Page 34 of Watch Me Burn

He snorts. “Oh. Trust me. Iknow.”

“Yeah. She needed sanctuary. I needed sanctuary. So I came here, pretending she needed me to be her human donor. But I’m not, okay? You got me. I’m a witch.”

“So she doesn’t bite you? You don’t feed her?”

I don’t know why he would care, and deciding that tiny sip shouldn’t count since I burned her tongue, I say, “No.”

He nods. “I can only imagine why a vampire needs sanctuary. But what about you, Red? Why are you in Dyea?”

I could tell him it’s not his business. I’m sure he’ll just scoff and tell me—in detail—how wrong I am. Since all of this is just wasting time… and, damn it, he’s having this conversation with his dick hanging out in the breeze… I figure I might as well get it over with.

“Okay. So I’m a witch. Obviously. I might’ve had a run-in with a witch hunter before I came here, but that was before I even knew I was a witch.” At his look of disbelief, I add, “Really. I only just figured it out, like, a week ago. But that’s the problem. I don’t know anything about supes. They tell me witch hunters hunt in pairs. That I’m in danger. That I can go with Elise… who, I’ll point out, I discovered was a vampire the sane tie I found out I was a witch… to Alaska and hide out. So here I am, and here you are, and unless you’re a wolf shifter who’s somehow also a witch hunter, I’d really, really appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone else the real reason I’m here.”

Is batting my eyelashes too much? I want Conall to understand I’m being completely honest with him right now, but the way his face went blank the longer I talked, the more I’m beginning to think that hemightbe the first non-human witch hunter out there.

Then he shows me his teeth, and they’re as impressive as his wolf’s fangs. “You should’ve told me. I might be a lone wolf, but that just means I don’t have a wolf pack to call my own. I’m still an alpha wolf who will do anything to protect what’s his.”

That took a weird turn.

I raise my eyebrows. “And I’m yours?”

He chokes, then glares at me some more. “Everyone who accepts sanctuary ismine.”

That’s what he thinks.

Me? I don’t knowwhohe thinks he is, but?—

“Wait a sec… you weren’t just peeing outside ‘cause you couldn’t hold it, were you?” When he doesn’t deny that he’s responsible for the yellow snow outside of my house, I fist my hands on my hips. “And now you’re stalking me as a wolf. What the hell? ‘Cause I’ll tell you something.Ididn’t know you were a wolf shifter.”

“You’re changing the subject, Red. Turning it on me.” He breathes in deep. “I still scent my singed fur.”

He deserved it. “You were following me,” I remind him. “And my name’s not ‘Red’. It’s Bridget.”

The way he looks down his nose tells me that he certainly knows what my name is, and that if he wants to call me ‘Red’, I’m ‘Red’ regardless.

“That’s my job. I patrol the sanctuary. I keep it safe. For humans, and for reactive fire witches.”

I ignore that part.

“And the pissing?”

I’m not about to forget the pissing.

He tilts his chin up. “Wolf shifters mark their territory.”

“Their territory,” I sputter. “That house is mine!”

“I thought it was the vampire’s,” Conall rumbles. “Just like I thought you were supposed to be a human. But you’re not. I knew there was something about you. I couldn’t put my claw on it, but there wassomething?—”

I snort. “Is that why you’ve been such a grumpy ass since I arrived in Alaska?”

“Hate to disappoint, Red, but that’s just who I am. Comes with being a lone wolf.”

Whatever. “Now you know what I am. I really hope we can keep this between us, but I understand if you can’t. Just know I’m trying to stop from having… incidents?—”

“Burning my ass.”

“Incidents,” I repeat with a little more emphasis, “so, if all goes to plan, I won’t be a”—what did he call me?—“a ‘reactive fire witch’ that much longer.”

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