Wandering Witch, page 8
Our sudden stop pushed the rest of the air out of my lungs, and I could only stare up at the sky as the shifter’s leather-clad foot appeared overhead on its downward path to my skull.
Farren
Iscreamed in terror as I watched Locke start to bring his massive foot down onto the face of our demonic attacker through a hole that a spark had burned into the tent wall. I may have been hunted by a curse that destroyed everything in its path, but never once had I seen it take a life. And I knew for a fact that I was not ready to witness a life being stolen right in front of me.
So I gave up my fight with the zipper and just ripped the tent open at the burn hole before I dashed and stumbled out as I made my way to Locke and threw myself at him. My collision with Locke threw him off balance and he stumbled to the side of the demon, but he caught me before I hit the ground.
“My mate, why did you stop me? This creature was going to take you from us if we didn’t stop him,” he scolded as he held me close.
“I can’t stand the idea of seeing you kill anyone,” I admitted in a whisper as I buried my face in his chest.
He groaned above me as though I’d asked an impossible task of him. I was about to pull back to look him in the eye when he tightened his grip on me.
“Is it that important to you that no blood is shed here?” came his response, murmured into my hair.
I nodded as I clenched my fists against his chest. He sighed before he answered, “Fine, but you need to bind him before he gets enough strength back to cause us problems. I don’t know how much longer Roan can hold him down.”
This time when I tried to pull away, he let me, and I faintly saw my ghost’s arms banded around the chest of our demonic intruder. I looked back at Locke and nodded as I slipped out of his arms and made my way towards the pair on the ground.
When I knelt and placed my hand on the demon, he cracked an eye at me. My breath caught in my throat as our gazes connected and I found myself sinking into brilliant crimson eyes.
“Oh heavenly one, please, please I beg of you. Do not let these brutes send me back. There is still so much left for me to do on this plane,” the demon pleaded as he lifted an unsteady arm in my direction.
Roan must have felt the shift in the demon because he twisted his grip and somehow pulled him deeper into the earth in an effort to restrain him.
I could only mouth my apologies as I called to the winds to bind him in a similar way to how I did Roan when we first met. The biggest differences this time were a gag and blindfold.
“Roan, let him go. It’s done. I have him in chains.” It was a struggle not to bite out the words as I watched my ghostly friend ease his way around the body of our attacker.
Locke came up behind me and carefully looped his arms around me as he lifted me to my feet. I don’t know why, but the binding spell was far more difficult for me to want to cast this time. Why did he call out to me like that?
“Are you both okay? Did he burn either of you?” Roan asked as he approached us. I shook my head in response, still not quite ready to talk yet.
“Asshole got me a few times, but they don’t feel too bad. I think his flames were little more than parlor tricks to try to scare us than actual attacks,” Locke answered as he rubbed at his stomach area where I could see what looked to be the start of something almost like sunburn.
On the ground, our demon captive grunted and struggled trying to tell us he wasn’t happy with what we were saying about him.
“So what’s the plan now? What are we going to do with Sparky over there?” Roan asked as he nodded towards the demon. “Do you think he could be the reason we were called here?”
“Not sure. Fare stopped me from ending him, so I guess it’s her choice.” Both men turned to face me, and I flushed.
“I don’t know. I just, I just couldn’t handle seeing someone die right in front of me,” I muttered as I had to force my gaze away from the demon struggling on the ground.
After a couple of hard pushes on his binds, I gasped and fell to my knees as I felt him ripping at my magic with every attempt to free himself.
Locke must have noticed my struggles because I heard him tell Roan to watch me as he stormed over to our captive. Even though he was blindfolded, he still stiffened at Locke’s approach.
“This is your only warning, demon. Cease your struggles or I will start breaking bones. My mate only said that she didn’t want to see you die. Nothing about being severely maimed.” Locke’s voice was pitched so low that I barely heard it, but the demon got the message loud and clear. “Since our camp’s been compromised, I think we would be wise to pack up and relocate before discussing more.”
“But what about the party crasher?” Roan asked as he guided me to a safe place off to the side of the clearing to rest.
“Do you think the chains will hold if we leave him here?” Locke asked, and I shook my head in the negative.
“If he was human, probably. But I’m having a harder time holding him than I did Ro.”
“Then I guess we’ll have to take him with us.”
Benny
“Then I guess we’ll have to take him with us,” the bear commanded over me as I felt him walk away.
I grumbled my protests around my gag as I tried to listen for any sign of where they were taking me. But they were silent as they broke down their camp.
It was only when I felt heavy packs being thrown at me that I could confirm they hadn’t forgotten me on the ground. I grunted when a particularly firm bag landed just above my groin.
The only positive side was that my binds were loose enough that I could roll onto my side and curl up in an attempt to ease the pain. Not that I got much of a chance to do that.
That must have been the last bag because not long after I got hit, I heard the bear shift and land with a heavy thud on his paws. Great, were they lying and are gonna just let the damn animal eat me alive!
I tensed my muscles as the bear came closer and closer before he stopped. Next, I heard the female, Fare I guessed was her name, grunting as she did something with their bags. The ghost argued with her about resting, and although I agreed with him, I wished he would shut up.
