Page 37 of Bad Witch

I kept pace with her. “Watch your step, the ground’s uneven.” I wanted to take her hand again but forced myself not to. I didn’t know what had made her so jittery again, but I was worried she might bolt. More glyphs and weird sigils lit up as we walked, leading us deeper into the cave.

“Why do you think she’s letting us in?” I asked.

Her eyes were still wide. “I’m not sure. I guess we’ll find out when we get to wherever she’s leading us.”

“Could this be dangerous?”

“I don’t think so,” she said. “If she didn’t want us here, she would’ve ejected us as soon as we walked in.”

She stumbled, and I grabbed her before she went down. Some of her panic seemed to have eased, so I held on, curling my hand around hers. She didn’t try to pull away, thank fuck. My beast rumbled possessively in my chest, and I quickly cleared my throat to cover it.

“Also, Brigid wasn’t a bad person,” she continued on. “Yes, she’d wanted revenge while she’d been alive, but only against those who hurt her and her sisters. Her ghost is angry and filled with grief, but not evil.”

The cavern narrowed to a small entryway. I had to duck to fit through it. As we entered, torches lit up around the room.

“Did you do that?”

Tempest shook her head.

Fucking hell.

I took in the cavern. She’d lived here, the witch, there was no doubt that she’d lived here, deep in the blue cliffs. There was a small hearth, and a rough-hewn table and chair. Various chests and shelves were placed around the small space, stacked with bottles of different sizes, books and piles of papers. There was also a small pallet on the floor, the old blankets faded and falling apart—and on top of it lay what was left of Brigid.

Her skeleton lay jumbled in a heap as if she’d been tossed there carelessly.

Tempest rushed over.

“These remains, their condition. What happened here?” She’d died a long time ago, at least several hundred years, easily.

“I don’t know.” A tear streaking down her face as she lowered to her knees beside the pallet. “I’m so sorry,” Tempest whispered. “You didn’t deserve this.”

I didn’t like seeing Tempest cry. I wanted to pull her into my arms and hold her.

Her hand now hovered over what remained of Brigid. “Something dark and powerful came here…” Her face jerked up, and her eyes rolled back. Again, the whites of her eyes glowed.

Tempest whispered rapidly, so fast I couldn’t understand what she was saying. I was pretty sure it wasn’t in a language I recognized. “Tempest? Temp, what the fuck?” This felt different than what had happened when she was in her trance. She hadn’t asked for this, not this time. “Tempest?” I growled, about to haul her off the ground and get her the fuck out of here.

Her eyes flicked back, and she gasped in a long desperate breath before falling forward on her hands.

“What the fuck just happened?”

Her head was still down while she caught her breath.

I crouched. “Temp, talk to me.”

She lifted her face, and bloody tears streamed down her cheeks. “She showed me.” She sobbed. “She showed me what happened to her sisters, what happened to her. She was so alone, Fender. Oh gods, she was in so much pain.” She shook her head as more bloody tears coursed down her face. “She felt so…so incredibly hopeless, that she…she took her own life. But the pain didn’t stop, it only got worse…and her anger and thirst for revenge only grew bigger.” Her gaze became distant again. “The darkness that came here, it was recent. She was long dead when it came, and it scared her ghost so much she hid.” She swiped at her tears, then looked down in shock.

“Your eyes are bleeding,” I growled.

“I’m okay. This…it…it happens sometimes, just not usually until…”

“Not usually until what?”

She shook her head. “I’m not sure what I’m saying. I’m a bit disorientated.” She used her sleeve to wipe her eyes and searched the floor around her—searching for any blood she might have spilled.

“There’s blood on your shirt but nowhere else.” She looked relieved. I wasn’t. This shit was fucked up, and I’d seen some seriously fucked-up shit in my life. There was so much she was keeping from me. This female had secrets, and somehow I had to gain her trust and hope she’d share them with me. I helped her to her feet. “What do you want to do?”

She stared down at the body. “Brigid wants us to take her to her coven for burial. She wants to be with her sisters. I need to pack up her remains and take her home.” She turned in a slow circle. “There could be something valuable to your weapon search here, though, something that could help us work out who did this—and if they took the weapons. We’ll pack up her books and papers as well. We can send them to her coven when we’re finished with them.”