Page 311 of Castings & Curses

“Oh, look who’s joining us again!”

Bella’s beast of a body jerks back on all four. She paws at her forehead and dwindles, shaken and dizzy as she must be after such a blow. Nola sits against the pillar, still unconscious, or so I hope.

“Ah, Bella. My dearest Bella. What a mess.” His sweet and sour tone is sickening.

Gwideon turns his back is on me. Time to act. His men won’t shoot now that he’s in the ring. I muster all my courage in my legs to jump on him. I take the leap—and choke. From the corner of my eye, I see the warlock’s lifted hand. What the fuck? Is he a Jedi now? A Sith, sorry. I can’t breathe. Fuck.

I hear the low, threatening rumble in Bella’s throat through the deafening pulsations of my own heartbeat in my ears. My brain swells in my skull. My throat clenches tighter. My eyes threaten to pop.

“Now, now, Bella. Don’t be a fool. There’s an easy way out, you know?”

She growls harder as he approaches her, still holding me in mid-air.

“Your little bouncing ball here? I’ll let her go. Her friend too. I’ll wipe off their memories. No harm done.” Jerk’s taking his sweet time to set the bait while I’m drowning in the tiny, suffocating gulps of air I can squeeze in. “I’ll counter the curse too, of course. All you need to do is marry me. You know we belong together. You’ve learned your lesson now, haven’t you?”

Air. Please. Let me. Breathe.

Bella snaps at him, only just missing the fingers Gwideon extended to caress her maw. Shock makes him release me and I fall to the floor, gasping for life itself to fly back into my lungs. Did he really expect her to let him touch her? The cock. What a fool. Bella, my gorgeous, vindictive wolf, towers over him, teeth bare and claws ready to strike.

“Still the stubborn one, I see.” Gwideon leaps to the side to avoid her attack and skips out towards the exit, one arm upright. A concert of safety catches getting unlocked echoes all around us. “If that’s how you want to play it, fine by me.” He lets his arm fall as he retreats safely into the tunnel.

CHAPTER17

We’re dead.

Gunshots fly everywhere. Bella grabs me and leaps toward the column where Nola is as I close my eyes to protect myself from the bullets. If I can’t see them, they don’t exist. Right? I brace myself for death. We’re dead, there’s no avoiding it. There’s a hundred of them shooting at the three of us. Even if they were stormtroopers, they’d still not miss us.

Where’s the pain? A clatter of metal resonates through the chamber, then a rattle of reloads, a clamor of shots and another metallic jangle as the bullets meet the floor. No pain.

I open my eyes to witness the utter incomprehension on the guards’ faces. They murmur amongst themselves and check their weapons. A few of them reload and shoot once more, but the bullets meet an invisible wall of resistance a few feet away from our huddled mass. My finger tingles slightly. The one bearing the ring Bella gave me.When you need it the most, it’ll work its magic.

Wow.

Bella seizes the occasion to rampage through the unsettled guards. Arms, legs, and guts fly across the hall in the goriest ballet, to the music of shrieks, death rattles and complete mayhem. My begrudging cynicism finds poetry in the scene, but I know it’ll haunt me for the rest of my life. Because I’m still alive. Fuck.

As the chaos quells, I search for Bella in a sea of bodies very reminiscent of my first show in this joint. Less sweat, more blood, though. What a spectacle. I wince.

“What the ever fuck?”

I spin around and fling myself on Nola, squeezing her hard in my arms. “Oh my gods, you’re still alive!”

“Am I?” She ogles at me, her inner turmoil clear as day in the storm of her eyes. She gapes at all the blood and gore surrounding us, and I just want to shut her sight and squeeze harder. “Tell me I’m dreaming, please.” Her voice quivers and breaks as tears flow down her cheeks.

“It’s over, Nola. It’s not pretty, but it’s over.”

She turns her wet, glistening stare on me. “A nightmare, then?”

I nod and embrace her again. She lets go of all the sobs she can, then gasps and pushes away from me, her wide, fearful eyes fixed on something behind my back.

I turn around and see Bella approaching. I spin back and grab Nola by the shoulders. “She’s with us, Nola. She protected us. Nola, look at me.” I shake her gently, forcing her to focus on me. “She’s our friend, okay? Breathe!”

Nola heaves several deep sighs until she regains some semblance of calm. “What the ever fuck? Like, what the fuck, Roro? What the fuck?”

“I know. It’s a massive mess. We need to get outta here. I’ll explain everything when we’re safe outside and far away from here.”

I grab her hand and pull her towards Bella. Her palm stiffens in mine and my grip loosens. I look over my shoulder. “Do you trust me, Nol?”

She nods reluctantly and follows.

---