Page 28 of Ghostly Touches

They couldn’t summon these creatures anyway. They aren’t creatures that can be controlled by magic or anything else.

“Are you here to help us?” Bernard asks hopefully. “We have some magic at our disposal, but we can’t keep fighting them off.”

“It depends,” Viktor answers. “Where’s the girl?”

“Girl?” the woman repeats. “Are you looking for a specific witch? The young witches and mages stay at the—”

“No, I’m looking for the necromancer you took from her house last week,” Viktor interrupts coldly.

The expressions on the two Elders’ faces quickly shift from surprise to suspicion. I tense and discreetly reach for my sword. My hand curls around the hilt as I gauge their response. Clearly, they know who we’re talking about.

“Willow is… indisposed right now,” the woman says.

My feet shift subtly as the vibrations in my body change. This woman is dangerous. Not to me, but to Willow. My hands curl slightly as my claws threaten to extend. Where is my necromancer?

Viktor takes a step towards the old witch until he’s directly in front of the woman. She has to crane her neck up to look at his hooded face.

“We need her for a mission. If she is here, bring her to us,” Viktor hisses.

I can hear his anger brewing and feel the tension in the air around him.

Bernard’s expression grows worried. “Do you think she’s the reason those creatures keep coming here? They started coming the day after her arrival.”

It’s possible. The fact they started showing up the day after she touched the book is a large coincidence. Viktor shrugs. “If so, then taking her off your hands would help your monster problem.”

Thankfully, Viktor has decided to take the lead with all of this because I’m beyond words. My throat is working hard as my teeth grind together. These people know where Willow is. Why are they delaying our reunion?

The woman looks over at Bernard with a glare. “I told you we should have just killed her out right!”

Bernard looks alarmed as he glances from his friend to us. He takes a step away from the witch and says, “I’ll take you to her. I don’t want those things coming back. We might not survive another attack.”

The woman makes a face. “No, I’ll take you to her. She’s not down in the cells.”

Bernard whips his head to look at the witch. “Claire… if she’s not in the cells, where—”

“I’ve kept her in the sensory deprivation room,” the witch, Claire, interjects. Bernard gasps in horror.

“You left her there for aweek, Claire? Why, why would you do that?” he asks, aghast. “Her mind… It has to be in pieces by now, having been in that state for so long!”

Willow’s in trouble. Serious trouble. All because of this woman. Something in my chest snaps under the sudden tension.

A growl, deep and fierce, boils up my throat and out of my mouth. I take the three steps towards the woman, and before I can stop myself, I’ve grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off the ground. Her strangled gasp should have pulled me from the animalistic rage pushing me near the precipice of insanity. But it doesn’t.

Kill, the monster in my head whispers.

A heavy hand falls on my shoulder. “Put her down, and let her lead us to the girl, brother.”

Dragging my attention away from the witch, I turn my head towards Viktor. I stare at him, hardly hearing what he has said. Didn’t he hear the mage? Willow needs our help.

“The witch is clearly an idiot, but you need to put her down. The girl sounds like she needs out of her situation, andClairehere can lead us to her,” Viktor pushes, strangely calm. Usually, he’s the one on the verge of having a fit.

His words steady me. I set the woman down and take a step back from her. She shuffles away from me.

“I didn’t realize she was important to the Ghosts and their mission, or I would have—”

“Show us the way,now,” I grind out.

“Come on, Claire. Let’s take them to the girl,” Bernard says as he places a hand on her back and turns her around.

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