Nazreen

Chapter Seventeen

Emilio's anger came surging back the second she looked at him.

He thought he was over it.

He wasn't.

In the rogue witch's living room, he paced, ignoring the eeriness of the place around him. He needed to clear his head. Something that'd probably be a whole lot easier if there weren't a jar of frogs' eyes peering down at him.

So what was the gameplan here? One wouldn't pass anymore. He needed one for the mission and one for Nazreen now that they were proving equally difficult to deal with as each other.

She'd be eating from here on out. He'd make damn sure of that.

But things would be different now that he knew of her mortality. Mortals died so easily. It was a wonder she'd lived so long as a mortal living in Castle Solum. But he was here now, her lethal protector ensuring she made it. He'd keep this knowledge to himself.

But first thing's first, he'd be teaching her how to fight.

No more of this pussyfooting that went down in Castle Solum. He'd teach the Princess how to be strong.

This snowflake couldn't be allowed to melt.

He wouldn't stand for it.

Through an open door, he spotted the rogue witch's workshop and followed her in.

Inside was weirder than any other room in the house. Much freakier.

There was a stove on one side of the room, surrounded by all sorts of gory pots and pans. Stacked against the wall were more piles of jars filled high with animal body parts and gunk. He'd love to get the vegan vampire's take on this. On another end of the room, a bathtub resided, semi-filled with semi-rotten fruits. The witch stood by the table that took up the rest of the room. His scythe laid amongst a pile of soap, a frayed recipe for curses pinned down to the table next to it.

Right now, the scythe was the last thing on his mind.

"How long until she turns immortal?"

"I told you. It'll be sometime this year."

"That's not good enough. I need something exact. Give me a date." Emilio wasn't the best of the best for nothing. Now he knew what he was dealing with, he could prepare. Things would be easier when she hit immortality.

"I want never gets."

"It's not a case of wanting it. It's a case of her safety."

"She's safe," The witch said. "Evette would've sent someone after her if she were in any imminent danger."

"Not good enough." There was no telling what the witch oracle knew. What if she'd missed something? Emilio wasn't taking his chances. "That witch doesn't know everything. I'm not leaving anything to chance. Give me a date."

She hadn't seen him and his sister coming that night they attacked on the road.

"She knows this."

"I'm not taking her word for it."

Emilio was an experienced hunter. If he went with every tip-off he'd ever gotten, he'd have been a dead man centuries ago.

"Why so desperate, hunter?" The witch gave him a look of suspicion. A knowing one at that. "You're awfully invested in the Princess, aren't you?"

"I take my life seriously. She dies, my blood gets fried."

"You take hers more seriously."

"Just give me the fucking date. I know you can do it somehow."