Page 45 of Reckless Witch

“Don’t force us to kill the howling night pig,” Raith says.

I wince. Raith isn’t known for his tact.

Leilah frowns. “Howling night pig?” She looks down at the pig. “I thought— Stony, you never told me that’s what you are.” She drops to her knees. “You’re alone. Just like me.”

The pig snorts and nuzzles its nose against her cheek.

“Don’t worry,” Leilah says. She stands and faces us. “I’ll come, but this place is mine. Stony gets to stay here. I want food sent to her every day.”

Raith opens his mouth to answer—or refuse, is my guess—but I say, “I think that can be arranged.”

Raith snaps his gaze onto me.

“I’ll see to the feeding of the familiar myself,” I say.

Leilah looks at the animal. “If you miss even one meal, tell me.” The pig snorts. “Yeah,” Leilah replies. “Grams warned me about men.”

I don’t have to ask what it is about men Miriam warned her about. Men are idiots, is a universally accepted fact among women of all ages and species.

Leilah looks back at us. “I want to look around.”

I’m not surprised when Raith shakes his head. “No.”

It’s a bad move. Leilah will return. But he’s right. We still haven’t found the source of The Shadows Miriam Crowe contacted. Not to mention the Thol’guk and whoever the bloody hell else had been in the house with her. For now, Leilah is safer far away from this house.

“What happened here?” Ethan asks. “How did the Thol’guk get past your grandmother’s wards?”

“The green demon?” Leilah shakes her head. “I…I don’t know.”

“Who was the other person with you?” Ethan asks.

Something flickers in her eyes. Leilah was never a great liar. At least, she was never good at lying to us. I’m relieved to see that hasn’t changed.

“I don’t know. Some guy dressed in leather was sitting in that chair.” She points to the wing-back chair lying on the floor to the left of the couch. “You showed up and”–she shrugs—“he left.”

I exchange a look with Raith. Just what we need, a mystery man. Not to mention, a damn Thol’guk. Was the demon after her or had it followed the mystery man? Or did the creature have something to do with Miriam’s death? If she really was dabbling in the black arts, then her wards could have been defective.

Raith motions with his head toward the door. “Let’s go.”

Leilah shoots him a dagger-filled glare, then drops to one knee and hugs the pig. “I’ll make sure you get lots of Chinese food,” she says.

The pig snorts.

“Of course, all vegetarian. I’ll see you soon.” She rises then walks past us.

I follow her. Ethan is close behind. I descend the few steps from the porch then halt. I should have known. Leilah is getting into the driver’s seat. A blur passes me and, in the next instant, Raith stands in the street on the driver’s side and stops Leilah from pulling the door shut.

“Get out,” he says.

I bite back a laugh when she says, “You’re not afraid, are you?”

“I’m afraid for my car,” Raith replies.

Leilah revs the engine. The car purrs like the well-tuned animal it is. “Get in,” she says, and reaches for the gearshift.

To my surprise, Raith doesn’t use his vampiric speed to pull her out of the car or to reach the passenger door. Instead, he slowly walks around the hood to the passenger’s side. He opens the door and stands aside as Ethan and I slide into the back, then he slides into the front seat. Once he’s arranged his long legs and pulls his door closed, Leilah shifts the car into gear, slowly. That is unexpected. I exchange a puzzled look with Ethan. Then, she jams her foot down on the accelerator and all is right in the world.

As the tires squeal and the car shoots forward, I know a moment of fear. Raith, Ethan and I cannot die. Not in a car accident, at any rate. Leilah can. I wish I could say that with the three of us here she couldn’t die, but that’s a lie. Raith has tried twice to turn her, but in some cosmic joke that holds the six of us in thrall, our powers are useless when death comes for her.