Page 22 of Lycan Witch
“Finally, Adara. It’s time to come home. Stop playing house with the dirty mutts and fulfill your duty to your coven.” She raises her chin, looking down her nose at me. Disapproval and animosity drip off her, threatening to drown me in the ocean of hatred she’s always harbored toward me.
“No,” I growl.
She narrows her gaze. “Speak. Up. You know I hate your mumbling.”
“No, I won’t go anywhere with you!” I lunge at her, taking her by surprise as I tackle her to the ground.
She twists beneath me, muttering a spell under her breath.
“You don’t get to hold power over me any longer,” I say, grabbing the back of her head. I scream, moving to slam her face into the ground as fire lights up the grass around us.
But my scream doesn’t stop, and a sharp pain throbs against my forehead.
Peck. Peck.
“Addy, wake up!”
Blinking the sleep from my eyes, I see Kaylus flying above me, and I bolt up. Dark smoke fills the air around me, and he caws.
“It’s the bed,”he says.
“Go, get out of here!” I swat at him, pushing him toward the open window frantically, unwilling to let another bear the marks of my uncontrolled flames. Looking around me, I survey the room and realize it’s only the bed that’s on fire. “How the hell do I put it out?” Coughing on the smoke, I move into the hallway, closing the door behind me, and gasp as my eye catches the sight of my hand on the doorknob.
Deep gashes cover the back of my hand, and I quickly glance at the other one, noticing the same pattern.
Claw marks.
My mouth goes dry as I pull each one closer to my face, inspecting the wounds that happened in a dream, yet exist in reality. The faint scent of palo santo fills my nostrils as I inspect the wounds slowly healing over. It’s the dark magic of the Lockwood witch. My heart hammers in my chest, pounding against my ribcage as my mind struggles to piece everything together.
The dream, the clearing, the fight on the forest path—all of that was real. But… if that was real, then was the part with Monique real too?
My eyes snap to the hallway, looking in the direction of Gideon’s room.
He’s safe.
My wolf’s words bring a small sense of relief knowing he’s safe… for now.
Leaning against it back against the door, my hands fist my hair as I try to think of what to do, panicking when I realize I have no earthly idea—for the fire consuming my bed, the dark magic causing wounds that happen in my dreams to follow me into reality, or the fact that Monique killing Gideon feels more like a premonition than just a dream.
I take a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart. The bed is the most immediate issue, but that still doesn’t make it easy to figure out. I’ve been so focused on trying to control my fire magic, I never realized I should ask how to put it out.
It has to consume what it’s burning, then it will be done.
My wolf’s voice is comforting, but I groan inwardly when I realize I won’t have anywhere to sleep after it’s done. I slide down the door to the floor, resting my head on my knees, wishing more than anything that things could just be easy for once.
“I thought you said you’d help me control this,” I grumble. “Now, Gideon’s hands are wickedly blistered and my bed is literally burning to ash. Gideon was wrong. My intentions have nothing to do with my magic when I never wanted any of this to happen.” Sighing, I tilt my head back against the door and close my eyes. “You can’t control the fire any more than I can, can you?”
For once, my wolf is frustratingly quiet.
Chapter ten
Gideon
The scent of smoke swirls around me, rousing me from my sleep. I untangle the sheets from around my legs and cross my bedroom in one step, flying into the hall. My breathing comes out in quick pants, and my heart rate slows only slightly when I see Adara leaning back against her door, little ribbons of smoke slipping from beneath the wood.
“What are you doing? We need to—”
Her eyes snap open, and she shoves her hands into her lap.