Page 181 of Bedeviled

“You don’t have to stay by my side,” I say, my eyes beginning to sting. “In fact, you should stay far, far away from me.”

Now Nero’s lips peel back from his teeth. I’ve definitely pissed him off.

Despite the show of aggression, I lean forward and press a kiss to his nose. “No matter what happens,” I say softly, “know this: I love you. In this life and every life. You’re the best familiar any witch has ever had.”

I press my forehead to Nero’s, and for a moment, I stay just like that, embracing the panther who I first saw in the Roman gladiatorial arena. Who has stayed by me until the bitter end.

Across our bond, I sense Memnon getting closer.

I release my familiar and stand, my eyes lifting to the tree line.

“Stay high up in the trees,” I tell Nero. “Keep yourself hidden. I will call to you when I need you.”

A lie. I will not be calling on my panther when I don’t know what I’m up against. I cannot risk anything happening to him.

“Hey, wench!” Sybil calls out to me, and her voice trembles only a little. “I got you a broom,” she says, holding up one of the two she has in her hands.

I make my way over to her as Nero slinks into the shadows.

“Hopefully this time you have a better spell than the last time we did this together,” she says, handing it over.

I want to tell her we’re not doing anything together, that she can’t put her life on the line for me. But I know saying so will only make her commit harder to protecting me.

So instead I lean in close when I grasp the broom handle. “Your dad thinks I do,” I say, recommitting to the old bit between us.

She shoves me playfully. “Fuck you, Selene.”

“Funny, that’s also what your dad⁠—”

She shuts me up by reeling me back in for a hug. “Whatever happens tonight, you better not get hurt, or you’ll be directly answerable to me.”

“A terrifying prospect.”

“I know.”

I hold her tightly for a brief moment longer, then release her.

Sybil’s eyes widen. “Wait, I almost forgot.” From her coat pocket she pulls out one of the miniature water bottles from the coven.

She hands it to me. “Cordelia wanted me to tell you to hydrate.”

My brows draw together, but I take the water anyway. Untwisting the cap, I take several deep gulps before recapping it.

“Good?”

She lifts a shoulder. “I don’t know. I assume so.”

There’s no place on me to tuck away an entire water bottle, so I hand it back to Sybil.

I draw in a deep breath. Backing up, I grab a single strand of my wavy hair and give it a swift yank, wincing when it comes out. “By the plucking of my hair, lift this broom into the air.”

The strand of hair I hold smokes and curls as magic burns it away. And then the broom rises.

I hop onto it, and slowly I start to ascend into the sky. I rise above the tree line, above Ravensmeade, higher and higher. As I do so, the ribbon of deep blue magic connected to my chest changes its angle. I can’t follow it entirely with my eyes as it slopes into the darkness somewhere in the Everwoods.

Memnon is close. I think about flying in the opposite direction, just to give him a little more chase, but then I remember Nero, who can’t ride a broom and whom I won’t leave behind.

The same goes for my coven sisters, who have gathered here because Cordelia foresaw something concerning about my fate tonight. I won’t leave them behind either.