Page 4 of Charming Her Monsters

The witch’s eyes shoot over to look at me. “Hmm. You, too.” Then she smirks at her phoenix. “Things are getting interesting. Let’s help this woman recover so she can return to her mates.”

I want to argue that Jade hasn’t accepted my bond. But my wolf argues it doesn’t matter. She is ours, and we will do anything for her.

“Do you have somewhere we can take her so I’m not treating her in the street?” Amira asks.

I finally notice a large bag the woman is carrying.

“Yeah.” Maxum walks closer to the bubble. “As soon as she’s free, I’ll open a portal, and we can go to our place.”

My instinct is to not allow this witch into our safe house. But Maxum seems to trust her. Flint isn’t protesting, so he must not be getting bad vibes off her either.

“Maxum, you can open the portal. Raithe, you grab the phoenix.” Then she looks at me and my beast flashes over my body. Her eyes go wide and then she looks at Flint, “Can you carry her?”

“No.” He staggers backward, looking downright panicked. “I can’t.”

Poor guy. He just can’t get over his trauma.

“I should do it,” I say. “I can keep my beast at bay for this.”

Besides, I need my hands on Jade to feel her once more. I need to pour my love into her, so she knows I’m here. Maybe it will make the tiniest difference to her staying alive.

Goddess, I don’t even know if she wants my love. Would it make a difference to her? Could she ever love someone as broken as I am?

Just because she had sex with me doesn’t mean she wants forever or even tomorrow. Maybe when she joked about monster fucking being on her bucket list, that’s all it was… a fuck.

My wolf howls inside my chest. He doesn’t believe that. He tells me she cares about us.

“Okay. Here we go,” Amira calls out.

The flower faerie—a creature with more strength and fortitude than I originally would have guessed—sucks in a breath as she releases the time bubble. I will have to track her down and her mate at some point and thank them for their assistance. No matter what the outcome is here tonight. They were brave for risking themselves when it was clear this was a dangerous place to be.

“Thank you,” I say quickly, with a nod of gratitude.

I scoop up Jade into my arms.

Her body is cold. That’s not a good sign. She doesn’t grunt or react to being moved, and my concern for her grows. Her beautiful silver-gray hair is matted with blood. My heart twists in my chest.

“I got you, my love,” I whisper in her ear. “Hold on for us, okay?”

Maxum has the portal open, and we are all running through. He’s portaled us right into our backyard. Which means he plans for us to abandon this safe house since it’s possible someone with the unique ability coupled with enough power could track the magical trail.

I carry Jade inside, following Maxum and Amira as they race ahead.

“On the table,” Amira orders me.

I hope Amira’s healing skills will work fast enough, and that since witches and warlocks usually have compatible magic, it will be all Jade needs—if not, we are screwed. Unless Maxum has a mage healer he’s kept secret from us.

I set Jade down, but don’t let go of her completely. I grasp her hand and look her over myself as Amira assesses the damage.

“She’s breathing, and there’s a weak heartbeat. She has a concussion from what looks like hitting her head on the ground or wall. Maybe both, if the two bumps and gashes are any indication. She’s lost a lot of blood.” Amira sounds confused. “But there’s something else…”

“Her brain waves are all wrong again,” Maxum says as he gazes down at Jade with heartbreak in his eyes.

“What does that mean?” I demand.

“I’ll patch her up and give her a magical boost for the concussion… but there’s something off, but I can’t pinpoint it.” Amira works, cleaning up the blood, applying salves, and chanting a spell for healing.

I look at Maxum. “What are you saying? Is it Osen messing with her? Is his spirit not attached? What?”

---