She told him to do just that and help her tie down their gear. Tie it down? Tie it down to what? I mused as I absently rubbed my face on the ground.
My reasoning was twofold. First and foremost, I had an itch. And when you have no free hands you did whatever you could to scratch that itch. The other reason was more just an unexpected perk.
Since I wasn’t actively trying to remove the blindfold, the spell didn’t fight me as I accidentally worked it off my eyes. Strange, but I wasn’t about to complain as I got a good look around as the trio finished getting ready to leave.
I had to restrain a laugh as I saw that the bear was being used as a pack animal and his back was laden with their packs. I guess that’s one way to travel.
Once they had the last bag strapped down, the ghost hovered towards me and groaned in protest before he managed to lift my dead weight up and over the bear’s back. Okay. Not so funny now that I’m a part of the luggage.
The ghost and Fare had another discussion, this time about seating arrangements and I was left confused yet again. I felt the bear shift as it felt like they too were piling onto his back. My question was answered when a female’s ass landed gingerly on my back.
Well, I was not expecting that at all. Nope. But you weren’t going to find me complaining when I knew of at least a couple dozen demons who would kill to be in this position at the very second. Not the part where I got my ass kicked by a ghost and a bear shifter who probably didn’t even have a teaspoon of demon blood between them.
Oh no, they’d want to have a beautiful, dare I say ethereal, woman using them as a cushion. Yeah, yeah, we demons are sick fucks, but it's become its one way of life for lower-level demons. Suck up to your superior any way you can and usually, they leave you alone when they get pissed.
Regardless, I let myself zone out to the feel of Fare’s lovely ass rubbing across my back as I stared at the forest floor passing below at startling speed.
Locke
“Idon’t trust the demon. He moaned the whole way here. And not in a way that suggested he was in physical pain.” Roan had at least waited until Fare had gone to bed before he started his bitching. I grunted at him as I kept my gaze on the fire.
I ran most of the day to put distance between us and where the demon had found us. Unfortunately, these mountains weren’t as spacious as I had hoped and we had a difficult time finding a new campsite.
Eventually, we landed at a tiny cabin that at least looked to be well-maintained. When I entered what probably was considered the front yard, the demon on my back started to intentionally slam his chin into my side. I slowed to a stop and he stopped. So I swung my head around and locked eyes with him as he gestured his chin towards the cabin.
I cocked a brow and he nodded. Not fully trusting him, I cautiously made my way to the cabin and was surprised to find a barrier I had to push through.
Everything looked the same on the inside of the barrier but I felt something soothing about just being in the yard. Slowly, I lowered to my stomach and may have accidentally, on purpose, rolled a bit onto my side that would force the demon to eat dirt. Since it wasn’t terribly uncommon for me to roll like this when I was tired, neither of my riders said a word.
Fare was the first to dismount and I carefully watched as she stretched the muscles in her back as she looked around the small glen. She gasped in what I would guess as delight as she took in the small cabin and I couldn’t stop my grin.
Roan slid off next and let out a low whistle as he looked at the building. He lifted a questioning brow at me as I stood to shift back. As my load landed in a heap behind me, I smirked and stepped out of the tangle of ropes they’d used to tie everything down. The demon grunted as he was buried alive under the packs.
“The demon seemed insistent that we stop here. I figure either he’s good on his word or I know what will serve as the protein for supper tonight,” I raised my voice just a hair at the end to make sure he knew I was talking about him. “Come on, we might as well check this out before we decide for sure if we are going to stay or keep moving.”
I bounded up the couple of stairs that led to a small porch before I ducked into the cabin.
It was a one-room affair. A small couch was placed so it would look out a window, and a small, old-fashioned wood-burning stove sat in a far corner from the door with a table in the middle of the room. In the last corner, since the door took one for itself, was a neatly made bed. Fare sat on the couch and watched as I took in the room.
“I wonder who lives here?” she asked. “There’s not a speck of dust, so I doubt it’s abandoned.”
“Since your little demon friend was the one who insisted I stop here, I would gander a guess that he knows the owner. Perhaps we should ask him?” I answered as I looked at her and saw dark circles under her eyes.
Ever since we’d joined up we had been in constant motion, not staying anywhere for more than a day or two. I saw her glance at the bed longingly and I was willing to bet she missed not sleeping on the hard ground every night.
“Come along, my love. Let’s get a game plan figured out with Roan. The sooner that’s done, the sooner you can get some rest,” I offered as I held a hand out for her.
She took it, and I guided her outside and down the stairs first. After she passed, I hooked a hand on the back of a rocking chair sitting on the porch and placed it beside the unlit fire ring.
I didn’t have to say anything to Fare as she lowered herself into the rocker. Roan had been busy while I was in the cabin with Fare. He had gotten most of our gear pulled off the demon and loosely sorted based on where he thought it would go.
The demon had rolled himself into a seated position and watched the camp with weary eyes. When Fare was seated in the chair, he nodded to himself and relaxed some. Fare must have caught his minute movements from the corner of her eye, for she turned to face him and whispered a spell under her breath.
I heard the moment the gag was removed as the demon released a loud sigh of relief.
