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Even saying that is breaking her vows. Or it would be enough to qualify for some captains. Miles would argue for it. “Evelyn.”
“Don’t say my name like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m infuriating you and you want to kiss me again.”
That startles a ragged laugh out of me. “You are infuriating, and I do want to kiss you again.”
“Bowen! Don’t be charming. It’s upsetting and confusing.”
She’s the charming one, especially now that she’s flustered. It makes my chest feel strange to know that I’m the one who flustered her. This woman is dangerous in a way I’m not prepared to deal with. I’ve had lovers over the years, but none have come close to what Evelyn has accomplished in two short days.
She makes me … crave.
“Come back to the ship.”
“I don’t have much choice, do I?” She casts a look filled with longing toward the darkness of the trees. “I don’t think I was made for the sea. I miss the earth beneath my feet.”
That strange feeling in my chest twinges hard enough that I press my hand there as if it were a physical sensation. I don’t like her sad. I have to make her sad to keep her alive. “Come on.”
A low sound stops me cold. It’s not quite a growl, more of a hiss of pure menace. Evelyn turns to peer into the darkness, but I grab her arm. “Don’t move.”
“What is—”
“Silence, woman.” I stare over her shoulder at the two glowing eyes that seem to hover in midair just over her shoulder. If I hadn’t been so distracted by her, the beast never would have gotten so close. “When I tell you to run, run back to the village like your life depends on it. Because it does.”
A fine tremor works its way through her body, but I don’t have time to worry about her fear right now. I’ll have to time this carefully. The creature will pounce and there will be one moment to get out of the way. These animals have the ability to partially shift planes of existence, which allows them to dodge attacks both physical and magical.
How do I know that?
We’ve stopped at Yaltia a handful of times over the years, but I’ve never once ventured out of the village itself. I took one look at the houses in the trees and any curiosity I felt shriveled up. Up until this moment, I would have sworn I have no idea what resides in this forest.
The eyes shift, sinking a few spare inches. The beast is about to pounce. I shove Evelyn toward the village. “Run!” I draw my magic forth even as I pull my largest knife from my boot. Not bringing my sword was a foolish thing to do, but I hadn’t expected to do more than gather up a wayward witch. Fighting for my life wasn’t on the agenda.
I get my first clear look at the creature as it stalks out of the darkness, a giant black cat with a startling patch of white on its chest. Its shoulders are massive, likely coming up to my chest if it stood still long enough, and its claws are easily as long as my hands. The glowing eyes hold an intelligence that is hardly animal. There’s menace there, hate even.
The beast launches itself at me. I throw up a shield, and it blinks out of existence. There one moment and gone the next. It reappears on the other side of my shield, far too close. The damn thing teleported. I knew it could do it, but seeing it verified is something else entirely.
Holding a shield around my body is all but impossible in a fight, and it won’t do any good against an enemy like this. Instead, I go on the offense. I strike with a concentrated blast of magic aimed directly at its head.
The damned thing dodges, leaping straight up so my magic passes harmlessly below it. “Fuck.” It obviously has experience fighting magical humans. I’m in trouble. If I can’t strike and I can’t defend … this might be it for me.
I barely have time to process that thought and the conflicting emotions it brings when a ball of violently purple fire smashes into the cat’s side. It howls in agony as the fire wraps around it, freakishly fast. The beast blinks out of existence, but when it reappears, the fire is still spreading through its fur.
With a cry that makes my skin prickle, the cat turns and flees deeper into the trees. Instantly, the fire goes out. It doesn’t stop running, though. I watch it disappear before I turn to where Evelyn crouches.
Her fingertips are filthy from carving the rough circle she occupies, and she’s breathing just as hard as I am. She looks up at me, her green eyes glowing nearly as brightly as the cat’s had. “I didn’t want to hurt it.”
I blink. “What?”
“I couldn’t let it kill you.” She weaves a little and plants her hand on the ground. Her hair falls forward to hide her face from me. “And it’s too close to the village. A child could have wandered this deep into the woods. It’s not like we walked far to get here. It’s only a matter of time before it kills someone.” Her voice is clogged as if she’s fighting back tears.
I move closer on pure instinct. “You saved me.”
“It’s not right to kill animals just because they’re dangerous. By that logic, both you and I should be killed, too.”
Gods above and below, my thieving witch has a bleeding heart.
