Page 17 of Warrior Witch

A deep grunt distracted me from my phone retrieval as the man crouched in front of me and easily palmed the elusive device.

“If you’re not careful with your things, they’ll break,” a deep voice, smooth as melted chocolate, said. Despite the condescending tone, my limbs turned to Jell-O.

He offered me my phone in a large, tanned hand and straightened.

I finally looked up at him, and up… and up… Wow, this guy made me feel dainty. He could throw me over his shoulder, and I’d have to stretch to slap his ass.

“G’night.” The speed of his departure would’ve been offensive if it hadn’t given me a view that confirmed my suspicion—his ass was totally slap-able.

As I stepped away, mentally mourning the loss of “dat ass”—as my mind had already dubbed it—something tapped against my boot.

Huh. I haven’t seen a pair of these for ages.

“Hey! Wait up!” I shouted, jogging after him back towards the motel. He moved quickly, but I caught him just before he reached the building. “You dropped these. Lucky I didn’t step on them.”

His mahogany eyes narrowed at the pair of wired earphones I held out to him.

“I mean, I’m guessing they’re yours,” I started babbling. “I haven’t seen someone use these outside of a last resort for years. Even Addie got a Bluetooth headset for her birthday a few years back.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, begging myself to stop verbally digging my grave.

“They’re mine,” he growled, snatching them from my hand. His scowl was dark but still kinda cute. I hated that he could be rude and attractive all at once. That right there was pretty privilege.

“My bad. Should’ve been looking where I was going, but it’s been a long-ass day.” I glanced at the diner, then back to the man. “Just need to get some food in me and then I can crash for the night.”

His gaze raked over me, and not in a fun way. This would have been a great time for my mouth to stop with all the words, but there was something about him that made me want him to notice me. Either that, or I was way more tired than I thought, and my verbal filter had gone on vacation.

“Well, I should let you go.” I forced an awkward smile, backing away slowly. “Sorry, again.”

He nodded once, his auburn curls bouncing just above his shoulders, before he unlocked the motel room next to ours.

The door clicked shut behind him, and I strolled toward the diner as the conversation replayed in my head. Damn, his voice really did something to my bones. Now that was a man I should go after. But no, the man I’ve been closest to lately was trying to kill me. Typical.

Although Kylen seemed like a good guy. He definitely rolled with the punches of the day, no denying that.

Ugh, I shouldn’t be worrying about this crap. I need food and a bed, that’s it. Calm down, vagina. We’re on a quest to a spooky old town, not a booty call.

By the time I picked up a few burger meals, my exhaustion had seriously caught up with me. I took a moment to myself in the motel parking lot, leaning against the Camry while Lindsay and Addie bounded out to relieve me of the food and disappeared back inside.

Hopefully, we’d at least get some sleep before we finally got to Spells Hollow tomorrow. That was all I could wish for at that moment. But judging by Addie’s cackling laughter echoing through the paper-thin walls, I doubted it. She was so excited to be out of the city, despite the reason we were here.

Fuck, I don’t want her to watch me die.

Hendrix

After a sleepless night, thanks to my inconsiderate neighbors, I was in a foul mood as I packed my bags to continue my journey. The bumping and thumping of several people moving around set my teeth on edge. Why was the world full of neanderthal lesser beings who didn’t understand the concept of courtesy? They were in a motel. People could be trying to sleep, dammit. The slamming of their door thundered through my room, and I grimaced, partially relieved they were finally out, but also more mad than ever that they couldn’t close a goddamn door quietly.

I wandered toward the window, pulling the curtain out of the way just enough to glimpse the dark-haired woman I’d spoken to the day before. She was as crass as the rest of her party, but also… intriguing?

With a huff, I released the curtain and returned to my luggage. Today was the day. I could feel it. Treasure was close, and nothing would stand in the way of me making it mine. My spine itched with the urge to release my wings and take to the skies. To feel the wind in my mane and clouds chilling my paws. Soon.

From what I’d read, Spells Hollow was deserted. Some silly tale of ghosts and curses kept the dullard masses at bay, which meant no one would be around to notice an 850-pound gryphon flying around. Not that I personally cared about the exposure, but my clan had been hunted in years gone by, and I didn’t want to deal with the headache it would all bring about. It would divert me from my true calling: treasure hunting.

Dragons may have been well known in pop culture for hoarding treasure, but my kind could sense it. We were far superior to those flying lizards in every way. Case in point: because they couldn’t keep their mouths shut about their hoard, plus the whole stealing women thing, they had barely survived the centuries of genocide humans brought down upon them.

A vibration started in my chest as the roar of an engine outside announced the motel was finally free of my raucous neighbors.

“Not a minute too soon,” I muttered, checking the room for anything out of place.

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