Page 65 of Rogue Witch

Five? “Have you boys decided which one of you would legally be my husband?”

“Me,” he replies.

I blink. “Cordero will burn down the bakery,” I say more to myself than Raith.

“We can protect you.”

I start to tell him that he’s a fool if he believes that.

Does Mama know that Raith, Cordero…and I aren’t…human? No, she doesn’t. Humans can’t wield magic. Which means, somewhere in my lineage is a Margiddian, who married a human, then lived as a human.

“We can kill Cordero,” Raith says.

They would try, but at least one of them would die. I played them—Raith in particular—against Cordero. I thought seeing Raith jealous was funny. I thought I was clever enough to control Cordero. I never considered the repercussions. I never considered that someone might die.

“I will kill him.” Raith’s incisors elongate.

His anger is pushing him dangerously close to looking for Cordero. Cordero is a coward and cowards hedge their bets. He won’t face Raith alone.

Raith is right. Cordero has to die.

I grasp Raith’s hand. “Forget about Cordero.”

Raith shakes his head, but I pull him deeper into the alley, past the closed bakery door to an alcove between the bakery and the building next to it. I push Raith into the alcove until his back presses the wall.

I look up at him. His eyes have darkened. Not with anger, but with desire. The juncture between my legs tightens. I rise on tiptoes and press my mouth against his. He yanks me close and kisses me like a man who’s starved. His mouth, warm, firm, and insistent, causes my head to spin. I want him. But more than that, I need him…I love him. Unexpected sorrow twists my heart and I force back tears.

His tongue flicks against my lips and I open for him. He thrusts his tongue inside my mouth and I’m suddenly aware of the hard bulge pressing against my abdomen. My heart pounds. Would he let me touch him? Would he let me wrap my legs around his hips and lower myself onto his erection? I moan and he growls in response. Yes, he would let me do anything I want.

I imagine wrapping my legs around his hips as he drives into me with all he’s got. My throat goes dry. The image has a strange quality, as if I have already made love to him. I want so badly to make it real and undulate my mons against his cock. His fingers tighten on my arms. Why can’t Raith be like this at The Academy? I could so easily give myself over to him. But I can’t fuck him now. It’s too cruel, too sadistic. I reach down and rake my nails over the front of his jeans where the bulge strains.

“Nova,” he rasps against my lips.

He slides his mouth along my cheek to my ear. A shiver races down my arms. I reach beneath my skirt and inch the knife from its holster. I allow my head to drop back as Raith slides a wet kiss down my neck. I must be quick. Raith is in a haze of lust, but one tiny wrong move and he’ll stop me before I have the knife out.

I grab a fistful of his hair and pull—hard. I smother his grunt with a kiss. I grip the knife, place my thumb on the switch. Then, in a hard upward swing, I open the knife and plunge the blade under his left ribs.

Raith stiffens. His eyes lock with mine. Confusion gives way to pain. The recognition of betrayal follows in the instant before he collapses. I release the knife and try to catch him, but his weight takes me down. We almost tumble out of the alcove, but I throw my weight forward, so that we slide down the left corner. My arm is pinned beneath his back, and my breasts press against his side as if we’re still locked in an embrace.

My heart thunders and I remain frozen, unable to tear my gaze from his eyes, staring past me, unseeing. Tears break through my resolve. I want badly to pull the knife from his chest and beg his forgiveness. But vampires don’t forgive. Worse, to free him now would sign his death warrant.

I grasp his shoulder and gently pull him forward an inch so that I can free my arm. My gaze catches on the knife protruding from his chest and a sob escapes me. I’m so glad Raith isn’t aware of his surroundings. Unlike the movies, real vampires can’t be killed with a knife or stake to the heart. But it can incapacitate them. If Cordero were to find him…. I shudder. I press a kiss to Raith’s lips, then stand.

After I find Cordero and kill him, Raith will be safe.

Chapter Twenty-Three

ETHAN

Quick bootfalls on the marble floor outside Raith’s office halts our conversation. Raith, Blade, and I exchange a glance in the instant before Headmaster Edd Domini enters the room.

Speak of the devil.

His glance takes us all in, then he focuses on Raith. “I just arrived from the City. The students have returned from the Reaping?”

“Yes,” Raith replies.

Relief washes over Domini’s features. “That’s miraculous. To my knowledge, a Reaping has never ended within two days. All the students returned safely, I hope?”