Page 51 of The Witch and His Crow

I had to shout just to be heard over the whistling winds. ‘You killed Jordan.’

Arwyn recoiled a step, finally recognising that I could be his damnation. ‘The Culling was a busy night. We both took lives, but I cannot exactly say I knew their names before doing so.’

‘Stopplaying games.’ Spittle flew past my lips and I felt my eyes bulge. The longing to thrust out a wall of energy, casting Arwyn far across the hillside, was almost impossible to ignore. ‘You’re the Witch Hunter. You’re the wolf amongst the flock!’

There was a long pause between us, filled only by my heavy breathing and the whistling winds. Arwyn just stared. I couldn’t work out if he was shocked into silence because I had worked out his secret, or if he was amused by everything that had just come out of my mouth.

I guessed it was the latter, given that he started to laugh.

Sharp rocks rose around me, the points positioning themselves in Arwyn’s direction. That stopped him, the realisation I wasn’t joking.

‘You’re serious about this, aren’t you?’

My jaw tightened, teeth grinding together. When I replied, I sounded like a hissing cat. ‘Yes.’

No.

Maybe?

I didn’t know. It was easier to blame him than Salem. I had to trust Salem wasn’t the Witch Hunter, because if he was, then him turning to the enemy was yet another thing I took the blame for.

‘You’re mistaken.’ Arwyn didn’t shy away from my open threat. He raised his hands up beside him, surrendering, whilst carefully stepping closer and closer to me. I didn’t want to notice that his t-shirt rode up over his navel, flashing familiar bands of muscle coated in thick black lines of tattoos. But I did. ‘Ask yourself, Hector, if I’m your enemy, why didn’t I just kill you last night? Instead, I sat outside your room, protecting yourflock.’

My flock, being Romy and me.

‘I’m sure you could conjure an excuse,’ I spat, refusing to lower the stones. One second—that would be all it took for me to completely pierce his body with them.

‘Okay, trusting doesn’t come easily to you. Got it.’ He raised his hands, stepping closer. I held my ground.

‘Not that I’m surprised. What about the library? I could have taken your life then.’ He was so close now, just out of reach of myboundary of floating rocks. With two slender fingers, he brushed one aside, working even closer.

‘Stay. Back.’

Arwyn didn’t refuse with words, but his continuous movement forward told me he wasn’t going to listen. ‘If you’re going to accuse me of such crimes, then tell me what evidence you have. You blame me for Jordan’s death, but I don’t even know what you’re on about. What makes you think I was the one to do it?’

I couldn’t stop myself. ‘Because I had plans to use Jordan to see inside your thoughts. Funny how the moment he had a purpose, the witch was suddenlymurdered.’

Arwyn pointed to his chest. Genuine panic passed across his face, showing a hint at the real person lurking beneath. ‘You were prepared to fuck with my mind, after everything I have helped you with?’

‘Helped me?’ I barked, unable to control my own deranged laugh. ‘Careful, another pat on your own ego, and you might explode.’

‘Retract your Gift,little kitty.’ Arwyn was so close, the stones would be useless. I could have thrown out a pure blast of energy, but something was stopping me.

‘What the fuck did you just call me?’

Arwyn tipped his head to the side. ‘Hector, I’m not your enemy.’ He broke my gaze, looking around the scenery as though noticing it for the first time. ‘But use your Gift on me, and that will change.’

‘Then what are you?’

‘I’d say that for the foreseeable, we could’ve been allies.’

‘Until you killed Jordan?’

‘I didn’t kill him.’ Arwyn returned his attention back to me, just as a torrent of wind circled us. I inhaled deeply, recognising the scent of crisp amber and creamy sandalwood. That certainlyhad nothing to do with the hillside, and everything to do with the man before me.Of coursehe would smell like an expensive fucking candle. He was practically a walking ad for luxury, which only added to his infuriating aura.

‘Prove it.’

Arwyn laughed again. ‘How do you expect me to do that? Look around you. I don’t make the rules, Hector. You heard the bell, you saw the fog. This is the second trial whether we like it or not, and from what I can see, we have been placed together for a reason. Proof will have to wait. For now we’ve got to protect each other until we pass the trial.’

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