Persie Merlin and the Witch Hunters - Bella Forrest Page 0,52

had at it. I had to pull out some of my best moves to subdue it.”

“You turned into a bear again, huh?” Genie smirked. She’d been crazy jealous that she hadn’t witnessed that transformation with her own eyes and had died laughing when I’d told her about the horse incident. But I’d sworn Genie to secrecy about that, and she’d never yet revealed a secret outside of our duo.

“Dragon, actually,” Charlotte said proudly.

Genie’s jaw dropped. “You’re pulling my leg.”

“I guess that’s something you’ll never find out.” Charlotte grinned and waved the puzzle box again. “Now, help me get this in an orb so I can get my ass to the Infirmary. If any of this permanently scars, I’m going to blame you, Persie.” She gestured to her injured face, but her tone wasn’t exactly unfriendly. We’d come a long way since our first days of hostility, growing into “almost” friends.

Nathan jumped up and took the box out of Charlotte’s hands. I watched him carefully select an orb, one of the biggest in the Repository. It was more of a huge room than an orb—more than double his height and about twelve feet wide in every direction. He touched his hand to the glass and opened up an iris, then unlocked the puzzle box and let the black mist pour inside.

Was he okay? Was he hurt? I padded over to the orb just as my Grendel materialized. The moment he set his bright green eyes on me, he flopped down onto all fours and scurried up to the glass, tail swishing like a happy puppy. I smiled as I put my hand out, and the huge beast tried to nuzzle into my palm through the orb. A puzzled look came into his eyes as he nudged the glass over and over, frustrated that he couldn’t get closer. A soft whine escaped his throat as he butted his head gently against the interior, and when he lifted his head again, two crystalline tears steaked down his enormous cheeks. He licked where he should’ve been able to feel my hand, his quiet, confused whine breaking my heart. I felt his sadness brimming in my chest, bringing tears to my own eyes. He wanted to feel human touch, but there would always be a pane of glass in the way. How was I supposed to explain that to this creature, after he’d leapt to my defense? He probably thought he was being punished and didn’t understand why.

“Looks like you got yourself a big, scaly boyfriend.” Charlotte chuckled as she came to observe. She pointed at her swollen eye. “You act all sweet now, huh, after you did this to my face?”

The Grendel snapped his jaws at her, but she didn’t even flinch. She had nothing to be afraid of. My Purge was imprisoned. Besides, I knew she was the sort of person to take pride in her injuries. She would wear them like a badge of honor until the medics healed them.

“You probably spooked him.” My voice hitched as he turned back to me, bumping miserably into the glass and staring at me, willing me to release him. I stroked my hand across the glass and tried to imagine the softness of his tufty fur, hoping he understood that I wanted to stroke him for real. That I didn’t want this fate for him.

Charlotte snorted. “Have you seen the size of him? I doubt anything could spook him.” She banged her knuckles against the orb, and I resisted the urge to shove her away. The noise and vibration sent my Grendel jumping back in alarm, where he dropped flat to the ground and rested his head between his forelegs. “You’re not fooling anyone, monster,” Charlotte continued. “You might act like a big, harmless pet around Persie, here, but you were ready to bite off a bunch of heads not so long ago.”

Wouldn’t you, if you thought your life was in danger? I bit my tongue and tried to keep the Grendel’s eyes on me. I didn’t have the telepathic abilities that Leviathan had, using me as a monster cell tower to hear what other creatures were saying, but the Grendel’s face said it all. All I wanted to do was talk to him… but what could I have said? “Sorry about this. I know it’s going to suck, but you’re going to be sent off to an even bigger, badder version of where you are now, and you’ll spend the rest of your life