“Did you have to do that, love?” Roan asked, and I silently agreed with him.
The demon for his part, shockingly just sat there and flexed his jaw to regain feeling in it. But other than that, he didn’t make a sound. Roan looked behind Fare’s back at me and I felt him asking if I thought we were safe there. Honestly, I didn’t know and I was debating my odds of getting any real answers from our ‘guest’ if I asked him.
“Do you mind answering some questions for us?” Fare asked before I could gather enough of my thoughts to form words.
“Happily. But wouldn’t it be easier for us to talk if we were all facing each other?” the demon grinned at us, but I couldn’t entirely fault his reply. Fare’s chair wasn’t placed to give her the easiest view of the bound demon.
I walked over and moved the demon so he was placed across the fire pit from us and we would be able to easily see him.
“Whose cabin is this?” I asked as I returned to my spot on her left.
“Mine. I offer it in thanks to the Goddess Fare for sparing me,” he answered while trying to bow. The bindings clearly made it difficult for him, but a quick glance at Roan said that neither of us were in a hurry to help him. “It’s the least I can offer for my erroneous attack upon you and your guards.”
I subtly spared a peek at Fare and saw her face was starting to flush.
Benny
The goddess before me flushed crimson and I felt my heart rate increase. I hadn’t done much for her, yet.
“If it would please my goddess, I would be honored if you also took me into your service.” I knew I was taking a risk by asking to stay with this lovely maiden if the glares coming from her males meant anything. But what if she was the reason I was left here?
I saw she was struggling to come up with a way to turn me down, but I rushed to stop her before she could string together a sentence that would damn me.
“Before you answer, maybe take the night to think about it? The bed in the cabin is very comfortable.” Both of her males growled at me for that suggestion and I merely shrugged. “Unless you both would rather she sleep out here with all of us?” That shut them right up.
“One more question then, before I get some sleep. What’s your name?”
“Call me Benny, my goddess, and welcome to my triangle.”
Okay, so not my best line, I thought as I woke up, my head pounding. I think the bear clocked me in the head, but I really wasn’t sure.
One moment I was talking with Fare, offering her my literal bed. Next, I’m staring up at a sky full of stars. Off to my side, I heard male voices talking, and from the few words I could pick up, I would guess about me. Doubtful it was anything good.
I sighed internally as I tried to shift my arms just enough to regain some degree of feeling in my hands. As I did so, I noticed that the feel of the bindings seemed different. Slowly, I lifted my head to peer down my body and saw I was right.
My bindings had indeed changed material. What had started as magic now looked to be simple rope. I smirked and made tiny movements that tested the strength of my knots.
It took me some time, but eventually, I loosened the ropes enough so I could wriggle out. Freed, I tried to smoothly rise to my feet but stumbled as pins shot up my legs.
I ended up falling flat on my face as the men stopped talking. As I lifted my head, I saw them watching me darkly.
“Good evening, gentlemen. No hard feelings, yeah?” I greeted them while I pulled myself up to my feet. “I mean, I attacked your sleeping camp. You guys struck me down when I couldn’t defend myself. We’re even now, right?”
The bear growled as I brushed off the dirt from my front and frowned at the pile of ropes that had bound me. I waved my hand over it as I pushed a small pulse of magic into the nylon. The feeling of their eyes shifted oh so slightly as my magic went to work winding the rope into a small stool. After my spell finished, I sat down facing the males who followed my sweet goddess.
“Since the mistress is abed, perhaps it's time we discuss the more, shall I say, harder topics?” I inquired as I lifted a leg to cross it over my knee. Shifter-thing one frowned while ghost-thing two scowled at me. “Unless either of you wanted to wait until she awakened to talk about what brought you into my neck of the woods?”
They turned to look at each other and, I’d guess, silently discussed how much they wanted to tell me. I was rather amused as I watched them try to argue without saying a single word.
“Here, I’ll start with an easy question. Is there a reason you’re here? Or is this just a social call?” I shot off as I reached into the fire and pulled out a small ball of flames to dance across my fingers.
“There’s a reason. It’s just not our place to say what that is,” the ghost answered as he followed the dancing flames intently. “Would you stop that?”
I laughed, I couldn’t help it. “I would, but you know what they say. ‘Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.’”
“Very funny. Hilarious. But I’m serious. If you keep that up you could start a forest fire,” Ghost Boy scolded me.
“Really, that’s what you want to focus on?” Bear asked.
Maybe I should take the time to learn their names. If my goddess accepts me then we’ll be around each other for a long while. I mused as I watched them turn on each other.
Somewhere out in the woods, a lone wolf howled, and that stopped the fighting right away.
“Relax, he’s harmless to any of you,” I smirked as the wolf called again, closer than the first time. “Besides, I like him enough not to risk his life being around either of you.”
In truth, the wolf was just a wild animal who I would frequently share my hunts with. The poor thing was without a pack when I first came across him and after a few peaceful run-ins between us, we’d formed a tentative friendship that had bloomed. Now he rarely wandered far from me and wouldn’t hesitate to jump to my defense, so I wasn’t lying when I said I wouldn’t put his life on the line against the brute of a bear.
