Page 20 of Pitch a Witch
“I think she is using a memory spell on him,” Sissily whimpered, her dainty feet circling fast enough to make the roadrunner eat its heart out.
“She wants to see what happened.” I wheezed, darting glances behind us as if Danika would lower herself to chase us like a dog. “I have a feeling Shadowblood had something to do with the wards outside. That’s why no one could take them down. No one thought to use a spell to fight off our own magic.”
“She knew it was an inside job,” River announced calmly, and I honestly wanted to whack him one. He wasn’t even winded, for Hecate’s sake, while I was panting like an oversized cow.
“Of course, she did.” My flat tone provoked a twitch of one corner of his lips. “Did she read you your rights after she kicked us out?”
“She wasn’t happy about what happened outside.” Blondie turned his chocolate gaze pointedly toward Josh, who stomped clumsily next to us.
The young witch—around eighteen was my guess—left Sissily to drag him with us without protest. The poor guy seemed so out of it that I knew nothing we said had registered in his head. Me appearing out of thin air had done a number on him, and his near-death experience with the curse from our High Priest hadn’t helped.
“I’m not happy about it either, but I don’t see you sweating it.” Grumbling under my breath, I yanked on Sissily’s arm to slow her down. For Goddess’s sake, I’d pass out before I had a chance to have my ass chewed by Danika. “Slow down, little jerk. No one is chasing us.”
Instant karma had always been my number one enemy.
Twisting my ankle awkwardly, I wobbled in my pumps. My knee gave out, and I pitched to the side with a sort of gasp-shriek-shout while choking on empty air. That forced me to bodily tackle River, who was prowling beside me, and I hacked in his face like a damn cat trying to cough out a hairball when he hugged me to stop me from humping the large pillar candles that were lighting our way.
To his credit, Blondie didn’t push me away or look at me in disgust for trying to make out with inanimate objects, albeit involuntarily.
“Are you okay?” His deep baritone pebbled my skin, and I bobbed like a bobblehead since I still couldn’t talk.
“I might have a cracked rib or a punctured lung, but I’m okay.” Slapping Sissily away after I sucked in a much-needed breath so she would stop pounding on my back like she was dusting an old rug, I glared at her. “The punching bags are in the training facility if you need to release pent-up anger issues, girl. Damn, that hurt.”
“Sorry, you scared the shit out of me.” My best friend shrugged sheepishly and latched back onto a dazed Josh while River chuckled. “After thinking you died in an explosion when you blew up the coven, I freak out even when you cough. Can’t help it.”
“Right. Let’s not damage the merchandise, mm-kay.” My asinine comment had the desired effect, and she cracked a smile. “Maybe we should take him to the infirmary.” Jutting my chin in her cousin’s direction, I ducked my head to peer at the shorter guy. “He doesn’t look so good.”
River caught my wrist when I flopped my hand in front of Josh’s face to see if anyone was home. The kid blinked at me, but no other reaction followed the slow lowering and raising of his eyelids.
“He will be fine, I assure you.” Blondie ushered us forward, not giving the poor guy a second glance. “He is in shock. It’s normal.”
“You’d be in shock too if he actually saw you pulling feathers out of your ass earlier.” Feeling the need to give him the same amount of anxiety that drilled my stomach, I smirked at him. “He was outside with Dean when you … you know.” Spreading my arms wide, I flopped around as if impersonating some half-dead bird, and Sissily chortled.
It was official.
A screw was loose in my head.
“They saw nothing of the sort,” Blondie assured me without a twitch to his kissable lips. “Both of them were huddled behind the statues inside the front doors.”
“They could’ve peeked. We can’t know for sure.”
“We do know.” River gave me a side-eyed glance. “The other one is still sitting there with his eyes closed.”
The assistant’s desk in front of Danika’s office sat askew with the chair flipped on its side. I raised an eyebrow in question since it was perfectly lined even after the fight with the demons, but Blackman didn’t think I deserved an explanation. He did straighten it, however, and tucked the chair neatly under it before waving us inside.
Sissily busied herself with making Josh comfortable because that was who she was. My friend loved taking care of people while I loved pissing them off. My very existence rubbed many of them wrong, so I just added to their expectations. Who was I to destroy their hopes and beliefs?
While she did that, I moved around Danika’s office, running my fingers along the spines of the books and taping a statue here and there to push it in its perfect place, all the while feeling River’s eyes on me. Nervous energy filled me to the brim, so instead of fidgeting, I decided to move in the hopes it’d pass.
It didn’t.
“Were you ever going to tell me?” There was no need to ask in detail. We all knew what I was talking about.
“Yes.” The simple way he said that made me look at him over my shoulder. Sincerity was clear in his loaded gaze.
“I’m actually finding that hard to believe.” He didn’t ask for clarification, just tilted his head slightly to the side. Unable to hold eye contact, I faced the shelves as I continued. “My magic was unstable when the shifters attacked us in that field, yet you fought them with witch magic.”
“That was only three shifters, Hazel. You alone could’ve dealt with them without any magic if you were not worried about the two of us.” I hated that he made sense. Why I tried so hard to find inconsistencies when it came to River was beyond me.
