Page 13 of A Snowed in Valentine's

“You’re a witch hunter,” she guessed. When his brows rose, she raised her hand. “It’s why you tried to kill me. It's why you bound my magic. Only a witch hunter would know to do that.”

His jaw twitched, telling her she was correct.

“Well, witch hunter, I’m Daphne,” she told him. “Daphne Emerson.”

His eyes narrowed for a second. “That name… it sounds familiar.”

Daphne had a feeling she knew why, but she decided not to mention it. “We’ve got bigger concerns. I’m stuck in here with you.”

August’s eyes blazed with anger all of a sudden, causing her to take a step back in surprise.

“The blizzard out there is because ofyou,” he snarled. “You’re responsible for the storm that’s been raging for days now.”

Those dark eyes glinted with resentment. Daphne gulped. “I… I didn’t know this would happen. I just wanted to get free.”

“And look what’s happened because of that.”

She bit her lip. “Look, I can fix it. I’ll reverse the spell. All you have to do is unbind my magic and—”

He cut her off with a burst of laughter that reverberated through the room. “Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I trust you, a witch? You already created the storm. If I unbind you, you’ll end up doing something worse. Do you now see why your kind needs to be stopped? You cause problems wherever you go. Death and destruction follow you.”

At his words, anger filled her chest and clogged her throat. He spoke as though all witches were evil and as if she hadn’t come to Frost Mountain with hopes of repairing the damage that had been done centuries ago.

Then again, he wasn’t exactly wrong either, was he? Despite her intentions, she’d ended up creating a storm that now had them trapped in a cabin. And what about Flight 18? The plane that had come apart in midair…

“Wait,” she muttered.

A thought had just occurred to her. When she awoke in her apartment, it had been a day after the plane crashed. According to August, a week had already passed here on Frost Mountain. That didn’t make sense. Unless… she’d somehow traveled through time.

No, that couldn’t be right. Could it? Or could it be…?

I’ve been feeding you for over a week,August had told her.

“I’m not traveling between the worlds,” she whispered. “I’m in both of them at the same time.”

“What are you talking about?” August wanted to know.

“It explains everything,” she went on. “The weakness. Something went very wrong when I cast that spell.”

There was only one way to confirm her theory. She looked him in the eye. “I need you to knock me out again.”

August regarded her for a moment, and she felt heat wash over her body.

“No.”

She blinked. “Why not?”

“You likely already have a concussion from when I knocked you out before,” he told her. “If I strike you again…”

“What?” It was her turn to smirk. “You’re afraid you’ll end up killing me?”

He scoffed. “If I did, I couldn’t care less. If you want to be knocked out so badly, then I have something for you.”

With that, he disappeared from the room. He came back a few moments later, bearing a bowl smaller than the first.

“What is that?” she demanded.

“It’s not poison,” he replied irritably. “It’s a potion.”

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