Page 174 of The Black Witch

Diana raises her tear-soaked face, amber eyes now red and puffy.

“You arenota disgrace,” Rafe insists, his voice full of kindness. “You are brave and kind. You’re just a little...impetuous.” He smiles and reaches up to gently wipe away some of her tears.

Diana nods and manages a reluctant smile in return. “You’re just being nice to me because I let you keep your arm.”

Rafe laughs. “Maybe so.”

They’re both quiet for a moment, their arms loose around each other.

“Rafe,” Diana finally says, her voice uncharacteristically soft. “I’m falling in love with you.”

Rafe’s face immediately grows serious, and he inhales sharply. “Oh, Diana,” he breathes as he reaches up to cup the side of her face, “I’ve already fallen...” He pulls her toward him and kisses her hair, her arms twining around him. He brings his mouth to hers and they kiss, gently at first. Then Diana moans and presses herself into him, their kissing quickly becoming passionate.

I pull away from the door, heart thumping, a pang of distress spreading through my chest.

My brother, the Gardnerian, and a shapeshifter. All my suspicions about them completely on the mark.

Sweet Ancient One in the Heavens Above, what a mess we’re all in.

I’ve stolen a Selkie. Yvan’s plotting to steal a military dragon. Both Rafe and Aislinn are in love with Lupines, and I’m becoming increasingly close friends with a shunned Elfin Icaral.

This has actually gone way beyond a mess. We’re all treading on increasingly dangerous ground.

What on Erthia are we all going to do from here?

CHAPTER TEN

Andras Volya

After Diana and Rafe leave together, I step out and find Andras Volya in the University stables.

Andras is crouched down on one knee as he tends to the front leg of a black mare, gently massaging herbal paste into the animal’s leg. If he sees me, he gives no indication, as he continues to focus entirely on the horse. The horse, on the other hand, turns to eye me with calm curiosity.

I walk slowly over to where he kneels. “Andras?” My voice is tentative, and he doesn’t look up. “I...I need to speak with you,” I persist.

“I won’t say anything about the Selkie,” he says, “if that’s what you’ve come to ask.” He stops massaging the horse’s leg, stands and murmurs softly to her as she nuzzles him, the crimson rune-marks all over his red tunic glimmering in the light. “His treatment of her bothered me greatly,” he says. His brow tenses as if he’s remembering something disturbing. He turns to look at me. “You were right to rescue her. I should have done so myself.”

“How long was she there?” I ask him.

He considers this, staring off into the wilds, in the direction of the groundskeeper’s cottage. “A month’s time, I’d say.” Andras cocks his head to one side and studies me as if I’m a puzzle to him. “The granddaughter of Carnissa Gardner. Rescuing Selkies.” He sets the paste jar down and wipes his hands with a rag. “Doesn’t your aunt want the Selkies shot?”

Stunned, I stare at him blankly.

He lifts his chin and considers me closely. “She introduced the motion. On your Mage Council. Earlier this year. To have them shot as soon as they come to shore.”

There are better ways to deal with Selkies that are far more humane than keeping them in cages, forcing them to...act human.

She meant...killingthem!

He must read the shock in my expression. “You didn’t know?”

I shake my head and let out a long sigh of disgust. Just when I think Aunt Vyvian can’t get any worse.I sit down on the hay bale behind me, momentarily reaching up to massage my aching temples. The world is so much worse than I ever imagined. And Aunt Vyvian is so devastatingly cruel.

The mare’s tail makes a swishing sound as she flicks it from side to side, a chilly breeze flowing into the stable from the outside. My eyes are drawn to the rolling, violet-tinged hills, their base carpeted with a line of bright yellow larch trees.

“It’s beautiful here,” I observe.

Andras looks out over the landscape and nods.

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