Page 68 of His Whispered Witch

“Welcome,” Malcolm said as he stood up, and Penn staggered a few steps back.

“Holy shit,” she muttered.

“Sorry,” Malcolm said and tried to shrink into himself.

“I’m still trying to get over the fact that you could just kill me.”

“This is West Virginia. Pretty much anybody could kill anybody. I think we’ve got more guns than people,” Asher muttered.

“I will never harm you,” Malcolm said. Then he winced. “Wow, I mean, things could get horribly awkward, and I will probably accidentally insult you at least twice at the worst possible moment, but I will never, ever hurt you.”

“Mal?” A sleepy voice asked from the door, and Malcolm jolted as if he’d been touched by a live wire in the pastures. Quinn slid the screen door open and strolled onto the porch. She was a petite woman with a shock of blonde hair, dressed in a light blue pajama set that matched Malcolm’s pants.

Asher blinked with wide eyes. She wasn’t showing yet, but he could smell a dramatic change in her scent, and another being was with her. Quinn was pregnant.

“Asher?” Quinn asked as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.

She dashed over to him and wrapped him in her arms, then stepped back and patted the paperclip with a faint smile. “You’re home.”

He nodded once, unable to say a word to the woman who saved his life. She made the charm that kept him human.

“This is Penn,” Malcolm said.

Quinn didn’t hesitate, just looped her arms around Penn’s neck and blubbered.

She stepped back almost immediately. “Sorry. Hormones. Super fun.”

“Nice to meet you,” Penn said.

The lizard scrambled onto her shoulder once it was free of the hug, and Quinn shrieked.

“Sorry, that’s just Oz,” Penn said, petting its back and murmuring.

“She’s an animal witch,” Malcolm said, and Quinn swung to meet his gaze and then back to Penn, whom she wrapped in another huge hug. When it was over, Oz was perched on top of Penn’s head, and both witches were crying.

Asher wasn’t quite sure what to do. He’d expected to force his way into the horse barn for a night until they found out which cabin was empty.

“We need a bed for the night,” he said, and just like that, the awkwardness was back. “Well, forever really.”

“Stay here. This is your home,” Malcolm said immediately.

“I can’t take your home!”

Malcolm rubbed his beard. “I wasn’t planning on moving out.”

“I can’t live in the big house!” Asher said.

“You’ve never lived anywhere else.”

“I’m capable of moving. I literally moved across the country.”

“It’s a huge house!” Malcolm said, as if he were defending it. And then he glanced at Penn. “Sorry, you probably don’t wannamove in with a strange couple and an 11-year-old and my mom, who’s going to love you probably more than she loves me, and we should not make this decision at 11 o’clock at night.”

“You want me to live at the big house?” Penn said. She seemed to understand intuitively what the big house represented. It was the alpha dwelling, the heart of the pack. He thought of the purple Gothic monstrosity at the edge of Silver Spring. Maybe she did understand.

Penn shook her head. “That’s insane. You’re right. This is insane.”

“Youwantto stay here?” Asher asked slowly.

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