Page 118 of This Witch Is Not Wicked

Bald Man lowered the pitchfork to the rope and slashed it. My mouth dropped open as the rope fell free.

He pointed his weapon at my neck, and I pressed my back against the tree. “That bog better not attack any of us ever again. If it does, we’ll be waiting for you.”

“Fine,” I said. “As long as you don’t bother me anymore.”

He looked behind him, and the group of people he’d been conferring with nodded. “Then we have a deal.” He spit at the ground in front of me, and I could’ve cried with relief.

A whirl of blue and gold magic appeared from thin air, and my eyes widened. I knew exactly who that was, but what was he doing here?

Not now, you idiot. Go away.

No one noticed the magic. It would’ve been invisible to them, but I didn’t need any distractions right now. Not when I was about to gain my freedom.

Except it wasn’t Ambrose who stepped through the portal.

My mouth dropped open when out of the cloud of magic came Nevan, Ceri, Niamh, Wolfe, Cillian, Vine, and a few other townspeople, with Ambrose stepping out last.

My mouth dropped open. “What are you all doing here?”

A few people screamed, and one woman in the crowd fainted.

“Did you see that?” The man with the goatee pointed at them. “They just stepped out of thin air.”

They wouldn’t have been able to see Ambrose, but they could absolutely see everyone else.

“And they brought that vine!” someone else yelled.

Townspeople began backing up and running, some of them tripping over each other to get away while Vine slithered through the crowd, jabbing at random people.

Nevan ran to my side, crouching to look at my wounds. “That fucking bastard,” he said, lunging toward Bald Man, but I held him back as my captor stumbled and fell.

“I had it handled, you know. I was about to go free.”

Nevan raised a brow. “Nice to see you too.”

Niamh, Ceri, and Harriet were chasing after the townspeople while Wolfe swatted one in the butt with his sword. Cillian just crossed his arms and watched it all with amusement.

“And don’t come back!” Niamh yelled as the townspeople ran screaming.

Oh, godwitches. “They’re never going to leave us alone now,” I said.

“I don’t care.” Nevan cupped my cheeks. “All I care about is that I get to spend the rest of my days with you.”

It was hard to be mad at him when he went and said things like that. I glanced over and noticed Ambrose was already gone, and I wondered how he’d come together with everyone. I supposed Nevan could fill me in later.

Most of the townspeople had departed by now, their figures sprinting away in the distance, but the man with the goatee remained, tugging at Bald Man’s arm. “We have to go,” he said.

Bald Man stumbled backward with him. “We’ll be back. We’ll figure out who you people are and what you’re up to.”

That was exactly what I’d feared.

Cillian saluted the man. “We look forward to it.”

And with that, the last of the townspeople bolted away.

Nevan brought me into a tight hug. “Don’t you ever do that again,” he whispered.

“What? Drug you?” I asked innocently.