Witch Bound

Raquel.”

She dropped her head onto the pillow and closed her eyes as he started to wipe the blood off. “I...”

“Didn’t think it through? Yeah. That’s what they’re arguing about downstairs. Decide now because if you decide to keep him, you’ll have to convince the town he’s safe. His life is now officially in your hands. Can you raise your arm for me?”

He put a hand behind her back to help her up and then tested the range of motion in her shoulder. There was a dull ache in the area he’d healed, but that sharp, slicing pain was gone. “It should feel completely normal by morning. Let me know if it doesn’t. I’ll tell them you need to rest. That’ll buy you a few hours.”

“Thanks, Alan.”

He nodded, blond hair falling across his forehead. He looked rumpled although they hadn’t had to rouse him from bed. He’d kept a vigil with Grace last night, along with the other family members of the people who’d crossed.

“Fen’s okay? Really?” she asked for the third time. She’d have sworn she heard bone breaking when the demon slammed him into the rock. “Christian and Aiden too?”

“You were the worst.” He switched the light off before opening the door. “Get some sleep.”

Sleep was an impossibility, but she closed her eyes as she began to restore the shields that walled off her awareness of the Vanir witch. Her responsibility. On some level she’d known it would come to that. It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought it through but...what choice did she have really? Even now, occasionally brushing up against his mind like two people trapped in an elevator, he didn’t really seem evil. She could sympathize with Grace’s reluctance to kill him outright...and Aiden’s.

She had no idea how to convince the town of that. But then she didn’t really need to convince the town that he meant them no harm, she had to convince the town that she could keep them safe from the threat of him. And she wasn’t sure it was the truth. He was powerful and while she didn’t think that he could break the geis without killing her, he might be powerful enough to kill her even while he was bound.

“Don’t fear, little girl. I won’t harm you...or your town. I’ve no desire to return to Asgard and no way to survive here without you. Killing you would mean my death as well.”

Tentatively, she reached out with her mind. “It’s not safe then.”

“Safety is as much an illusion as certainty. That’s as true in this world as any other, I imagine.” She felt his amusement, touched by a big, fat load of condescension.

“I want you out of my head.”

A pause. “We’ll rework the amulet in the morning so that we both have our privacy.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“Nor should you.”

He was gone, proving that he could withdraw as easily as she could. The magical chain formed by the geis was loose enough to provide that much space. She needed to place a barrier there. Kathy would know how to do it. If she—

The door creaked open and the light from the hall outlined Fen’s dark shape. He paused on the threshold before entering.

“Fen?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “It’s me.”

The room was dark and she only caught glimpses of him as he moved across the room. The curve of his cheek when he turned his head, the sheen of bare skin when his arm was touched by the light seeping in from under the door. He sat down on her bed.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.” He touched her hand, the backs of her knuckles, in a brief, glancing caress. “I wanted to make sure you were all right. Alan said you needed to rest and I worried it meant you were hurt worse than I thought. I needed to see for myself.”

“He healed my shoulder. It aches.” She caught his hand when it moved to her arm. “It’s okay. He didn’t think I was up to an inquisition.”

Fen chuckled, a low sound that made warmth coil in her belly. That sound coming out of the darkness...

“Is that what he said? It’s not as bad as that. Aiden’s assuming full responsibility for the Vanir witch.”

He paused and she said what he’d been too kind to say out loud. “But you know better.”

“Of course I do.”

She waited for him to say something else. Yell at her for her impulsiveness or putting herself into danger again, but he didn’t. He didn’t seem angry at all. Just...tired.

“You’re not going to tell me how stupid it was to put a geis on him?”

“You’re not stupid,” he said. “I never called you that. You’re braver than I wish you were. Rash. Why did you risk your life for him?”

She started to scoot back before remembering that beneath the sheet she was bare to the waist. The hounds had excellent night vision and she didn’t want to test it now. She drew the sheet up a little higher. “It was wrong to kill him. He knew he was sacrificing his life for ours and was willing to do it. I didn’t want to force Aiden to act as his executioner. Not when there was a choice.”

“How did you know it would work?

She blushed. “We’ve always known the Vanir used bond magic to form the geis that compels the demons to hunt us. It’s what’s kept them alive all this time even though the bridge to their home world is broken. Their lives are tied to ours. And since our presence here is what allows the demons to cross Asbru, I knew that if I bound Kamis to me, he’d make it too.”

“You suspected he would.”

“I knew...” How to explain it? “I’ve been studying this my whole life, Fen. I know it looks like a wild risk from the outside, but I knew what I was doing.”

“Kathy—”

“Kathy said I shouldn’t try it. I brought the amulet anyway, as a last resort. I know this sounds like I have an enormous ego, but I’ve gone as far as I can go with Kathy’s training.” She shook her head. “Maybe that’s why the block was there. It’s like you know how to shift. I can feel that magic. I know when it’s right and I know how to change it.” She paused, but Fen didn’t comment. He toyed with her fingers while he patiently heard her out. “I was maybe a little bit selfish too. Kamis...I think I can learn a lot from him.”

He looked up. “It’s not really a mating bond is it?”

“No,” she said, quickly responding to the strain in his voice. “A geis is far less intricate than a mating bond. This one is barely a tether.”

“Can you control him?”

She hesitated and Fen groaned. “Rocky.”

“If I need to, I can.” It would kill her too, but she could stop him. She chose not to share the entire truth. If Fen was aware of her omission, he didn’t call her on it.

“Can you transfer it to Kathy?”

Raquel thought about all that power. “No.”

“Okay.” He squeezed her hand. “We’ll deal with it then.”

She squinted, trying to see his face, but she could only see his downturned profile. The sharp blade of his nose, the angle of his jaw.

“We?”

“You’re part of our clan, Rocky. No backing out now.”

The bed creaked when he stood and he paused, looking down at her. She resisted the urge to grab onto the hand that hung loose at his side. Would he stay with her if she asked?

“Rocky?”

“Yes.”

“It would help me immensely if you would learn to be more cautious. No more leashing Vanir demigods and bringing them home as pets, okay?”

“No more pets, got it.” She gathered her courage. “I’m ready for that talk now, if you are.”

“You’re supposed to be resting.”