Page 13 of Pitch a Witch
“Don’t you dare.” I pushed through my grinding molars.
“Can’t you—” She didn’t get to finish the sentence because the little shit slapped her across the mug with a leathery wing. If I was not in so much pain, I would’ve laughed at her gobsmacked expression.
“Who the fuck thought to send imps to attack a witch coven?” Hissing in fury, she slapped at the demon attached to my arm but missed it by far. Its jaw tore more of my skin and sent blinding pain up to my shoulder.
I fought and hid to stay alive only to die from poison administrated by an imp bite. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I registered the lack of sound apart from our trio, but it was there one moment and gone the next. My friend was too focused on the imp as well, or she would’ve prevented the further embarrassment. I was sure of it. Hammering my fist in its head did absolutely nothing to persuade the demon to release the bite, either.
“Im’ma grab it.” Sissily pressed her mouth into a firm line, determination burning in her blue peepers and brightening them with a glow that was not diminished by the dark smudges from lack of sleep. “Just grind your teeth, and they’ll heal your arm in the infirmary.”
“Like hell they will.” Appalled by her lack of compassion, I tried to step away from her but couldn’t. She had a death grip on the imp’s tail. “Release its tail, and I’ll deal with it myself.” No amount of staring daggers could discourage Sissily when she was on a mission.
“Stop being a cry baby, Hazel. A Brazilian wax hurts more than this. Don’t bite your tongue.” That was all the warning she gave me before she reared back with both her hands wrapped around the demon’s twitching appendage.
A muffled shriek came from the imp, who kept drooling all over my forearm. Thick ropes of its saliva stretched from my arm toward the ground and mixed with big, fat drops of my blood. Our bickering, which was a normal occurrence with Sissily and me, only made the demon frantic and horrified. So, when the full weight of my friend hung from its tail, the hellspawn panicked and, releasing his jaws from my extremity, he turned them on my chest.
Prickly claws embedded themselves between my ribs, luckily not long enough to cause internal damage. It still hurt like a bitch and made me bellow in alarm, which did absolutely nothing to get the little shit off me. Bulging, pitch black eyes locked on my open mouth like a damn dentist inspecting my perfectly healthy teeth only to make up a bogus story about seeing an invisible cavity so I would line their pockets. My trap closed with a loud snap when I noticed its calculating expression just in time. With my tonsils tucked safely away, the crazy demon went for my Prada bralette top.
Hearing the silk rip hurt more than when the imp gnawed on my muscle and bone. The demon and I both started flailing at the same time, and its tail slipped from Sissily’s grip, sending her to the ground. She hit it hard on her ass and grunted, staying down instead of helping me save my poor blouse. Well, more like a bra than an actual blouse, but that was the way of fashion this day and age.
In my panic, magic blasted out of me in one dark, thick pulse, incinerating the imp but not before I saw its face and the silk hanging like a noodle from its jaw. Ash puffed in a cloud around my face, which I had to wave away before I swallowed since I was gasping in outrage. When the patch of remains from the imp cleared, a face came into view from a couple of feet away.
Smoldering chocolate eyes burned into mine.
“Ummm.” Sissily’s uncertain tone only infuriated me more.
“You are an angel.” My finger stabbed the air at River’s face like the last twenty minutes or so never happened.
Without comment to confess or disagree with me, his gaze rolled from head to toe slow enough to burn a trail over my skin. Standing my ground, I glared at the liar, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of looking away. My lower belly, on the other hand and thanks to the heated stare, was trying to learn acrobatics, and my vagina was singing praises for Blondie, damn them both.
“Hazel?” Sissily groaned as if in pain, which turned my name into a question.
“What?” I snapped at my friend, not glancing away from River.
“Your boob is out,” Sissily croaked, either trying to hold back laughter or mortified on my behalf, but I’d never know which.
My eyes jerked down, and there it was. My left boob was definitely out in all its glory, completely devoid of the poor silk top that covered it. It hurt when my hand slapped it in an attempt to hide it from Blackman’s view, a little too late, of course. At least he could no longer be threatened by my pointy nipple, which was stretching as far as it could to get his attention.
“His face is out, too, but you don’t see me complaining.” Cool as a cucumber, I waved a hand toward River. My friend’s snort mingled with Blondie’s dark chuckle, which grated on my nerves. “That little shit ate my Prada shirt. Who does that?”
“Demons?” Sissily snickered as she climbed to her feet. “If you stopped moving, both your boobs would be covered right now.” Yet, she tugged the t-shirt she was wearing and handed it over.
“I thought hellspawn liked souls, not silk. Color me surprised.” Grumbling under my breath, I accepted the offering but arched an eyebrow at the tank top she had underneath.
“I’m prepared now.” Her shoulder twitched in a shrug. “I figured you’d be needing shirts or pants in a snap at any time. I have leggings under my pants now.”
We both ignored River, whose eyes were drilling holes into me.
A snort escaped me, though it was muffled from the shirt I was wrestling over my head while still having one hand on my poor boob to protect it from the winged man staring from the side. “What, you think I’ll start shitting magic, too? Why on earth would I need pants?”
“I never know with you, Hazel.” But she was smiling to soften the bite in her words.
“What happened here, Mr. Blackman?” Danika’s voice whipped like a belt hissing in the air.
“River sprouted wings,” I told my grandmother primly like a two-year old at show-and-tell day.
Sissily choked, but I jutted my chin as if daring Blondie to say otherwise.
9
