Page 24 of Immortal Bastard

Both Adam and Cain glared at him. But Anna wasn’t like the other females on the farm. She was originally mortal. She wasn’t sheltered. She’d heard worse things on the evening news.

“Someone’s using her body.”

“For wha—Oh, my God.”

“Annalise, language!”

“Not now, Adam.” She looked up at Dane. “Are you saying someone raped her?”

“I don’t know. But she has bruises up to her thighs.”

Cain shook his head. “Let’s just walk through this. You three clowns go marching into the bishop's office demanding guards and entrance into the witch’s cell. Our dear sister, Larissa, will sense something’s up and no doubt get involved, leaving Eleazar no choice but to grant your request, despite his better judgment.”

“She’s not dangerous,” Dane argued, prepared to admit that he’d been in her cell only minutes prior and no harm came to him.

Cain held up a silencing hand. “Then Dane will make the accusation of sexual assault and what will be the next question?”

“How does Dane know her thighs are bruised?” Adam asked, like a true Scooby Doo detective.

“Exactly. And Dane will say…?”

Adam and Anna turned to Dane. He held open his palms. “Why do I have to say anything?”

“Because everyone will want an explanation as to how you know what the witch’s thighs look like.” Cain sniffed. “You stink of multiple females, so who’s to say you didn’t touch her.”

“I didn’t!”

Cain arched a brow. “You washed her feet.”

“Well, I didn’t hurt her. I wouldn’t. They can look in my memories.”

“He has a point,” Adam agreed.

“Well, we have to say something,” Anna argued. “If someone is hurting that poor child, we have to help her.”

“She’s not a child,” Cain reminded. “She’s an adult witch—a homicidal one at that.”

None of this mattered. Dane didn’t want to waste any more time bullshitting with Velma, Freddy, and Shag. “I’m going to talk to Eleazar.”

“I’m going with you,” Anna insisted, rushing after him.

“Not without me,” Adam ordered, following closely behind.

Cain threw up his hands in frustration. “Well, I guess I’ll just wait here.” He grabbed Adam’s sandwich and took a bite then yelled, “She tried to kill our father!”

CHAPTER 3

Breath sucked through Delilah’s nose and tore into her lungs like an avalanche of life ripping through a silent mountain. For a moment, she swore she touched the heavens. There had been the most overwhelming calm and then a rush of light drawing her near. Then a soft cry she could only describe as angels singing, which abruptly transformed into the scream of infants, rushing traffic, a billion prayers, and her hyperventilating lungs seeking air where there was none. No gravity, no physical form, no reality to hold onto. Just space. Not even time. And then she was being ripped back through the blackness, fighting her way back into her physical form as if suffering some sort of backward birth.

Her chest stretched painfully on a vocal gasp and sweet, hydrating oxygen bathed her lungs. Air never tasted so good or burned so much.

Panting, she jackknifed upward and covered her face, dizzier than a time traveler. How much had she had to drink? She must’ve blacked out, yet her body felt fine. No lingering headache. No nausea. Just the burning in her lungs and a hollow ache in her stomach, which probably explained why her equilibrium felt off. She dry heaved, closing her eyes and searching for balance.

Slowly, the burn in her chest eased and the world stopped spinning. She wiggled her shoulders, taking inventory of her usual aches and pains. The pinched nerve in her back didn’t stab like a shiv in a prison fight for once.

“You are awake.”

Stranger danger. Her eyes flashed open and she stilled. Where the fuck was she, and who the hell—

---