Page 115 of The Witch is Back

But that was for later. Tonight he needed his wits about him.

His eyes slid over Tia, who’d abandoned the two of them—with a disdainful look in Bastian’s direction—to go talk to her parents. She wasn’t with them now, instead standing hipshot, arms crossed. She was talking animatedly to a tall man with a shock of platinum hair and a scowl.

He felt the man’s pain. When Tia decided she didn’t like you, changing her mind was like trying to reverse the earth’s rotational direction. He knew he deserved it—especially in light of what Emma had shared with him about what had happened after he was gone. But the key to getting Emma to see him as more than a fling was to get her friends—her true family—on his side.

The warlock was talking back now, pushing his body closer to hers.

A faint tingle of alarm ran through Bastian and he altered his direction to plant himself by Tia’s side.

“Is there...?” he started and then grinned. “Henry Pearlmatter?”

His old friend—possibly the only true one he’d had here, besides Emma—dragged his annoyed gaze from Tia. Startling green eyes lightened and he grinned back. “Bastian. I wondered if I’d see you at one of these before the big day.”

“Mom wanted me to show my face since she couldn’t make it.”

“Is Emmaline with you?”

“Somewhere.”

“I haven’t spoken to her in years.”

“That probably has something to do with you being a jackass,” Tia intervened, her tone snappish. Her eyes sparked dangerously. “Falling in with the rest of these dicks when he abandoned her.”

Henry’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t—”

“Whatever.” Tia folded her arms, radiant in blue that glowed against her skin. “I’m just glad I found out what you were like before I made a huge mistake.”

“You ostracized Emma?”

A muscle in Henry’s jaw jumped. “No,” he bit out at Bastian’s question. “I stayed out of it.”

“Not man enough to help her.” Tia’s sneer was purposefully goading.

Henry took one heated step forward and then halted. With one last silent glare for Tia, he nodded at Bastian and turned.

“That’s it, walk away. It’s what you’re good at.”

Henry’s gait was more like a march as he stormed away from her.

Tia’s eyes were still dangerous when she rounded on Bastian.

He held up his hands. “Peace. I thought you might need help.”

“He’s a coward. I knew he’d walk away.” Her expression turned disgusted. “He always does. Like you in that respect.” She exhaled, looked past him. “You ditched Emma?”

“You really don’t think much of me, do you?”

“Not really.”

His jaw set, but with effort, he unclenched. “Fair enough. She told me what it was like, how bad it was. I can’t change that, but I’m here.”

“For now.” Tia leveled a challenging look on him. “What are you doing, Bastian? Cozying up to her, flattering her, making her feel things—”

He perked up. “She has feelings for me?”

“It’s not fair to her.”

“Has it occurred to you that I might not leave?”

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