Page 44 of This Witch Is Not Wicked

He strode forward, peeling off his shirt to reveal a carved chest and abs that looked like they were sculpted from stone, and pushed me back onto the couch. I gaped up at him, and for some ridiculous reason, all I could see was Nevan’s face.

When I’d sat on Nevan’s lap the other night and wound my arms around his neck, it had felt so easy, so natural, like that was what we should’ve been doing all along. Then he’d gripped my hips, fingers digging into my skin, and I’d wanted to sink into him. I’d wished we weren’t in a tavern full of people so I could finish what I’d started and put my mouth on every part of his body.

The way he stared with heated eyes melted me. I’d been so sure he was about to kiss me, then he’d stopped our charade, and I’d surprised myself by feeling disappointment.

But of course he had stopped. This was all pretend, and I needed to remember that. But for a moment, it had felt so real.

“Enid?” Ambrose snapped his fingers in front of my face, and I shook my head, realizing he was straddling me on the couch, pressing kisses to my neck, and I hadn’t even noticed. “What’s gotten into you?”

His accent—the same as mine—felt so out of place. Probably because for the first time in a long time, I’d been interacting with the people of Fairwitch Isle, getting used to their way of speech and tone.

Ambrose ran a finger over my cheek, and I shuddered, my body on fire but not because of the man in front of me. Because of the one I couldn’t have. Not for real.

I shifted under him. “I’m not in the mood.”

Ambrose moved off my lap, settling beside me on the couch. “You’re not in the mood? You’re always in the mood. Last month you practically ripped my clothes off.”

I winced. Ambrose was right. The faery and I had an arrangement, and we’d stuck to it for centuries.

“What is going on with you? You’re acting so strange.”

What was going on with me? I had no interest in exploring that question.

I’d get the next six weeks over with, and then Nevan would be out of my life, and everything could go back to normal. This feeling wouldn’t last. It was all the pretending and closeness that was getting to me.

“Enid.” Ambrose caressed my cheek, and I shivered, his hands so much smoother than Nevan’s calloused ones.

“Next month,” I said before he could say anything else, do anything else. “I’m not feeling well today.”

Ambrose raised an eyebrow. “You don’t get sick.”

I lifted the amulet, that green magic swishing in the bottom. The more it drained, the more human I became. Eventually it would be gone, and I’d be fully mortal, unable to go to the Otherworld where mortals weren’t allowed. “Well, maybe that’s not so true anymore.”

His gaze flicked to my amulet in understanding.

The Fair Folk had been the ones to help me understand what this amulet meant when it had first appeared around my neck. It had happened right after the godwitches left. I’d noticed the chain hanging down, the little amulet with glittering green smoke, and I’d gone to the Fair Folk, who immediately recognized the swirling green magic. It looked a lot like their own magic that swirled around them anytime they used it. My powers had been infinite . . . until the godwitches’ departure. The amulet had been full thousands of years ago, but as time wore on and I used my magic more and more, it had begun to drain, and I’d quickly understood that with the deities gone, my powers were finite.

I glanced at the small amount of green magic left. And it was coming sooner rather than later.

Ambrose put a hand on my leg. “Do you need medicine?”

“No.” I needed him to leave. I needed to clear my mind. I needed a reminder that Nevan and I were not actually courting. That we could never be together. “I just want to lie down and rest. I’ll be feeling better next month.”

He stared at me like I was a complete stranger, a hint of sadness in his eyes.

Ambrose and I had been drawn to each other because we’d both been left. But unlike me, the Fair Folk didn’t care that the godwitches hadn’t invited them to the Otherworld. They’d been created by Fairwitch, made to serve the godwitches. But when mortals waged a war against the deities thousands of years ago, the Fair Folk had sided with the humans, earning them Fairwitch’s wrath. Before Fairwitch left for the Otherworld, they cursed the Fair Folk, making them invisible to all mortals, essentially cutting them off from the world. Now the Fair Folk resided on Kiln Mountain alone, their population dwindling.

I was the only one who could see them, which was why Ambrose visited me. I was his only option outside of his own people. I was something different. Something exciting. Nothing more.

Ambrose shoved a hand through his thick blue hair. “Okay . . . if you’re sure.”

“I am. Very sure.” Next time Ambrose visited, everything would be back to normal. “Come next month.” I trailed a finger down his bare chest. “And we’ll pick up right where we left off.”

Ambrose gave me one last concerned look before standing to yank on his shirt and disappearing in a cloud of blue and gold magic.

I sat there for a moment, gathering my wits. I couldn’t believe I’d just turned away Ambrose for the first time ever.

Vine curled over the back of the couch, pointing out into the bog. I turned, then gasped and jumped to my feet, just now remembering the humans.