The Whimsy Witch Who Wasn't - Donna Augustine Page 0,63

could still see in the distance. It was closed, but damned if I wouldn’t get it to open.

I’d had enough of this place.

He didn’t fight me, and we walked back together. I opened the door, not waiting for Hawk and hoping I’d be back at the building. I was.

He shut the door.

I pointed at it.

“Is that still on the other side of there?” The “die stairs” had finally lived up to their name. I would’ve taken a sledgehammer to them if I could.

“No. It’s farther away.”

I would’ve sagged against the wall if it wouldn’t make me look like a weak ninny. I mean, after all, I hadn’t actually seen anything.

But what I’d felt…

A shiver passed through me as I walked down to the main floor without speaking. Something that I couldn’t put into words seeped into my brain, my soul, and I wanted to evict the feeling as soon as possible.

I went directly to the setup in the corner and dumped some cocoa into a mug. It wasn’t as good as the stuff from the Sweet Shop, but they were closed and I needed an emergency cocoa. Zab wasn’t there to help me out. Hawk flicked his wrist and did the honors of heating my cocoa for me without a word. I walked to the couch and curled up into the corner with my favorite teacup and then dragged a throw over my lap.

I was three sips in and finally thawing out a bit when I asked, “What was that, exactly?”

“Nobody really knows exactly. There have always been rumors of a deep evil that lived in the forest. It’s one of the reasons that land has never been developed or even explored much. No one knows for sure.

“But for the longest time—eons, even—it stayed in a small spot, not moving or shifting, so no one paid it much mind. The problem now is that it’s growing.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, wishing I had something that could shield me from what I’d felt in the forest. “You say growing. How big is it?”

“I don’t know for certain, and it’s not only size that I’m talking about. The power. It’s getting stronger.”

I needed to get out of Xest before whatever that thing was grew any more. What the hell had I been dragged into?

“Look, I know your feather thingy told you that I was the one you needed, but that finder was wrong. I don’t care if it’s never been wrong before. This time it is. I mean, what exactly do you think I can do about that thing out there? Why even bother having me try to knock a book off the table? This whole thing is a joke. I can’t do what you need.”

“Yes, you can. The finder wasn’t wrong. Your magic is just underused.”

I put the cocoa down. “Look, you need to accept that there was a mistake and send me back to Salem.”

“I’m not doing that.”

“I can’t help you.”

“But you can. We just don’t know how yet.”

“I can’t.” I got up and stretched my legs. I’d never met someone more stubborn in my life. Even now, as I wanted to beat some sense into him, he remained calm, so sure in his rightness.

He leaned against the arm of the couch, watching me but digging into his position with an excavator.

“So that’s it. You’re not going to accept that I’m not your woman?”

“Interesting choice of words, but no, I’m not going to accept that because you, Tippi, are my woman.”

He was looking at me with such confidence that I suddenly realized what my issue with him was. He believed in me like no one ever had in my entire life. It made me hate him and want him all at once.

I wanted him because, on some deep level, I wanted to be the person he thought I was. I basked in his belief.

And I hated him for it, too. I wasn’t the person he thought I was. If he thought I could help him with whatever was growing out there, the only thing that was going to happen was us both dead. And how dare he put that on me?

Instead of basking or raging, I walked out of the room, stunned over just how screwed I was at the moment. Worst was that he held all the power. I couldn’t get out of here without him.

Or could I? It might be time to keep all my options open.

24

Rabbit brought me another cup of tea. She brought everyone tea,