Solstice lights twinkled brightly, illuminating every store window we passed. I noted how Raven lingered outside a store that sold books. She seemed to like books. I’d seen her reading romance novels in the library a few times.
If I were her mate, I’d buy her any book she wanted and read them with her.
The thought popped unbidden into my head, and I stumbled. Raven’s hand shot out and steadied me before I pushed her away.
Until I got rid of my father, I needed to keep her at arm’s length. Otherwise, he’d use her against me. Like he’d used my mother to keep me in line all these years.
20
Raven
Alaric made my head hurt, a bit like the ice cream I’d scarfed down in the pizzeria. One minute he acted all nice, and the next, his mood flipped and he was back to being Alar-dick.
I hated it.
The snow soaked through my boots, turning my feet into ice blocks. The coat Maverick bought me before we left college kept the worst of the cold at bay, but it didn’t stop the wind from blowing freezing ice flakes into my face.
The storm currently raging above us was Alaric and his stupid magic. He needed his face shoved into a snowdrift. Maybe then he’d stop acting like a toddler. Honestly, it was pathetic.
I understood he didn’t want or need me as his mate. I was a mediocre witch at best, one with serious control issues, but did he have to be so mean about it? No!
And as for the incubus, well, he could go fuck a cactus for all I cared. He’d left me without a second thought after sealing the mate bond without my permission, and it stung.
I still didn’t understand how it had even happened. Dreams weren’t supposed to be real.
Hang on…
When the vampire drank my blood that time while I was dreaming of him, did that really happen?
I shivered at the memory of how pleasurable it had been when his fangs pierced my skin. Perhaps I had a pain kink. It was the only explanation.
But I wasn’t thinking about that now. I had more immediate issues to worry about. Namely, the fact Alaric was behaving like a complete tool.
“Witch!” The human’s scream shocked me to the core, making me stumble. When I turned, a human couple stood sheltering in a doorway staring at me. Or more accurately, staring at the magical embers floating down around me like colorful fireflies.
Alaric spun around and took in the scene. His jaw tightened in irritation as he stormed back to grab me. The human woman pulled out a small handgun from her purse and pointed at me.
Adam had warned me many times that humans feared what they didn’t understand.
Humans tolerated witches, shifters, and other supernatural creatures as long as they didn’t attract too much attention or act differently. The minute we did something that made ourothernessstand out, we became targets.
Laws were in place to protect both sides from antagonistic douches, but this human clearly hadn’t got the memo.
“Evil walks among us!” The woman’s aura turned a nasty shade of murky green. Her partner glanced nervously at her and then at me, probably waiting for me to retaliate. But I raised my hands in a show of good faith.
“I’m not evil, just pissed off.” I figured humor might defuse the situation, but the woman didn’t smile or even lower her gun.
“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”The woman’s eyes lit up with religious fervor. She bared her teeth at me before her finger squeezed the trigger and the gun discharged.
Magic blasted over me as the woman flew sideways, ending face down in a snowdrift. I felt a sharp pain in my left bicep, and when I looked down, the sleeve of my jacket bloomed scarlet.
Blood pooled at my feet.
Kenji appeared in front of me, his nose twitching.
“It takes real skill to find trouble in a town like this,” he remarked.
“The woman doesn’t like witches,” I choked out before slumping to my knees and falling sideways. Cold, wet snow cooled my burning cheeks while I rested.
