Storm claims another unfortunate victim in cursed forest…
Tragic witch slain by tree in freak accident…
I could picture the headlines now.
My bear would blame himself, and my incubus would burn the forest down in revenge.
Worse, my vampire mate would lose his remaining humanity while my merman would fade into a soul-deep depression.
Would Kenji miss me?
“Goddess spare me the humiliation of being paired with an incompetent witch! Can you not survive without me for an hour?”
I lay on the ground, my head throbbing with the realm’s worst headache as the storm mage summoned lightning from a bruised sky.
A huge bolt struck the earth at Demelza’s feet. She screamed as ozone filled the air.
“What the fuck are you doing? You can’t hurt me!”
It was hard to focus with my skull trying to cleave apart and blood trickling into my eyes, but from Alaric’s murderous expression, Demelza was in deep shit.
“You tried to kill my fucking mate, you evil cunt! What the hell do you expect me to do?”
That shut Demented up. Her mouth fell open in scandalized shock.
“Mate? You mean she’s your soul-bonded mate too? Oh my fucking goddess.” She cackled. “I don’t believe it. How many fucking mates does one ugly, pathetic witch need?”
Was that a rhetorical question? I hoped so because my jaw had locked.
“Right now, she only needs me, you poisonous bitch, because I’m the one about to fry your bony ass.”
Demelza burst out laughing before unleashing a stream of dark magic at Alaric. He dove out of the way and blasted lightning at her. From the almighty shriek that ruptured my eardrums, he’d scored a direct hit. I nearly vomited at the scent of barbecued pork and singed hair.
A deathly silence said she hadn’t survived that direct hit. But I didn’t have the energy to verify her health status. Not with a head injury that threatened to send me through the veil.
“Live a long and happy life, Kenji. You were an okay familiar.”
“Goddess save me from overly dramatic witches. This isn’t a human daytime soap.”
My familiar pinged into view as Alaric ran over. “I got you,” he whispered, pulling me into his arms. An icy hand pressed against the wound on my head, and the pain crushing my brain eased.
Heat flooded my body as my mate cradled me.
All kinds of heat—not just the healing kind.
“See? You’re fine.”Kenji rolled his eyes and blinked away.
“Why is my familiar such an asshole?”
Alaric chuckled. “He’s one of a kind, for sure,” he agreed as he continued healing me. I tried not to think about how I was lying in his lap with my cheek pressed to his abs.
Damn, the mage smelled good. Like, good enough to eat, good. And his most edible bits were within reach. All I needed to do was twist slightly and…
“Am I interrupting something, pet?”
Zane’s honeyed voice, coated in amusement, jolted me from my inappropriate sexual fantasy. Did near-death experiences usually lead to sexy thoughts about one’s savior? I’d Google it later.
“Demelza tried to kill her,” Alaric said, purposefully ignoring Zane’s not-so-subtle comment.
