Page 7 of Resting Witch Face
“The other covens pressured Danika to reassess the contributions of her coven because it’s not fair”—She used air quotes and twisted her mouth— “for most of the Gatekeeper’s coven to be in power. Apparently, they had witches in their ranks, which would be a better fit for enforcers. I think the new guy is here for that reason, by the way.”
“And I jumped in to apprehend a Kishi demon with no magic at all.” With a groan, I buried my face in both hands, ignoring the comment about River.
“Yeah.” Her nails dug into my forearm where she was still holding onto me. “So, if what you have noticed is true, I will bet my magic it has something to do with that.”
“There you are, Hazel.” The words died on my tongue, and I spun around to face the witch smirking at us from the other end of the shelves. I wanted to tell Sissily what I said was only a suspicion gnawing at me and not facts, but it’d have to wait.
“Is there a reason you are breathing the same air as me?” I asked Sasha Airborne, nemesis number one from our coven. Sissily clutching my arm made it look like she was holding me so I didn’t jump the witch, which worked in my favor.
She took a step back before catching herself.
“The crescent moon chamber needs to be cleaned for the midnight ritual.” Her drawled words made me grind my teeth, and Sissily clamped her fingers harder on my forearm. “The high priest Shadowblood said you need to do it stat. So chop-chop, get to it.”
“Hazel …” Sissily hissed, but I shook her off and was already striding to Sasha.
The witch didn’t have time to bolt before I stood in front of her and grabbed a fistful of her shirt, twisting it in my grip to bring us nose to nose. She could’ve been beautiful with her flame-red hair and sky-blue eyes, if she wasn’t a snake.
“Last time I checked, Shadowblood is perfectly capable of speaking for himself. Why are you here?” My crazy eyes reflected back at me in her wide-eyed gaze. This close, I’d knock her ass out before she had time to call on her magic, and we both knew it.
When the warmth of magical flames washed over my back, I knew Sasha was debating whether or not to take a chance, especially since Sissily stood behind me giving her a light show with her fire magic. Venom burned in Sasha’s eyes, and she answered through clenched teeth.
“I told him I was coming this way and I’d pass the message along.”
“You didn’t learn your lesson last time you decided to pick on someone stronger than you?” Her skin paled, telling me she remembered the time when she decided it’d be fun to corner me with her friends and they cut my face and arms using air magic. They had me pinned like a bug on the wall and chortled like it was all fun and games. For them, it might’ve been. I had a different opinion on the matter.
That memory was burned in my brain along with the crippling pain of feeling my skin splitting open and the grating sound of their laughter while I begged them to stop. It was one of the few times Sissily was not with me, and they took full advantage of that. We were eleven. I couldn’t remember much of how things played out after that, just that I came out of the daze on my knees with Sasha and her friends beaten to a bloody pulp around me. Something dark and hungry swirled in my chest when I thought about it, whispering in the back of my mind that I should make her suffer.
“Everything okay here, ladies?”
I released Sasha at the sound of the smooth baritone that washed over us like a balm. She stumbled away from me, throwing a glare over her shoulder as she darted out of the library and shouldered out right past River Blackman. Before I could grab her, Sissily bolted too, turning my way only after she was behind River, grinning like a fool and giving me a thumbs up.
Like a somersault, my stomach dipped when his raspy chuckle filled the library and he stepped inside. My shoulders hunched as if preparing me to run for the door, which was stupid on so many levels, but he closed the heavy door with a thud that held some finality to it.
Goosebumps popped up over my arms when I met his brown eyes and saw the intensity there.
“I don’t believe we were properly introduced.” Blondie swaggered closer until I could feel the warmth of his nearness through my clothes. “I’m River.”
“Hecate cursed me.” As soon as I realized I spoke out loud, my gaze snapped up to meet his.
“I’d say it made you quirky and very intriguing, Miss Byrne.” A smile ghosted over his full mouth before it turned into a panty-melting grin. “I won’t say cursed, unless that’s what you make of it, of course.”
Why did he have to be buddies with Shadowblood and my grandmother? Why?
4
“Unless you need a book, an eyeball or, let me guess …” Tapping a finger on my lip, I pretended to think about it before snapping my fingers in River’s face. “A dried-up minotaur testicle, maybe?” The revulsion washing over his features was priceless. “Unless you need one of those, I suggest you get the hell out of my way, pretty boy.”
Blondie stilled when I was done talking, and after a long moment full of pregnant silence, I turned my back on him. My mind was still spinning from Sissily’s reminder of the coven meeting more than half a year ago. I never claimed to be well behaved or a good person, but the number of times I’d been tucked away in the library or busy with any other task Danika dumped on my head lately did break the record. Almost as if she did everything in her power to keep me out of everyone’s sight. Out of sight, out of mind type a thing.
Through the years, I somewhat learned how to push away all thought of being useless to my coven, as well as my family—more so the Byrne bloodline than any others—going so far as to convince even myself that I didn’t care what anyone thought of me. It was a lie, and we could lie to ourselves better than anyone else, which made me a perfect example for it. I actually believed it, too, until something popped up to trigger the soul-wrenching pain I had buried so deep I nearly forgot it was there. But I remembered it now.
Oh, how I remembered.
Absentmindedly, I returned to tucking away the rest of the ancient texts that waited for me, my fist rubbing at the dull ache at the center of my chest. My grandmother raised me the best she knew how. I couldn’t begrudge her the tough love she bestowed upon me since in a way it had prepared me for the harsh life outside our family home. Did I like it? No, definitely not. Did I appreciate it? Thinking back on all the torment and cruel words spat my way, I had to admit that I was grateful to her. Just occasionally, however, I wished I’d grown up with someone loving me even when I screwed up. Even though I had no magic in my blood.
Like I was good enough just because they had me in their life.
Going through the motions without being aware of what I was doing, I nearly jumped out of my skin when River cleared his throat behind me. I forgot he was standing there like a statue a few feet from the door.
