Page 45 of The Fearless Witch

“Are you in pain? Why are you making that face?” she asked, taking a step closer. I could almost feel her anxiety and the way her hands tightened on the glass told me that poor thing wouldn’t last long.

“No, I feel… fine. Better than fine, actually,” I replied, giving her an awkward smile. And I did. Theinitial stiffness was dissipating and I could now move my arms and legs, although I tried not to under her watchful gaze. Even my head was getting clearer. “What happened? The last thing I remember was telling everyone about my findings and then… I woke up here.”

Instead of answering, she strode back to the small table, setting the glass down. She didn’t return right away, so I studied the way her back tensed and her body started to shake, wondering why she was so agitated. Whatever the reason was, I decided maybe this wasn’t the right time to ask why she was here instead of the doctor who checked on me the last few times.

“You were hexed.” I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. Me? Hexed? Alice finally turned around and crossed her arms. Her voice was low, but still loud enough for me to hear, or at least I thought so, because what she said made no sense. “A witch cursed you and the spell was degrading your organs, which led to your collapse three days ago.” Her eyes swam with an emotion I couldn’t quite discern, and when she met my gaze, she quickly lowered them. An awkward laughter bubbled to my lips. I almost… died? I couldn’t remember any of that, just that I was fighting that nasty bug and… oh.

“Your body was shutting down, so if I had been just a bit late…”

“Oh,” I found myself mouthing the words. I’d been so, so careful, watching for all kinds of danger—supernatural or not. How could I get hexed without even knowing about it? My hands fisted the sheet as panic set in.

She pursed her lips, gripping the metal footboard and squeezing it tightly until her knuckles turned white. “Can you remember where and when you might have been hexed?” she asked, just as I was trying to replay every single event in the past few weeks. “Hexes require physical contact, so the witch must have touched you directly. Even a brush on the hand would be enough for the hex to sink into you.”

“Only Celeste,” I replied without hesitation, and her eyes darkened. “It wasn’t her! She put her mark on me to protect me, why would she hex me?” Alice’s posture relaxed, but her expression remained grave. “Wait, there’s also the witch who kidnapped us and gave us to the hunters and…” I trailed off.

My sister. She touched me in that underground parking lot when she saved my life. But she couldn’t have done this. Why would she save me only to kill me?

“And…?” Alice pushed, leaning forward with an impatient look in her eyes.

I licked my lips nervously, forcing myself to look her in the eyes. “No one. That’s it.” The way she stared made me think she knew I was lying, but she just nodded. Clearing my throat, I decided to steer the conversation in another direction before she called me out on it. “You said I was dying, but I feel… well, much better than I’ve felt in the past few days. How is that possible?”

“We found a witch who broke the hex.” Alice shrugged and this time, it was she who looked away.

She was lying too, my gut was telling me, but I wasn’t sure if I could trust it or not. A lot of the emotions swirling in my body right now didn’t feel like they belonged to me, but that couldn’t… wasn’t… the mate bond, was it? Mates had to claim each other before they shared feelings, healing, even thoughts! I couldn’t imagine hearing someone else’s voice inside my head or having them know what I felt every second of every day. That would be so embarrassing!

Alice continued to talk, so I focused back on her. “Once the hex was broken, the parasite in your body died, but I had to keep you here to detoxify you.” I grimaced, looking down at my body. My eyes landed on the green stuff and I felt bile rise in my throat.

So that’s what the green thing was. Gross!

“There is a potion that cleanses the body from old hexes and poisons, but it works slowly. Once ingested, it forces the toxins out through the skin.” When I caught her staring at the stains on the bedsheet, I felt my face heat up in embarrassment. I didn’t want her to see… that. “It used to be black. Once it turns transparent, you can leave the bed, but you must take it easy for a few weeks.” She raised an eyebrow and waited, so I nodded with a sheepish grin. Why did I feel like I was being scolded? “Until then, you must relax as much as possible, it will speed up the process.”

I held back a sigh. I hated sitting still with nothing to do, but considering the alternative… well, at least now I knew it wasn’t a cold.

“I’ll go get your parents.” Alice gave me another pointed look before turning to leave. Before I realized what I was doing, I was reaching out to her.

“Wait!” She stopped even before the word left my mouth, staring at my hand with disapproval. I quickly put it back on the bed, awkwardly fumbling with the edge of the sheet. The look of longing in her eyes stole my breath away just like it had the first time, but now, I thought I could also feel it. Alice cleared her throat and schooled her expression into a neutral one. “I-I-I want to thank you! For uhm…” I licked my dry lips, trying to remember if I asked for water or not. Why was the room so hot? It felt like my lungs were going to catch on fire. “...saving me and for, um… everything.”

“Of course.” Her tone was gentle, if a little disappointed, and when she moved to leave again, I had to stop myself from calling after her a second time. She had barely taken a few steps when she turned on her heel and strode back. “I need to say something and…” Her voice shook, but then her hands relaxed by her side. “I’d appreciate it if you’d listen.”

Biting the inside of my lip, I nodded for her to continue.

“I don’t know what makes you so on guard with me, but you needn’t be. The Moon Goddess might have tied us together, but I will never, ever force you into something you don’t want, not even to save your life. I know humans are different from us and I know part of you might be scared of…” She motioned with her hands as if she wasn’t sure what to say, then pointed at her with a sigh. “...what I am, but believe me when I tell you this.” Her eyes locked on mine and held me so firmly, I couldn’t have looked away even if the house crumbled around us. “You’ll always be safe with me. All I want is a chance to get to know you, Lily.”

My chest burned in a way that was both exhilarating and terrifying. I opened my mouth to take a breath or maybe to speak, I wasn’t sure, but nothing came out. Alice gave me a tight-lipped smile as she straightened her shoulders.

“If you decide you don’t want to have anything to do with me, you’ll never see me again. And if you don’t want to get to know me…” She paused and her eyes turned softer, yet unbelievably sad for a moment. “...then that’s alright too.” She turned to leave again but stopped halfway and smiled at me. “I know what it’s like to be the odd one out, surrounded by beings that are not like you. And it’s scary and confusing, but at the end of the day, most of them are just as human as you are. So if you ever want to talk to someone, even as nothing more than a friend, I’m here.”

Without waiting for my reply, she hurried out of the room. A few moments later, my parents barged in, practically running to my bed. My mom moved to hug me, but my father stopped her from dragging me up. As they settled on both sides of me, talking about how relieved they were to see me awake again, I glanced at the door one last time.

I met Alice’s eyes just before she left and for some reason, my heart fluttered, aching with pain and need I had never felt before. The worst part? I wasn’t sure if that feeling was mine… or hers.

Chapter 20

Isaac

“So this is the gist of it,” I sighed, looking around the table where the Council was sitting. Only Roman was missing, and well, Gideon, but nobody had seen him since the attack on Regina and we neither had time nor resources to look for him. He was probably fine, licking his wounds in some five-star hotel he owned. He was a dragon, after all.

Allison sat beside me with her arms crossed and a dark expression on her face, while on my other side, Alice kept glancing impatiently toward the exit of the tent like she couldn’t wait to leave already. I understood the feeling, I really did, but I needed her to focus on the matter at hand because she was an essential part of my plan.

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