Bewitched

Chapter 9 - Elvira

I didn't need to open my eyes to know Malise was near. Her presence was an embrace I couldn't miss. I kept my eyes closed, lacking the strength to open them just yet. Her fingers brushed the skin of my arm. She muttered something; I didn't even care what she was saying as I took in the sound. Her hand brushed my palm and I almost closed my fingers around it, just to feel it for a little longer.

Something pressed against my wound, sending a stinging pain through it. I hissed and pulled my arm back.

"You're awake."

I opened my eyes. Reality stung my head at the same time the sunlight did. I flinched.

"Would you mind giving me back my hand?" Malise said with a slight chuckle in her voice. "I work a lot faster with both."

I looked down at my wound, and at my hand clinging around hers. I must have grabbed it in my pain. I let go and tried to sit up.

"Don't rush." She put the cloth in a bowl of water. "This medicine is quite strong."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"A day."

"That long? Has anything happened?" I looked around. "Where is Asha?"

"Asha's fine. You focus on recovering."

I examined my wound. The red color around it had vanished. It looked a lot smaller now. "How's the plan coming along?"

"It's going well."

"No sign of the coven?"

"Not yet." She suppressed a yawn. She looked like she hadn't gotten much sleep. "You just rest for now." She didn't meet my eyes. "It'll be a while before you can get up again."

"I feel fine."

"If you strain yourself now, you'll collapse when we need you the most."

I sighed and rested against the pillow. "Can you tell Asha I'm okay? She must be worried." I listened, but there were no other sounds in the house. Where could she be? The cottage wasn't that big.

Malise nodded. She still didn't look me in the eye. There was a tension in her jaw I hadn't seen before.

"Everything's okay, right?" I asked. I leaned closer, wanting to see her eyes when she responded.

But she wouldn't let me. "Yes," she said, focusing on rinsing out the cloth.

A knot formed deep in my stomach. "There's something you're not telling me."

"You need to focus on recovering."

"If something happened, then I want to know. I'm wounded, not delirious." I listened again. Aside from the water in Malise's bowl, there were no other sounds in the house. "Where's Asha?"

"Elvira..."

A chill ran through my body, much more vicious than the fever before, sending a tremble through my voice. "Tell me. Now."

She sighed and put the bowl aside. She ran a hand through her hair, which looked like she'd done so many times already. "The coven came. I tried to fight them off, but I wasn't strong enough."

"What are you saying?" I needed to hear her say it, even if I didn't want to hear it. "What happened to my sister?"

"They took her." She swallowed. "I managed to hide you from them, but they took her."

I pulled the sheets back. But before my feet could touch the floor, two hands pressed me down against the bed. "Don't," Malise said.

"Don't what?"

"Don't run off like an idiot and get yourself killed."

"I've got to go after her."

"Which you can't do if you're dead." Her nails dug into my arms. "Don't rush into anything stupid."

"There's no time to waste." I tried to get up, but she held me down. "Let me go."

"Not if you're going to rush out."

"I've got to save my sister."

"Not like this."

"You let them take her!" My blood pounded in my ears. "You said you'd keep her safe! You said you'd help us!"

"I did what I could."

"Well, clearly it wasn't enough!"

"I was outnumbered. They were much stronger than I am. I was worried that they might hurt you both, so I..." She swallowed and cursed under her breath. Somehow, her hands were trembling just as much as mine. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you to trust me."

"If you're truly sorry, help me get Asha back." I pushed her off me and sat up. "You said you knew this coven. You said you knew how to keep us safe. So, prove that you weren't lying all along."

"It's not that simple."

"Why not? You were so confident before." I got up and headed to the kitchen. "I'm going to get my sister back. If you're not going to help, you can leave now." I went into my magic room. The medicine must have weakened me. If not, I wouldn't have been listening for Malise, hoping she'd show a sign of still being on my side.

I shook my head. It was fine if she left. I didn't need her.

And still, I held my breath when her footsteps sounded through the house. To the door? Or to me?

"She's safe." Her voice reached deep inside me, down to the pit of my stomach. I forced myself to turn around, even when I was weaker when looking her in the eye. "They won't hurt her," Malise continued. "She's way too valuable to them. They're not likely to do her any physical harm."

"They are hurting her." I took a step closer to her. "They're hurting her by forcing her into something she doesn't want." Tears started streaming down my face against my will. I had to be strong. For Asha. "If they cared about her, they'd let her go."

Malise opened her mouth to say something but closed it again. "She's safe," she finally said. "So instead of rushing into danger, we can take our time to form a plan. Something that will actually work."

"And you can help? Actually help this time?" I wasn't being fair. But  Asha was already taken away. We couldn't afford any mistakes in getting her back.

"If I didn't think I could help you, I'd already be gone."

I needed her. My chest tightened at the thought of taking on an entire coven alone. "Alright, then." I went back into the study. "Tell me everything you know."

"As you wish."

She sat down at the table and I collected some books. I looked over my shoulder. I probably wasn't supposed to see how she rubbed her face in frustration.

I wouldn't admit it out loud, but it was a relief to know she was still on my side.