Page 43 of The Most Wanted Witch

Hawk had left again, thankfully, because there was way too much awkwardness in this conversation already.

“He helped as much as I wanted.”

Oscar smiled, finding humor in the darkest of places as usual. “Ah, I get it. I could try to do something, but I might make you worse than when you started. Most of us have gotten pretty lazy and let Hawk handle the hard stuff.”

“Don’t you touch her, Oscar. I saw what happened to the last person you tried to fix,” Bertha said from the other side of the room. “Her splinter turned into a stab wound.”

He waved a hand in the air. “See? Not a good idea.”

Bibbi dropped down beside me, some knitting in her hands, and shook the entire couch. I grimaced as I resettled my leg.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, as she glanced at my leg propped up on pillows.

“It’s okay. How’s the knitting going?” From the look of the bumps, bulges, and a few holes, not well.

She held it up. “Eh. I thought this would be easier for some reason. Lots of people do it in Rest, you know, so I figured how hard could it be?”

Gillian walked in the back room. “Sorry I missed dinner.”

She shouldn’t have been. The majority of her roommates were happy she’d given us a few more minutes of peace before she showed up.

“Hawk was late to come and get me,” she said. “Now that I’m back to work, it’s safer for me to be escorted.”

Bibbi gripped the knitting needle, looking like she was getting ready to stab someone.

“Safer, you say?” Oscar asked.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear any more about it. With Bibbi sitting here with her needle ready to go, it might not be wise. Of course, we were all going to hear it anyway, because that was Gillian.

“You know, just in case I’m being targeted by the grouslies.” She was picking at a plate of Bertha’s food that had been left out for her, making faces that said it all. “Bertha, amazing as always, but maybe a touch too long in the oven this time?” She leaned back, putting a hand on her chest. “Hope you don’t mind me saying that.”

“Of course not. We all need a little constructive criticism, right?” Bertha looked about the room. “Oh, dear me, I think I left my glasses in my room.”

One gone.

Oscar squinted as he continued to rub his chin. “Gillian, I thought that attack was a coincidence. Why would you be targeted by the grouslies?”

Bibbi was near vibrating next to me, and there was no way Oscar didn’t know it.

“Oh, well, since I own one of the most frequented shops in Xest and I’m a figurehead in this community, it only makes sense that I’d be a target of value.”

Oscar hummed. “No, that doesn’t really make sense to me.”

Gillian laughed. “Oh, stop it, Oscar. You’re such a teaser. How have you girls put up with him for so long?”

“I don’t know. He’s a real rascal,” Bibbi said.

Gillian kept going, not missing a beat. “I had a chat with Hawk about how I really didn’t feel safe being out and about without protection, and he clearly agreed, because he’s walking me back and forth every day. That’s why I’m late. He was a bit tardy.”

He’d tried to run me out of Xest to “protect me,” but with her he made himself personally available. Hawk was escorting her everywhere.

I blocked out the rest of the conversation. There was no need to hear any more. Xazier had implied it. The horde of people beating me had probably been gossiping about it, along with the rest of Xest. I was an idiot.

Gillian’s skinny little legs appeared in front of me. I’d never realized how scrawny she was until right now. I glanced around. Besides Bibbi and me, there was no one left in the room. She’d driven them all out, as usual.

“Do you mind?” Gillian pointed to the free spot on the end of the couch, a cup of cocoa in her hand.

“Of course not.” I shifted slightly closer to Bibbi, who was rolling her eyes and still gripping the knitting needle with dubious intentions.

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