Page 4 of Bad Witch

Magnolia glanced at the unconscious female. “Two girls. Goddess, they must be so scared.” She looked at the door. “I need to give the husband an update.”

“What if he did do that to her?” I said, unable to stop myself.

Mags turned back to me. “There’s not a single mark on the guy, and the back door of their house was kicked in. I really don’t think it was him.”

I couldn’t tell her I knew for a fact it was, that would be giving away too much. No one could know about that part of my magic, not now that I was regularly leaving the cottage. It was too risky. “Well, I hope they find whoever did this to her.”

“Me too. They shouldn’t get away with this,” she said. “You okay now?”

I was still a bit dizzy, but I nodded and stood. “I’m fine.”

Mags gave my arm a squeeze and left to tell Sheena’s husband that she was going to be okay, and I stayed where I was, reluctant to leave this female on her own for even a moment while he was still on the premises. Mags popped back in a little later to let me know he’d gone to get some of her things, and Sheena’s parents picked up her girls from school and were keeping them at their place for the night.

I took Sheena’s hand in mine. “Your girls are safe,” I said and brushed her blood-soaked hair back from her swollen face. “I promise, he’ll never do this to you ever again, Sheena. He’ll never hurt you again.”

Chapter

Two

Tempest

* * *

Bethany, one of the clinic nurses, popped her head into the break room. “Your two o’clock’s here, Temp.”

I stared longingly at my sandwich, wrapped it back up, and put it in the fridge. I hadn’t had a chance to check my schedule, not with the influx of shifters being brought in every day, but today I had several of my therapy patients scheduled as well. “How’s Mrs. Richards?”

“Her husband hasn’t come back yet,” she said, frowning. I’d finally left my post at her bedside when two more wolves from the Silver Claw pack were brought in. Mags was sitting with Sheena now, waiting for her to wake up.

“Something must’ve held him up,” I said. Something like covering his tracks or making a run for it. Though if he’d hurt Sheena before, and going by all the old injuries I’d seen when I was healing her and the remaining traces of dark magic, he had, she more than likely wouldn’t say anything out of fear. He’d get away with it, and next time, he’d kill her.

“Yeah, I guess,” she said. “How are the Silver Claw patients doing? I’m about to head there now.”

She’d just come back from a scheduled day off, and we’d all been too run off our feet for a proper handover. “We moved two over to intensive care an hour ago. And Harris passed away last night.” The wolf was one of their elders. He’d been gruff but sweet. “Also, the alpha, Draven, is still calling regularly for updates. He’s locked the pack down to try to stop the spread, but he’s not liking that he has to stay away, so try not to take his growls personally.”

“Got it,” she said and headed off.

I followed her out and hustled down the hall toward the treatment room. This virus had hit hard, and we had several witches working around the clock to find a cure. We’d find it, we had to, I just hoped it would be soon. A tall male strode around the corner, colliding with me and almost knocking me over. He grabbed my wrist, stopping me before I did, his grip so tight I hissed in pain as a cold shiver slid through me.

“Sorry,” he muttered, then carried on, heading for the exit before I could reply.

Rubbing my wrist, I watched him walk out, then shook off my stupor and rushed into the consultation room. “Sorry I'm late,” I said as I shut the door and strode across the room. I put my cup of tea on the table and realized I’d spilled most of it when I’d had my collision. Sighing, I turned to my eleven o’clock—and sucked in a breath.

Fender sat in the chair. Well, he was trying to sit, but his huge frame threatened to bust the chair apart, and he was watching me intently.

Embarrassingly, my cheeks heated.

The big hellhound’s head tilted to the side. “You okay, Temp?”

His pale amber eyes slid up to my face, and my belly swooped. “I didn't realize we had an appointment today.”

“We can reschedule if you’re too busy?”

“Oh...no, I didn’t mean that. I just meant...” I took a steadying breath. “Sorry, Fender, that’s not what I meant. It’s always good to see you. I mean…what I mean is, it’s…um…shall we get started?” I turned to my desk, my face growing even hotter as I took out his file from the stack beside me. Not that I needed to look at it. I knew exactly what was in there.

His gaze was heavy on me, while I flailed about, trying to summon the courage to meet his eyes. The big male had a weird effect on me, but then I was awkward around most people. I’d spent a good portion of my life living in the forest with Matilda the Wise, Glinda and Manfred, and no one else. I was still working out how to…be around people, especially big, kinda scary males like Fender.

“I know with the virus, you guys are full-on, you sure you got time for this?” he said.