt, I let it soak the earth until it touched every single plant in the garden, calling them to our aid. Roots upturned the ground, branches, and stalks shooting toward him, but all he did was slash them off before they could even reach him. His smile remained on the whole time, taunting and terrifying, and once the earth beneath his feet turned into a graveyard for dead plants, he stopped to clean the blade on his sleeve.

“Time’s up, Samara,” he spoke for the first time, and I could swear I knew that voice. I couldn’t remember when or where I had heard it, but my mind recognized it instantly and a cold shiver crawled down my spine. “Come quietly and I’ll let the others go.”

Lily’s hand tightened on my arm.

He was here for me. He wasn’t attacking the place because it belonged to a vampire or because of the shifters in these lands. He was here for me.

“Who sent you?” I demanded, trying not to be obvious as I glanced at the mansion. Surely someone would have seen something, heard something by now. Why wasn’t anyone coming to help us? The thought had barely crossed my mind when Alice’s words hit me like a brick—there was a soundproofing spell on the house, and most of the rooms on this side of the mansion should be unoccupied after her people left.

“You already know,” he smirked, pointing the blade toward me. No, not toward me… toward Lily. “Come along now. Nobody else needs to get hurt.”

I took a deep breath and stepped forward, trying to shrug off Lily’s grip, but she only clung to me harder. If he was here on Mariam’s orders, then it was better to go. I couldn’t risk getting her killed because of me. Once it was only the two of us, I could act. I could even call on Mathias, although after what happened…

Before I could make a second step, Alice, still in wolf form, slammed into the hunter, locking her teeth around his arm. He cursed as blood gushed from the wound while the wolf jerked her head, trying to tear his limb off. His blade dropped to the ground, but to my shock, he looked more annoyed than hurt.

“Alice, run!” I yelled when I noticed him reach for something on his belt. Before the shifter could react, he slipped out another knife and sank it into her back. She released him, wailing so loud that her roar made my head throb. Lily screamed just as loudly.

“Get off her!” I snarled at him, running forward now that Lily had released me. The ground moved at my command again, throwing him back just before he could stab her again. Alice shifted into her human form, but instead of trying to get up, she stayed down, the blood oozing from her wound in a heavy stream.

The earth shook and rose in waves, pushing the hunter further and further back. If I couldn’t pin him down, then I was going to bury him. I’d love to see him step out of that.

I opened my arms, and the earth tilted, creating a hole big enough for him to fall through. He jumped to the side, avoiding the slide and disappearing into what was left of the bushes. When I lost sight of him, I staggered back, glancing at where Lily was hugging Alice’s body, pressing a hand against the wound on her back. Blood seeped between her fingers, with pale, shiny lines running around the injury.

Silver. Shit!

My heart dropped when I spun on my heel and noticed my sister’s mouth opening to scream. I ducked more on instinct than anything else, avoiding the blade that was aimed at my abdomen. The ground beneath our feet exploded, forcing us apart, and by the time the rain of dirt ceased, he was gone again.

I cried out in frustration, grabbing more of my energy even as the pain came along with it. I never got the chance to fully heal and recharge, so I was reaching my limit already, but I’d be damned if I let that bastard get the better of us. I just needed to figure out why he wasn’t affected by magic and could do things he shouldn’t be able to do. Just like Mathias who…

The thought slipped. Mathias. I had to call him, even if it was a huge risk. It didn’t matter how we left things; it didn’t matter that he threatened me. I held his leash, and I was going to make him help me, even if it killed me after.

“Violet!” Lily screamed, and I spun around. She was still kneeling with the unconscious Alice in her arms, but the hunter stood behind her, his weapon poised at her throat. I took a step toward them and he pressed the blade against her trachea hard enough that a few drops of blood slid down her pale skin. One slip of his fingers—that was all it was going to take for him to end her life.

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