Page 46 of The Coven’s Sacrifice

Colin coughed, righting himself. Oh, yes. I would have so much fun doing this to our man.

Jetty wiped his eyes. “You, Colin, are the owner of this property. Did you not know this?”

Colin shook his head, clearly confused. “I haven’t signed anything? And why should I be the owner? Shouldn’t it be them?” He gestured to us.

Jetty shook his head. “You were the last sacrifice, and the last sacrifice will be the rightful owner. As it was promised from the beginning.”

“Hold on,” Alexander said, raising one hand. “How do you know this, when we do not?”

Jetty brushed one finger along a rose petal, gently caressing it. “I was given a task upon the ending of the blood vow,” he whispered. “But the witches forgot one thing when they bound me to slavery here.”

I was about to object to his slavery remark, but maybe that was what he saw it as. Slavery. We knew the witches had “gifted” them to us, but I never thought about their agreement on it. Now I knew there had been no agreement.

“What did they forget?” Colin whispered, matching the same tone as Jetty used, like this was a huge secret.

“That once the witch who cast it died, so did the compulsion that would force me to finish my task.”

“What was your task?” Colin hedged.

“I was to alert the witches once the blood vow had ended, and then I was to kill the last sacrifice.”

Silence.

“Why?” Colin asked after we had fed the silence long enough.

Jetty shrugged. “I only know that the witches wished for all the monsters to cease existing. But now they have no hold over me. I think their coven has lost its magic.”

“Again,” Colin said, sounding a tad agitated. “How do you know?”

Jetty blinked his huge eyes, staring into the air, unseeingly. “Because my soul belonged to the coven, Master Colin. But for the first time in my life, my soul is my own. I have no true master. No one who forces me to do their bidding. I am free. But I choose you as my new master. You will be the first choice I make for myself as a freed brownie.”

My human blinked his lovely green eyes, staring dumbfounded at the brownie. “I’m honored, Jetty. But is this truly what you want?”

“Tending to this garden is my greatest pleasure. It is home.”

Colin seemed to accept that. “Then let me know if that changes, okay?”

Jetty nodded eagerly.

Colin moved to stand, reaching for my hand. I laced our fingers, pleased to touch him again. It made my soul sing whenever he was close. My wonderful Colin.

“Oh,” Jetty said, making us pause. “You should stay alert for the witches. They might not have their magic, but they wanted Colin dead. I have no way of knowing if that is still their goal. Or if there even is a coven anymore.” He then turned around and began cooing at the roses.

Colin’s feelings were a mix of trepidation, worry, fear, and the biggest of all, acceptance. It was the one emotion that worried me the most.

We ended up changing our clothes to whatever Colin had we could fit into. He thought dressing more appropriately would be for the best, and we agreed.

Colin snickered as Alexander put on a light blue hoodie, making Alex frown. “Why are you laughing at me?”

Colin, who was still laughing, hugged Alexander tight. “You look so damn adorable in baby blue. I also never expected to ever see you in a hoodie.”

“You were the one who gave it to me!” Alexander protested, cheeks blushing a pretty shade of pink.

“He made Alex blush!” I exclaimed, grinning wide as Alexander grew even more flustered.

“He is so adorable,” Harland sighed, smiling at Alexander and getting a glare in return.

“I will change back to my own clothes,” Alexander declared, already tugging at the hoodie.