Page 39 of Witch Bound and Down

"POTIONS THAT DESTROY SOULS!" Hazel screamed, her magic exploding outward in a shower of sparks. "Do you have any idea what it would do to me if I lost Hopper? What it would do to him to lose his intelligence, his personality, his ability to be himself?"

"Hey now," Hopper said quietly, "let's not get carried away with the emotional declarations."

"I'm serious," Hazel said, tears streaming down her face. "Hopper isn't just my familiar. He's my best friend, my confidant, my family. Losing him would be like losing part of my soul."

The raw pain in her voice made Bullseye's chest tighten. Through the bond, he could feel the depth of her love for the small green frog, the terror at the thought of losing him, the horror that the man she'd bonded with was willing to help make that nightmare a reality for thousands of other witches.

"But our bond," he said desperately. "What we have—"

"What we have," Hazel said, her voice cold as winter, "is built on lies. You let me fall in love with someone who doesn't exist."

"I exist," Bullseye protested. "Everything between us is real."

"Is it?" Hazel stared at him with eyes like green ice. "Because the man I thought I loved would never help dragons destroy magical families for money. The man I thought I loved would choose protecting innocent bonds over protecting his bank account."

"I'm still that man—"

"No," Hazel said with finality. "You're not. That man was just a fantasy I created in my head. The real you is standing right here, defending your right to profit from magical genocide."

"Magical genocide," Bullseye repeated, the words hitting him like physical blows. "That's not... I'm not..."

"You're not what? Not helping dragons commit magical genocide?" Hazel's voice was pure ice. "Because that's exactly what this is. The systematic destruction of magical bonds for political control."

"I didn't know it was for political control," Bullseye said desperately. "I thought it was just... I don't know, a business thing."

"A business thing." Hazel stared at him with complete disgust. "You thought helping dragons mass-produce familiar bond breaker was just a business thing."

"I try not to think about what clients do with their cargo," Bullseye admitted. "It makes the job easier."

"Easier," Hazel repeated. "Right. It's easier to transport magical WMDs when you don't think about the innocent victims."

Through the bond, Bullseye could feel her love for him curdling into something bitter and poisonous. The woman who'd given herself to him completely just hours before now looked at him like he was something she'd scrape off her shoe.

"Hazel, please," he said, the bond making it physically painful to feel her hatred. "What we have... last night..."

"Last night I bonded with a lie," Hazel said flatly. "I thought I was falling in love with a hero. Turns out I was falling in love with someone who helps dragons destroy magical families for profit."

"I'm not a hero," Bullseye said quietly. "I never claimed to be a hero."

"No," Hazel agreed. "You're just a man who's willing to help commit magical genocide as long as the price is right."

The words hit him like a slap. Through the bond, he could feel her complete loss of faith in him, her regret about their connection, her desperate wish that she'd never met him.

"I can't walk away from this job," he said, though his voice sounded hollow even to his own ears. "I gave my word."

"You gave your word to help destroy magical bonds," Hazel said. "Bonds like mine and Hopper's. How can you not see how monstrous that is?"

"Because it's not personal," Bullseye said again, but the words tasted like ash.

"Everything is personal!" Hazel exploded. "Every bond you help them break belongs to someone! Every familiar that loses their intelligence is someone's best friend, someone's family, someone's other half!"

"I know that," Bullseye said miserably.

"Do you?" Hazel stepped closer, her magic crackling with fury. "Do you really? Because if you truly understood what you're helping them do, you wouldn't be able to sleep at night."

"I don't sleep well," Bullseye admitted.

"Good," Hazel said coldly. "You shouldn't."

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