Page 46 of Wedded Witch
He smirks, leaning in just a little, his voice dropping dangerously low.
“You know exactly what I mean, witch.”
The word hits me like a slap. My heart skips a beat as the room seems to tilt around me. He knows. How the hell does he know?
I open my mouth to argue, but no sound comes out. My mind is spinning, scrambling for a defence, but all I can do is stare at him, wide-eyed and exposed.
Kel’s voice cuts through the tension. “Ri, enough.”
Ri doesn’t move. His eyes are still locked on mine, sharp and unyielding. “No, Kel, I think she needs to hear this. She’s been hiding something from all of us. Haven’t you, Swyn?”
The air is thick, suffocating. My pulse races as panic grips my chest. I want to deny it, to tell him he’s wrong, but the truth is clawing its way to the surface, and I know—deep down—I can’t keep this up much longer.
I take a shaky breath, but before I can answer, Ri speaks again, his voice a cold, unforgiving edge. “Tell him. Tell him why you’re really here.”
The buzzing in my ears is so loud, the room is spinning and the ground feels like I’m on deck in a stormy sea.
“Back off, Ri.” Sol demands. “She’s freaking out.”
“I don’t care,” he snaps back.
“I can’t take this,” I mumble as another wave of nausea washes over me and the room starts to spin. The blood rushes to my head, my heart is racing so fast I swear it might explode.
Triplets. Dogs. Frickin’ Hellhounds?!
“What the actual fuck have I gotten myself into?” I murmur before the world turns black and I crash to the floor.
RI
I catchher before she hits the floor, my arms moving on instinct before my brain can catch up. Shit. One second, Swyn’s standing there, glaring at me, like she’s about to tear my head off, and the next, she’s collapsing, her face pale, lips trembling.
“Swyn!” I don’t even recognize my own voice. It’s high-pitched, almost frantic, and I swear my heart stops as I scoop her up, cradling her against me.
Her body’s limp, her breathing shallow. “No, no, no. Come on.”
“Ri, what the hell?” Sol shouts, already by my side, trying to get a look at her. “Why did you keep on at her?”
“I didn’t—she just—” I can’t form a full sentence. My mind’s racing too fast. I tighten my grip around her, her head resting against my chest. “We need to get her out of here.”
“Ri—” Kel starts, but I’m already moving, pushing through the door to the reception desk and heading toward our living quarters in the back.
My brothers and I have a small flat we live in on site, because running the motel is a 365 days a year job, and we’re out in the middle of nowhere, unable to leave the vicinity of Spells Hollow.
My legs feel shaky, but I keep going, swallowing down the panic that’s rising in my throat.She’s going to be fine.I’ve dealt with worse. I’ve seen people knocked out cold, barely breathing, and they turned out okay. Right?
But none of them wereher. None of them weremine.
“Princess, come on. You’re fine, you’re okay,” I whisper, barely aware of the words leaving my mouth. I keep moving, trying to ignore the way Kel and Sol are hovering behind me, like I might drop her at any second.
“You just need to wake up, alright? Please, sweetheart, just open your eyes.”
“Sweetheart?” Kel scoffs from behind me. “Now you care?”
“Shut up,” I snap, glaring over my shoulder. “She needs help.”
“You think?” Sol growls, shoving past Kel to keep pace with me. “Maybe if you hadn’t been such a colossaldick, she wouldn’t have passed out in the first place.”
I bite back a retort, too focused on Swyn’s face, too focused on the way her lashes flutter slightly, but not enough.Come on, lucky charm, open your eyes. Please.My chest feels like it’s caving in.