Page 62 of Kiss of Magic

“Don’t worry, my dear. I won’t allow permanent damage to come to you. But it’s my bet that when he hears you scream, his resistance will fade like an eldritch mist.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, lady.” Blake kept his tone even but inside he felt a flicker of alarm. He had underestimated the witch.

“Teros, please escort Dani to a distance of, oh, let’s say twenty one metres.”

Dani backed away.

“Hey, hold on now. I already signed up to your plan.”

“But now you have to prove you’re on our side, my dear. What’s a little discomfort between allies? I’m betting your hunter will cave as soon as he sees how much pain he’s causing you.”

“You must be joking. He fuckinghatesme.”

“We’ll see, won’t we? Teros, if you please.”

“No, wait, there has to be a better way!”

Teros grabbed Dani by the shoulders and propelled her through the door.

“Leave her alone, you bastard,” growled Blake. Struggling to his feet, he staggered after them, trying to close the distance. With a flick of her wrist Denara slammed the door shut.

“Dani!”

He could hear her yelling expletives at the troll, her shouts becoming more frantic as they reached the perimeter of the binding spell.

When she started screaming, it was as if someone had stabbed a pitchfork through his chest. He clawed at the door with his good hand.

Behind him, Denara laughed.

“Binding spells are so cruel, aren’t they? If you spend too much time apart, the excruciating agony will break her mind. She’ll be left a dribbling wreck. Could you live with that?”

Dani was sobbing now, the sound of her distress growing fainter as she was taken further from him.

With a speed he didn’t know he was capable of, he reached for the knife at his belt. In the next second he had Denara pressed against the wall, the blade at her throat. The pain of his broken arm made him want to scream but he kept his voice steady.

“Call them back. Now.”

The witch chuckled.

“You’re running out of time, hunter. Teros will keep walking forever. Even if you kill me, you can’t stop her suffering.”

Fuck.

He searched for an answer, a way out of this mess, but Dani’s cries were clouding his mind. Why did he care, he wondered? She had willingly chosen to side with the enemy. Decided to put her own life before others. She was cold and callous, and she didn’t deserve his pity. He should just slice Denara’s throat and walk the hell out of here.

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t leave Dani to suffer. Her pain was tearing at his soul.

The distant cries suddenly stopped. The silence that followed scared him far more than the sound of her screams. He dropped the knife.

“Okay. Okay, you win. Bring her back.”

Denara rubbed her throat and flashed him a vicious smile. He knew in that moment he was a dead man. As soon as he released the dampener from Dani’s wrist, she was going to kill him.

But it didn’t matter,

Nothing mattered except helping Dani.

Denara uttered some words, a summoning spell he presumed. It seemed an aeon but finally the troll reappeared, shoving its way through the door with Dani dangling limply over its shoulder. She was dumped unceremoniously on the ground.

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