Page 15 of Warrior Witch

“He’s awake, twitchy, and raging something fierce. Oh, and fucking pretty.” Lindsay fanned himself with one hand. “If I wasn’t still obsessing over what Kedron said to me, I’d be all over him.”

“Still not sure where you stand?”

“Nope.” He sighed dramatically, taking a seat on the bed next to Addie. “He’s wriggled his way from my pants to my heart.”

“Like a blood clot of emotion,” Addie said, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Do you think we could talk about this over waffles?”

Lindsay hugged her back with a grin. “Fuck yes, that sounds so good right now. I think I saw a diner over the road, next to the gas station.”

“I’ll catch up to you guys later,” I said, glaring at the wall as though I could burn the man next door with my mind. “It’s about time I had a chat with our pretty little psycho.”

***

I headed through the door linking our two rooms once Lindsay and Addie had left. We had agreed to only keep it locked from our side to keep Addie safe if Bruin got out. It also meant we could quickly get to Kylen in the same scenario.

“How’s my favorite asshole doing?” I asked cheerily.

His response was a dangerous scowl, along with a middle finger, despite his bound hands.

His whole body was restrained. Ropes wrapped around his torso, thighs, ankles, and almost seemed to writhe around parts of his body. Curious, I looked closer and… were those vines?

“Botany’s more useful than people give it credit for.” Kylen flashed a boyish smile from the armchair in the corner. His long legs dangled over one side, and he’d put on a pair of round-framed glasses since we’d split into our rooms. Noticing my stare, he adjusted them on his nose. “I prefer them over contacts.”

“They suit you.” I smiled, surprised by how comforting I found his presence. He radiated a calm energy that soothed the tension in the room.

“If you’re gonna stand there flirting like high schoolers, can you knock me out again first?” Bruin snarled from the bed.

Unlike our other guest.

“Ooh, someone’s a grouchosaurus rex,” I teased.

Bruin’s muscles flexed under the vine’s grip, unable to move an inch. “Gee, I wonder why.”

As if to prove his point, the vines wiggled around him, splitting off in places and exploring under the hem of his black t-shirt.

“Hey! Watch where those vines are going!” he snapped, squirming on the bed until they retreated to their original position.

“Sorry about that.” Kylen chuckled. “They have a mind of their own sometimes, but they’re harmless, I swear.”

Bruin raised both eyebrows. “Oh, you’re a kinky little twink, aren’t ya?”

Kylen’s eyes widened before he looked at me, pointing at himself and mouthing the question, “Twink?”

Turning back to the furious biker, I pursed my lips and bit back the same shit-eating grin Addie liked to use on me. “Look, I get it. That fight on the highway was super embarrassing for you. I almost feel bad about it, but then I remember that incident with the knife and your friends in the alley…”

Swaying from one foot to the other, I mentally weighed the two situations and came up about even. Not a drop of guilt. “You had it coming, and you underestimated me.”

“A mistake I won’t make twice,” he promised.

The determined look in his eyes left me with no doubt he meant it. I almost wanted to let him go so I could take him on again. Could be fun.

Pushing down the impulsive thoughts, I took a seat on the bed next to him, patting the vines wrapped around his thighs with a condescending smile.

“Oh!” I gasped as the vine pulsed beneath my hand. A thin stem sprouted between my fingers and grew into a tiny white bloom. “How cute. I guess they like me.”

“Well, that makes one of us,” he deadpanned.

“That’s too bad.” I plucked the small flower and gently placed it in the longer, mussed strands at the top of his hair. “Aw, how pretty!”

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