Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 51862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51862 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
“You lied to me. You came in the guise of a protector but turned out to be an exploiter. You broke my trust, and you put my people in danger. And you want to talk about things I should have told you?”
“I…”
“And then you led the evil one to us. You said Phenix Wrathelder was your greatest enemy. You chose to involve him in order to reclaim me. You want to possess me, alien. You do not respect me. You do not love me. You think of me like a creature you can fuck. You…”
My little speech would be so much better if I didn’t finish it by fainting into his arms.
Zain
I catch Emily mid-tirade. I am sure there is much more she wants to say, and I am equally sure I will hear it all. She has every right to be angry, I suppose. Just as I will have every right to spank the attitude out of her once I have made my apologies.
The villagers cluster around, stocky older women taking the fore as they gather around Emily.
“I haven’t seen anything like that since Evangeline,” they say.
“That’s true power. That’s why Hallow Grove is untouchable.”
“What is wrong with her?” I ask the question, because although the villagers seem to be generally thrilled with Emily and her display, Emily is now unconscious in my arms which is not precisely what I would call a great sign.
“Witches can’t stay all powered up too long. They run the battery low. Emily’s barely ever done any witching. She needs some chicken soup and probably some cake, I’d say,” Mrs Travers says.
“Definitely cake,” Mrs Trotter says. “And of course, her own bed.”
“Also, she did just shoot someone. That can really take it out of you.”
The villagers rally around Emily and me. Me because I will not let her go, Emily because she is the very nexus of their world. She carries the burden of protection with her and inside her. I understand her more now. What they call magic is not magic to my eyes. It is a burden placed on her. Many species who live collectively will occasionally produce one particular type of creature seen nowhere else in their kind. She is special, in every meaning of the word.
It takes several hours for Emily to open her eyes. She has slept almost a full eight hours by the time she wakes. I have been sitting next to her for the entire time, just looking at her, making sure she does not go anywhere. I am going to have to add a leash to that collar of hers — I see she never took it off. Even when she ran, she kept that connection with me, the one we forged in our first minutes of meeting.
“Hello, pet,” I say as she looks into my face.
“Hey,” she says, sounding a little sleepy. “Did I kill someone?”
“Technically. Nobody who didn’t very much deserve to die. All the humans survived. There are a few with injuries, but nothing life-threatening, and you…” I put my hand on her chest to stop her from rising in the misguided attempt to help them. “Are going to stay precisely where you are.”
“You can’t boss me around,” she says, though she says it weakly.
“Yes, I can, pet. And yes, I heard your tirade loud and clear and I understand you are upset. But that does not change what you are to me, and it does not change what I am to you.”
She looks at me with wide, blue eyes, and begins to sob.
I gather her into my arms and hold her tight. I don’t know exactly why she is crying, but often enough, humans simply cry out of stress, or out of the need to relieve it. My pet has been through so much more than I ever wanted her to experience.
“I love you,” I assure her. “I will always love you, no matter what you do. Remember that when I thrash your ass for running away like that.”
She stiffens against me for a moment. “Are you serious? After what you just saw me do? I could zap you away from me.”
“I don’t think so. I’ve been talking to the ladies. What you used was a protective force to save the villagers. I don’t think whatever supernatural human energy you were tapping into is going to save you from having a sore hide.”
She squirms in my lap, her tears evaporated. I feel her soft curves moving with anticipation. My pet is so easy to turn on. I have missed her, and so has my body. The wriggling of her hips is turning me on.
I slide her off my lap and turn her over it. This has been a long time coming and is very well deserved and needed.
Emily
“You are such a naughty little witch,” he growls down at me.