Persie Merlin and the Witch Hunters - Bella Forrest Page 0,88
dangerous catastrophe further down the line.
Reid’s mouth spread into a relieved smile, transforming his face into a vision of warmth. His umber eyes glittered with gratitude. “Thank ye. I ain’t one for poetry or pretty words, so I don’t know how te say it in a better way, but… ye’ve no idea what this means te me.” He grinned wider. “As for yer assurances—I’ll abide by them, but I’ve got one of me own.”
“What?” I squinted warily.
“Promise ye’ll not try and pulverize me again. Me face is a lot nicer when I don’t look like I’ve just lost a barfight.” He chuckled, and I was annoyed to find the sound endearing. “And I’d like te be able to breathe without me ribs stingin’.”
I nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
“I’ve already put me number in yer phone so ye can get in touch with me. I thought about puttin’ it under ‘bastard,’ since that’s what ye kept callin’ me the other day, but I settled on me actual name instead.” He dug in the pocket of his jeans for my phone, handing it back to me. “Ye know, for a witch, ye ain’t so bad.”
“For a non-magical, you’re not on my list of favorites,” I retorted, irritated by the automatic tug that wanted to curve my lips into a smile.
He laughed. “Maybe I’ll creep up the ranks. Stranger things have happened. Us, sittin’ here without stranglin’ each other, for one.”
“If I didn’t have somewhere to be, there might’ve still been time for that.” I refused to be sucked in by his sudden shift into easygoing charm, no matter how much he smoldered at me with his smiley eyes. I’d agreed to help him as a favor to his curse’s victims, so the effects couldn’t cause any more damage, and that was where it ended. This was a twisted doctor/patient scenario, nothing more.
“I’ll not see ye out, in case that resurrectin’ fella spots me.” He stayed sitting. “But… thanks again. I mean it. Maybe it’s the non-magical part of ye that makes ye a good person.”
I arched a withering eyebrow at him as I got up. “Or maybe you’ve just let yourself believe we’re villains when we’re nothing of the sort. Oh, and that’s you breaking rule number six already.”
“Ah… sorry. That one’ll take some getting’ used te.”
“I’ll let it slide in the pursuit of educating you. Magicals might have abilities, but it doesn’t mean we’re the enemy. You’d see that if you’d open your mind a bit and commit to rule six.” I walked to the door and glanced back. “If we wanted to hurt non-magicals or exert our dominance, don’t you think we would have done so already? We don’t keep the secret of our existence to be sneaky. We keep it so it doesn’t start a war that would see massive losses on both sides. People fear things they can’t explain, and that fear leads to violence. We’re just trying to protect all of us from getting nuked. Think about that.” I left him with those parting words and headed out of the trailer to find Nathan.
He’s going to think I’ve gone insane. But I’d made my decision to help this guy, and I wasn’t the sort of person who went back on her word. As I made my way through the outskirts of the market toward the hubbub of the main aisles, a poem sprang to mind. The words of Adam Lindsay Gordon bolstered my resolve:
Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone.
Kindness in another’s trouble,
Courage in your own.
Twenty-Five
Nathan
My chopsticks clattered into the noodle bowl. “You can’t be serious, Persie. Did you eat something poisonous while I was waiting for the food? Do I need to take you to the Infirmary so the medics can run tests?” Persie and I had returned from the market ten minutes ago and reconvened in the Repository with Genie. I’d thought it would be difficult to persuade the medics to let Genie out for a change of scenery, but apparently she’d been causing such a fuss that they’d been only too happy to get her off their hands for a while.
Persie tapped the side of her chair, struggling to look me in the eyes. “It’s not a decision I made lightly, but I feel like it’s the right one.” I had been a little worried at the market when Persie had gone missing. The slow noodles were ready and she was still nowhere to be found—but then she’d showed up and