Page 2 of The Most Wanted Witch

“Yep,” she whispered, afraid Bertha would hear her complaining.

Yellow bellies were a type of onion in Xest that had to be shredded. Bibbi had made the unfortunate error of saying something needed more flavor a couple weeks ago. Now it seemed she was getting stuck on yellow bellies every time a recipe called for them.

“You want me to try to talk to her?”

“No.” She jerked back as if I’d said something shocking. “What if she stops cooking? I know I complained that one time, but her food is amazing. We can’t risk it.”

Zab, who’d sat down on the other side, laughed as he listened in. “Good,” he said, and leaned forward so he could see me. “I would’ve had to tackle you if you tried.”

Oscar strolled in the back door, letting in a brutal gust of fifth wind as he took his time.

“Shut the door,” I yelled, my voice drowned out by the other four voices yelling the same.

Oscar strolled over, smiling at the plates of food on the table. He reached to fill a plate, and Bertha whacked his hand.

“Um,ooow?” Oscar said, looking at his attacker.

“You were supposed to trim fat today. Where were you?” she asked, pointing her spoon at him.

“I had an errand for Hawk. Had to be handled.”

Bertha scowled but lowered her spoon. Oscar slowly reached out to the food, waiting to get his knuckles rapped again.

I took one last bite before I got up. “Thanks, Bertha. Dinner was amazing as usual.”

I edged over toward the door to the office, hoping no one was watching me grab my jacket.

“Going for your walk?” Oscar asked, smirking, as he alerted the entire room to my departure.

Bibbi swung around, glaring at me.

“I’ll be back in a little while.” I shrugged on my jacket. Not even my mother had hovered the way she did. Although that might not mean much.

“Shouldn’t you have someone with you? I don’t like how you head out alone every night. We’re not supposed to go out without a buddy.”

Oscar laughed. “Don’t worry, Bibbi, she’ll have a buddy.”

“I’ll be okay.” I made a fast exit before I decided to steal Bertha’s spoon and whack Oscar over the head.

2

The warm glow from the homemade dinner with people I loved was immediately wiped away the second I stepped out of the broker building. The fifth wind was worse than ever, burning my skin where it touched. The streets were quiet tonight, but they were always quiet these days. That didn’t mean safe.

No one left their homes unless they had to, all for differing reasons. Some didn’t want to get involved in the conflict. Others had some strange belief that the roaming hordes of grouslies couldn’t get them if they hid indoors, which showed how little they knew. They didn’t get it. Walls meant nothing. No one was truly safe in Xest anymore.

The feeling of Dread, which was what we called the evil that had slowly been growing, was all around. The only place I could escape it completely anymore was in the broker building. Others had put up wards against it, but as a testimony to its strength, very few were able to keep the feeling at bay completely. Hawk was helping people shore up their defenses while he could before the shit hit the fan. I wasn’t sure exactly what was coming, but I could sense it gathering strength.

We just didn’t know what it really wanted. Was it looking to drive half of Xest out? Or for complete dominance in this place? Or was it going to sweep through and wreck Xest before moving on to bigger and badder things?

Some were speculating that it wanted to move on to Rest after here. The thing was that everyone was guessing, and even the people who were on its side didn’t know what was going to happen, from what intelligence we’d managed to gather. I spent more nights hunting for something to pin it down than actually finding anything.

I walked past Raydam’s house on the square, which had been taken over by Jarro, the new leader of the opposition. Cut the head off a snake and a new one will slither to the front. Jarro didn’t have anywhere near the power or pull of his dead predecessor, so we’d see how long he lasted before he was cannibalized by his own. He wasn’t even worth a passing glance.

I stopped walking, hearing something that snared my interest. Low growls came from the alley on the west side of his house. Stepping closer, I saw there was a herd of grouslies gathered, all looking my way. I took another slow step, hoping they wouldn’t run, even though history told me they would. They’d attack others, and had many times in the last several months, but not me anymore.

I took another step, staring at their beady little eyes, and like usual, I’d gotten a step too close and they ran off.

“Dammit.”

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