Page 107 of Witch Queen

“You gotta admit, he’s kinda cute,” Abraham mumbled.

Alicia cut her eyes to the aide. “Not you too!”

There was motion outside. Rambrog was rising to his feet.

He ripped some flowers out of a patch of soil and presented them shyly to the butterfly dancing around his head.

“Not—not mydahlias!” Bryony wailed.

Mae caught the witch as she swayed.

“Brim,” she snapped.

On it, my witch.

Brimstone nudged Alicia out into the garden with his snout and had her open a portal. He shifted into his nine-tailed form, grabbed Rambrog by the back of his neck, and flung him unceremoniously inside it, dahlias and all.

Horrified objections rose from the Rambrog fan club. The protests died in the face of Bryony’s glare. Miles put down his flag, shoulders drooping.

“Thanks,” Alicia told the demon fox. She discarded her human appearance and dove inside the portal. “I’ll visit soon!”

The Reaper queen was headed for Azazel’s kingdom, where Rambrog intended to settle.

Mae waited for the brouhaha to die down before going in search of Nikolai. She found him in Oscar’s room.

To everyone’s surprise, Bryony had provided the sorcerer with temporary accommodation in her home. She was also the one who, along with Mae and Nikolai, had persuaded the High Council not to take action against Oscar and convict him of the crimes he’d committed under the aegis of the Dark Council.

It had become clear to everyone after seeing the dramatic difference in the sorcerer’s personality and witnessing his actions in the war that the awful acts perpetrated by those who had worked for Vedran had been heavily, if not completely, influenced by the dark magic he had forced into their souls.

That some might have been innately evil was not a possibility Mae, Nikolai, and Bryony ever denied.

But Oscar was the sole survivor of the Dark Council. And they would not have won the war against the Sorcerer King had he not betrayed Vedran.

Oscar was closing a backpack when she knocked and entered the room. Mae’s heart sank at the sight of the duffel bag by his feet.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-NINE

“You’re leaving already?”

Oscar smiled at her faintly. “I think most people in the New York coven would appreciate it if I did not prolong my stay further.”

Drabek jumped off the bed and came over to greet Mae. She bumped heads gently with Brimstone, her chest rumbling with happy purrs. The fox licked her face.

Mae’s chest lightened at the bond that thrummed brightly between the lynx and her sorcerer. Their cores were devoid of any aftereffectsSubjugatemight have left, something she knew Nikolai had been worried about.

A muscle jumped in Nikolai’s jaw. “Promise you’ll visit from time to time.”

Oscar stiffened.

“I…don’t think that’s such a great idea,” he said awkwardly.

He looked at Mae, seeking her help.

“He wants you to be the best man at our wedding if we ever tie the knot,” Mae said quietly.

Oscar’s eyes rounded. His gaze swung between them. “You guys are getting married?!”

Warmth flooded Mae’s chest as she and Nikolai traded a secretive glance.

---