Page 15 of Hunted By Wolves and Shadow
His eyebrows quirked. “Probably. So do something about it.”
“What, so you can say it was self-defense when you kill me too? Lucky you. It must be two-for-one day in the murder aisle.”
When he stopped staring at me, he appeared to be fighting a twitch in his lips. “You are…something.”
“I’m not stupid,” I retorted.
“I never said stupid. Though you do seem pretty intent on pretending that your sweet granny wasn’t the worst witch Anterra has ever seen, the one responsible for the Mist and the clouded curse we've all found ourselves in for a score of annumsnow. Sounds pretty stupid to me. And now I'm offering you a free shot to take your chance at killing me, yet you're just standing there glaring. Sorry, witchling.If looks could killis still just an expression.” His face clouded momentarily. “Unless that's your magic.”
“I. Am. Not. A. Witch!” I yelled. At the same time, I darted to my left toward the knife.
He countered with one step. I reversed and lunged right. He blocked me again. Driving my knee up, I aimed to catch him where it counted, but he rolled a hip into the motion and absorbed the glancing blow. His arm caught around my chest before I could lunge left again. A frustrated shout escaped me.
“Really?” He held me with ease while I flailed at him, only hissing once when I caught his shin with my heel. Then he laughed. It started as a startled gasp, but quickly turned into full-on chuckling.
“I’m glad you find this so amusing. You won't soon.” It felt good to issue the threat even though we could both see I was in no danger of making good on it. The laughing galled me. Incensed me. How dare he?
“Don’t mind me, witchling. I didn’t mean to interrupt your wonderfully huffy tirade. By all means, continue. I’ll wait.”
For a long time, he just held me, his grip solid but not hard enough to hurt, and he was laughing softly all the while like I was a joke. I was not a joke!
Yes, fine, maybe I was weak. But I was also patient. I could wait as long as it took for him to lower his guard, then we'd see who got the last laugh.
With that in mind, I stopped fighting.
“Oh, are you done now?”
I nodded, and his grip loosened. “Let me go, you psychopath. Don’t touch me.”
“I’m trying not to, but if you keep trying to kill me, I’m going to keep stopping you.” His body was still hot against mine, matching the fire of my impotent rage, but his expression had cooled. With embarrassing ease, he moved us out of the kitchen and dumped me unceremoniously onto the couch. “Now stay there while I get you a bandage,” he ordered.
He backed away and put the distance of the rug between us, studying me.
After an eternity, he spoke. “You don't have your magic yet, do you?”
Wolf prowled before the front window. Since fetching me a bandage for my arm, he’d barely stopped moving. I hadn’t tried to rise from my spot on the couch,notbecause he’d ordered me like a dog, but because I’d decided the current situation gave me little choice. He reminded me of the wild creature stalking the edge of the clearing outside. Occasional howls alerted us to that thing’s continued presence, reminding me that I was trapped with a killer inside and monsters out.
And now this insane criminal thought I should have magic.
“Of course I don’t have magic,” I insisted again. “I amnota witch. How many times do you want me to say it?”
My skin heated under his blatant scrutiny while his grey eyes dragged up my body.
That was only anger flaring hot across my chest. And it was definitely fear sending prickling heat up my spine, nothing else. I couldn’t believe I’d ever thought I was attracted to him. Last night felt a lifetime away. Now if only he would stop staringso I could find my opportunity to get hold of another weapon. Grandma must have something else I could use in her cottage…
…Mycottage.
My anger faltered on the realization.
Annums ago, Grandma had told me she was leaving me the cottage when she died, which…Oh, Grandma. My heart gave a painful squeeze at the sound of her voice in my mind.“I knew it would be yours, Emi. You’re the only one I’d trust with it.”
Tears stung at my eyes, though I couldn’t stop myself from watching Wolf’s fluid steps as he paced. I wanted to jump up and crash us both through the diamond panes of glass, roll us across the clearing, and drag him to the beasts waiting in the trees. I would feed him to them myself. Obviously, I had no hope of fighting him, but something about Wolf set me on the very edge of my self-control. He made me feel crazy.
Even the memory of teeth cutting across my arm wasn’t as unnerving as the man studying me like a butcher planning how to take apart a carcass. Wolf looked like he was mapping each cut on my body with deliberate precision as his gaze raked from my neck to the very bottom of my toes. When he was done his dismembering perusal, he looked me square in the eye.
“Nah, you definitely are, little witchling. Whatever you do, don’t wish me dead right now. Imagine the cost of that sort of power. I doubt I’m worth that much trouble.”
I had no idea what he was talking about, too busy wondering why he had bothered to save me in the first place if he was only going to end my life now. Maybe he wanted to take his time. I shivered at the thought, remembering the way he’d growled at me when he had me pinned to the ground. I could have sworn his teeth were longer, sharper in that frozen heartbeat, his gaze brighter. His eyes had gleamed silver, some trick of my terrified mind or a strange reflection that my fear exaggerated.
