Page 14 of Charming Her Monsters

Or maybe she is only grateful that I stopped Rob from attacking her.

But I don’t see how she cares if I’m okay.

Besides, her life wasn’t the only reason I stopped Rob from diving into Jade’s mind. I didn’t want Osen’s soul harmed, and I wanted answers about what had happened the night of Osen’s death.

I grunt as a response to her thanks and follow Flint.

As I leave the room, I hear Maxum and Arran coddling her. They will help her gather stuff from her house before we leave.

It seems like a foolish thing to trust her, yet I get the sense that they actually do.

Even after all that’s happened in their past? With her?

She might have a spell over them, since this isn’t like them at all.

Trouble and his magical creature mini-pack race after me into my room. I want to tell them to leave me alone, but they are too fucking cute.

“Are you okay?” Trouble asks, the unofficial spokes-creatureof the bunch.

“I will be.” I grab my oversized duffle and start tossing my stuff inside. “What happened when I was knocked out?”

“Jade almost died. The other witch healed her.”

“Another witch?” I hiss, shredding the shirt I have in my hands with my rage.

“Yeah, and the other birdman was looking after you.”

I sniff the air and scent another phoenix. What the hell?

I had been so focused on Jade that I hadn’t been paying attention.

That woman is a distraction, if nothing else, which is just as dangerous as being a conniving witch.

“Then they found a metal thing on her neck so that the warlock can find her and maybe take her power,” Trouble continues.

Well, shit. One would think that if Jade was a knowledgeable witch that she wouldn’t have allowed a tracker or something to drain her. However, she might just have allowed her power to be drained temporarily so she couldpretendshe was weak—to get everyone to trust her.

“I know you don’t like her, but she worried for you,” Trouble adds.

I didn’t realize that my disdain for Jade had been so evident to the creatures. However, just because she acts concerned doesn’t mean she is.

“She tried to jump off the table to help you.”

I scoff. “She has no healing ability. She isn’t even a real witch, according to her claims.”

“She might not know about her powers, and she might be weak,” Trouble argues, his feisty spirit coming back into play. “But that doesn’t mean she didn’t want to help you.”

“You want to believe the best about her, but—”

“I’ve lived with her for a long time,” Trouble interrupts me. “Rob knew about her being a witch, but she didn’t. I heard him talking to her under a spell, even after she told him never to come back.”

“What did they talk about?”

“Rob would ask her questions, but it wasn’t really Jade who answered. And she was hurting. Rob is bad and mean.”

“I figured out that much,” I grumble, throwing the last of my stuff in my bag.

“Don’t be mad at Jade anymore. She is a good witch.”

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