AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Five words. That was all it took to cut me down.
To smother the softer emotions I’d so easily clung to for those brief seconds.
To shred any hope that I’d had for a life more than what I’d always known.
Still, my head shook. “No.”
His head reared back, and I tried—yet failed—not to be enamored by his roguish features. He had thick, ebony hair that naturally seemed to swoop up by a couple of inches on the top and was just slightly shorter on the sides.
His arms were covered in black and grey tattoos starting above his short, black sleeves and ending at his fingertips. Hell, I could even see more of them peeking out from above the V in his T-shirt.
His lips begged to be nipped at, and his dark brows furrowed so tightly that I wouldn’t have been surprised if there was a permanent wrinkle between them.
“No?” He growled. “What do you meanno?”
I took a step back and held my hand out. If he wasn’t outright attacking me, I’d at least pretend like I had magic to maybe scare him with.
“I meannoto your rejection,” I retorted with rising bravado. “You were about to say that you were going to kill someone, and I can only assume by your twisted, snarling face that you meant me. Well, I’m not in the mood to die. So let me repeat myself more clearly. No, I don’t accept your rejection. Whoever you are.”
A rumble built in his chest, and he shook his head as if he still didn’t understand. “Quit playing your magic tricks on me, Witch.”
Well, this guy might have known my name, but he obviously didn’tknowme.
Just as I was about to refute his statement, the sexy brute came charging at me. Acting on instinct, thanks to all those nights spent in the gym, my foot lifted and connected with his gut. His shoulders pushed forward from the impact, and I took the opportunity to allow my fist to meet his jaw.
The echoing crack made my lips curl upward, and again when I grabbed his neck and slammed my knee into his handsome face.
Such a pity.
Just when I was starting to think I had the upper hand, he recovered from whatever shock he’d been in and wrapped his arms around my waist, attempting to take me down.
His heated skin burned mine, and sorrow filled me at the realization that this man—supposedly the one meant just for me in this world—could be trying to kill me, but I shoved those feelings down and focused on not allowing my face to be pummeled.
When he began pushing me toward the ground, I wrapped an arm around his neck and used my body weight to press down on his head. His six-and-a-half-foot frame started to timber forward, but he reached for my thigh and flipped me up and over him.
I landed on the ground hard, the impact rattling my bones and sending stabbing sensations through me from head to toe.
“Fuck.” I groaned. “Was that really necessary?”
He snarled in return and sat on me before I could get up. “Was it necessary to kill those kids?”
Now, it was my turn to be shocked…
“What are you—” Before I could finish my question, he punched me just beneath my neck. Like really fucking punched me.
Sure, I’d hit him first, but still, I was a little more than shocked by the impact.
Before I could physically respond, his hands covered my throat, but they only squeezed hard enough to keep me pinned. “You’re not my mate. You’re just using magic to trick me.”
He spoke with conviction, but I could see the uncertainty in his cognac eyes that were darkening by the second.
“Listen, psycho stranger. I don’t know who you think I am, but I hardly have any magic.” My words were garbled, and the longer I spoke, the more my vocal cords burned from his touch, but I kept going. “And I wouldn’t hurt a child, let alone multiple of them.”
Flickers of something I didn’t recognize appeared in his eyes, then he blinked several times before finally squeezing them tightly shut. The weight of his body wasn’t leaving my neck, and even though I knew the truth, he seemed to be struggling a little too much with our predicament for me to allow him to keep me in this position.
With my not-mate distracted, I bucked my hips up and punched his kidney before attempting to roll out from under him. “Seriously. What is your problem?” I demanded, ignoring the stabbing pain in my cheek from his previous punch.
He grunted in reply and got up before me. The black boot on his right foot was coming right for my head. Instead of hoping I got out of the way in time, I raised my forearm, blocking the kick, and reaching up with my other hand to press on his knee.
