Page 11 of Pitch a Witch
At least Ace left to rush to his Alpha’s aid. We only had one arrogant jerk to deal with.
“No.” With a sigh, he shook his head at me. “Danika will string us both using our intestines if I let you out of my sight.”
Sissily and I looked at each other, a silent conversation perfected after years of me getting my best friend into all sorts of trouble passing between us. River narrowed his chocolate peepers at us just as Sissily gave me a sharp nod. My heart jumped in joy.
Her hand slashed the air right at Blondie’s chest level, and a gust of wind smacked him hard enough to lift his feet off the ground. River was so caught off guard that he wind-milled his arms, but there was no escape for him. My grin hurt my cheeks as I watched him flail. Sissily followed that with another wave of air magic, bouncing him as if he was a fallen leaf on the wind and sending him smacking into a closed door almost a yard away from us.
I snatched her arm and yanked her down the hallway toward the front entrance and as far away from River as we could get. My pumps beat a fast rhythm over the smooth, hard floor, Sissily’s flats smacking a duller thump alongside it. Elation filled me. Just like old times, the two of us were bolting down the coven halls hoping to avoid my grandmother. She must’ve been thinking the same thing because she giggled and squeezed my hand.
“He’s going to be pissed.” I panted, not daring to slow just yet.
“I say he will rip us a new asshole, but yeah. Let’s go with yours. It makes me feel better.” Chortling with glee, Sissily kept pace.
“I still don’t understand my magic.” Finding it imperative to point that out, I cut a side-eye at her. “I won’t use it unless I have to.”
“I was an idiot, Hazel. Please do what needs to be done so none of ours get hurt. I swear to Hecate that I’ll explain my dumbass behavior later.”
After I skidded to a stop and whipped my head around wildly to make sure no one was there, I darted toward the double doors with renewed vigor.
“Okay, but if you run again, I swear, Sissily, I’m going to make an anthill out of you, too.” If I expected her to so much as blink at the gruesome reminder of what my magic did to the three shifters in the cornfield, I was left wanting.
My best friend shocked me enough to make me stumble when she bared her teeth at me in a challenge. Laughter burst out of me at seeing that unhinged look on her face. I had a feeling she hadn’t slept since I last saw her, though mischief danced in her blue eyes and her magic was as strong as ever.
Grinning like a fool, my hand wrapped around the elaborate golden knob on the door, and I put my back into it to swing it open. Sissily did the same, and both doors parted wide enough for us to walk out shoulder-to-shoulder. A scream lodged in my throat when a third person strolled through with their head held high, although those golden strands were windswept and sticking out in all directions.
“Thank you, ladies,” River purred and sauntered out of the coven building like he owned the place, his long legs eating up space fast enough that I had to run to catch up to him.
“He is going to give me a heart attack one of these days.” I glared daggers at the back of his head, though my hand was pressed firmly between my boobs to hold my heart where it belonged.
“Yeah, that’s another thing we need to talk about,” Sissily muttered low enough for my ears only when he hurried after Blondie.
As soon as we were outside, it became clear that not just the conversation with my best friend had to wait, but so did everything else. What used to be three groups of demons—according to Dean and Sissily’s cousin Josh—turned out to be triple that number, and most of them were clustered around the tall marble stairs. The air shimmered behind them, and it was red from the demonic magic. My heart turned into a fluttering, stuttering mess that was making a valid effort to kill me where I stood.
White noise thundered in my ears.
“Sissily, take Hazel inside.” River faced the horde with the confidence of a celestial being.
One sharp look stopped any insanity that would’ve made my best friend listen to the arrogant man. My rebuttal died on my tongue when Blackman started unbuttoning his shirt, each flick of a button snappy and precise. Mouth dry, I ogled him like an idiot until the soft fabric was released from his fingers and fluttered to the ground.
A howl pierced the night from outside the ward.
It snapped everything into focus like a rubber band.
“Is he planning to kill them by stripping naked?” I slurred, slurping back drool that had gathered with each roll of muscle on River’s back and arms.
“Looking at you, it might work,” Sissily griped, poking my side with her finger. “You having a heart attack?”
“I might be.” A flinch followed what I blurted out, and my friend snickered.
“No.” Sissily held me back when I tried to join Blondie. “He won’t need our help, I promise.”
“Are you drunk?” Yanking my arm out of her hold, I took two steps. “Can’t you see how many—”
Wings as white as the first fallen snow unfurled from River’s back, their span stretching from one side of the marble stairs to the other. They opened with a resounding snap that made the demons closest to him jump back with startled shouts. There were all sorts clustered in wait, but most of them were imps and trolls judging by their body shapes and the colors of their hides. The aggression that permeated the air shifted, and horror drenched every breath I sipped through numb lips.
River ignored us while a too-bright glow surrounded his body, and he grew a couple of inches, not just in height but in breadth too. His blond hair extended down his neck until it reached mid-spine and settled between his wings.
I found it difficult to pick my jaw off the floor.
