Page 10 of The Fearless Witch

I landed heavily, rolling to my side as something crawled out of my throat. I opened my mouth on instinct, my eyes following suit, and the strange place with the icy fire disappeared in favor of a wooden floor inside a dark room.

My throat burned as I puked and puked until there was nothing left inside. When my vision finally came into focus, I stared at the rusty bucket placed by the bed, the stinky, murky liquid slowly settling down once I stopped adding to it. With a pained grunt, I rolled onto my back and looked around.

Thud… Thud… Thud…

Everything was made of old, faded wood, with spiderwebs crawling around the roof beams, and despite the poor lighting, I could see a few rotten spots eating at the planks. My heart raced as I pushed myself to my elbows, trying to figure out where I was because my bedroom definitely didn’t look like that.

How did I even get here? My head was still spinning so fast, it was hard to think clearly, but I could distantly remember a sense of danger and dire urgency. It made my skin crawl, but the more I tried to focus on remembering, the fuzzier my thoughts became.

Thud… Thud…

I spotted a door on the opposite side of the room, and two windows, both dark and half-covered with ragged red curtains. The hearth in front of the bed—the only source of light—was cracking merrily, like it wanted to lure me into its false sense of security.

“Fire,” I whispered, my eyes going wide with panic as the realization hit. If there was fire, that means somebody started it, and considering I just woke up… I wasn’t alone here. But who…?

Thud… Thud… Thud…

That infuriating sound seemed to be coming from the window. I reached for my magic on instinct, sighing in relief when I felt its familiar embrace. I let it search for any danger nearby, but to my surprise, it whispered of none.

Thud…

Gritting my teeth, I slid off the bed, clinging to the wooden poster. Once sensation returned to my feet, I made my way to the window. A pitcher of water caught my attention on the way, and I veered from my destination to gulp down a cup because my mouth was burning even harder than the fire that was throwing dancing shadows across the wall. The thought that the water might be poisoned or spiked with something crossed my mind while I was halfway through it, but I was too thirsty to stop. Whoever brought me here must have wanted to keep me alive, so the chances were…

I choked when the memories rushed in. The attack on Regina’s house, the battle, and my attempt to sneak up on her and kill her… then darkness.

The glass slipped from my hand, falling heavily on the floor and shattering to pieces.

What happened after? The last thing I remembered was Regina’s power coursing through me and bringing me a level of pain none of her punishment had reached before. I had thought I was dying for sure, that she’d finally finish me off, but then… Wait, there was that werewolf… did he kill her? Did she kill him? Where was Mathias?

Thud… Thud…. Thud…

I tiptoed away from the wet stain on the floor and frantically turned to the window. Pushing the faded curtains aside, I peeked into the darkness, my grip on my magic tightening. The moon was almost full, its generous glow illuminating the thick forest surrounding me from all sides.

I was most definitely not in the city anymore, and judging by the lack of artificial light or loud noises, I was nowhere near it, either. But how did I end up here? And what the fuck was making that annoying noise?

Just as the question popped into my head, a movement caught my attention. What I thought was one of the smaller trees moved, taking the form of a man—a shirtless man—swinging a giant ax. He was rather lean, which made the strength with which he drove that ax into the wood even more staggering. At the same time, he looked completely at ease with the motion, like he had done it a thousand times before.

The moonlight slid over his pitch-black hair, glistening on the sweat that coated his back and shoulders, and I realized with a shock that I was looking at Mathias. I was so stunned that I didn’t even flinch when his head abruptly turned my way and his eyes locked with mine. We stared at each other for one long moment before he turned away, raising the ax again. The log snapped in two under his strike, and he finally dropped his tool, crouching to gather the firewood.

I staggered back, the urge to flee overwhelming my curiosity, when I stepped on the glass and hissed as pain shot through my foot. Jumping on my good leg while trying to get the shard out, I shot the window another glance. I could no longer hear him outside, and that set me on edge almost as much as the burning questions that kept circling in my head.

Why had he brought me here? Why was I still alive? If Regina had survived, she would have summoned us back to her, but if she was dead… then I should be, too. She had given him an order not to harm us, but if she had died and the oath transferred to me… I never gave him any orders.

Fear squeezed my throat, but I forced myself to breathe through the panic. He could have killed me while I was unconscious and potentially freed himself. He didn’t, which could only mean he wanted something from me. Maybe he needed me to release him because otherwise, the bond would pass to someone else—I wouldn’t put it past Regina to have a backup plan for her backup plan. Whatever it was, I had to use it if I wanted to get out of here alive.

The door opened and Mathias stepped inside, heading toward the fireplace like he didn’t even notice me standing in the middle of the room. Dropping the wood he was carrying on the floor, he crouched in front of the flames and fed them several logs, watching their glow creep higher and higher over the walls.

I just stared at him with impatience, wondering what the hell he was up to.

“Stop staring so much or I’ll get the wrong idea.” His unexpected words almost made me jump out of my skin, but the flippant tone was a welcome familiarity that grounded me, even in this bizarre situation. Mathias rose to his feet, finally giving me his full attention. His eyes lowered to my foot—the one that was now bleeding—and he frowned.

I flinched when he flicked his fingers—a gesture I had seen him using to kill birds when they chirped too loudly outside our windows—but I felt no pain in any part of my body. Instead, from the corner of my eye, I noticed the glass on the floor disappear and the blood vanished. When I looked back at him, he was standing by the table with the water, picking up a shirt from the back of one of the chairs and slipping it over his head.

He didn’t say anything, didn’t look at me or acknowledge this… situation, like this was a totally normal thing between us. I wanted to scream at him and demand answers, but the part of my brain that had kept me from his and Regina’s ire kicked in, and I chose a safer question to start the conversation with.

“Why were you cutting wood like that?”

Mathias gave me a sidelong glance, the edges of his lips pulling up in a familiar smirk.

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