The Nowhere Witch (Tales of Xest #2) - Donna Augustine

1

I’d been in my fair share of bad spots: getting stuck in the wish factory barracks, the dragon incident, the grouslie attack, getting pinned down in the Unsettled Lands with it trying to kill me… I could rehash the ugly situations I’d been in all day, but I wasn’t looking to drag the point out. The heart of the matter was that I’d been in more unfavorable predicaments than I cared to remember. And yet any of those times were preferable to the one I was in right now. Wrists and ankles tied, having fallen on my ass with Hawk kneeling in front of me, smirking as if I’d just proven him right once and for all.

“I did warn you this would happen if you insisted on staying in Salem. How many times did I warn you?” He squinted his steel eyes as he rested a muscled forearm on a bent knee, impervious to the fifth wind that shredded the rest of us. “I know you received my messages, so why didn’t you move to New York like I told you to?”

He was still handsome in that rugged, ruthless way I remembered. He had the kind of look that drew you in at your own peril. For a little while there, I’d begun to trust him more than anyone. Come to look to him for answers. I’d done the unthinkable: I’d trusted him. And he was starting off our reunion with a reminder of exactly why I’d cursed him every day of the last couple of months. He’d used me up for months, sealing the deal with a kiss, before he tossed me away because it had suited his purpose.

Like he told me to. Same Hawk, different day. He still thought I would do as he directed, like I was the lost witch who’d just landed in Xest that first time, the one he’d saved from the wish factory. All those ignored letters hadn’t clued him in. Well, I wasn’t the same Tippi, not by a country mile. I’d learned a lot about myself since I’d allowed him to run me out of Xest. I guess that tended to happen after enough bumps and bruises. You toughen up, you build scar tissue—you adapt and grow. I’d adapted, and I was about to give him a good lesson on exactly what I’d learned.

He stayed in his current position, saying nothing else as he waited for me to respond or say something silly, like Oh, of course you’re right. I made an error in judgment. Hell would freeze over before that happened. Actually, considering how cold my butt was and my current situation, hell might have indeed frozen over, and it still wasn’t going to happen. My relationship with Hawk, or the one we’d had, ended the day he’d forced me out of Xest. I would never bow to his wishes again. I’d sworn to myself if I ever managed to get back here to Xest, I would do things my way.

“I have no need for you or your lectures on where you deem I’ve gone wrong.” I wouldn’t bother filling him in on how much I’d wanted to get back here since the minute I’d left. If staying in Salem had gotten me back here, then it wasn’t a mistake. I was right where I belonged, finally, after months. There was only one thing I needed from Hawk before I didn’t care if I never saw him again.

I thrust out my hands. “Are you going to untie me or not?”

He pulled a knife out of his boot and then cut the rope tied around my ankles.

“If you actually knew how to listen, I’d continue to try to talk sense into you, but I know better.”

As he moved to my wrists, it was obvious he was making sure none of his exposed flesh touched mine. I was all too aware of the sizzle our contact would have, and he clearly was as well. Seemed some memories lingered strong for both of us. I’d tried to bury the memory of the exhilarating sizzle a mile deep, right underneath the day he’d forced me out. So, if he was avoiding any kind of touch for my sake, he needn’t bother. A little contact wasn’t taking me down so easy this time around. The only contact I’d welcome would be in combat.

I got to my feet, happy I had my jacket for this abduction. Too bad I hadn’t had some warning and been able to pack