Page 37 of Bewitching Her Monsters
“No…” I wheeze.
Why does it feel like I’m really being choked?
“Are you tasked with killing my friends?”
“No… I’d never…”
He loosens his grip around my throat, having heard the truth in my words.
“I saw Arran. Why is he in your house?”
“I have a new dog in my house. He’s supposed to belong to Maxum’s friend.”
He chuckles at that.“Do you not remember what happened before? In your dream, with the ‘dog’?”
“I had a nightmare of being hurt, stabbed, and poisoned with iron. And then the scene changed, and I dreamed the dog was a man in my closet,” I say softly, wondering how fucked up my mind really is. “But this is all just a dream. My dream, right?”
“It’s not.”
“But—”
“Time to go to sleep, witch,”he says ominously, and everything goes black.
13
NIGHTMARES
ARRAN
“Arran?” Jade’s voice comes out gruff and masculine.
It’s not her…
Where I rest next to the sleeping witch, I shift into my human form. Crawling closer to her face, I look into their eyes.
Similar to the closet last night, her sweet hazel-green eyes, have been replaced with Osen’s dark charcoal ones. “Osen?”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he snaps. “With a filthy fucking witch!”
“I’m talking to you, you asshole!” I growl. “You can’t figure out why I would be here?”
“But I’m not the only reason, am I?” Jade’s small hands grab my throat. “By the way, she’s going to put it together. She might be playing innocent about my murder, but she has enough hints to realize what you are now. You need to kill her while you have the chance—while you have the upper hand. Or you’ll be next on her hit list.”
“No,” I argue. “I’m certain she’s ignorant of all this—her gifts, supes, witches.”
“Listen to me, you reckless fool.” He clasps the sides of my head and presses our foreheads together. “I don’t know if I can hold her back much longer. End this now.”
“I said no.” My anger rises. My beast is being tested by his request. He doesn’t want to see the witch dead either. Hoping it will jar the memory loose, I demand, “Tell me who killed you, and then I’ll leave her alone.”
“I don’t know. It took me watching you all at the bar to even realize I had died. All I know is that I was alive, and then I wasn’t. I don’t know who killed me.” A thumb brushes over my cheek, just like Osen used to do when we were together.
“How are you able to speak through her?” I ask.
“Maybe because of what I am?” He shrugs. “I’m getting stronger the longer I’m connected to thewitch.” He spits out the last word.
“I think Jade could help you. Could help us.”
“Why are you going soft on me? Now?” Shaking his head, he collapses back on the bed. “Fuck… She’s fighting me. I have to go.”
