Shadow of the Beast (Twisted Dark #2)

Chapter Eight: A Little Push

I shifted the little witch on my back. "So ye are tellin' me tha' ye've never been t' the Forests." I couldn't help the disbelief that coated my tone as she shifted her arms around my neck.

"This is my first time. I spent all my life in Coven Thirteen or the shop. I wasn't allowed outside." She shrugged, I could feel it and I was nearly blown away by it. The thought of being denied the wilderness was just wrong.

I couldn't understand witches. Why deny anyone the world around them? "Is tha' normal? Does tha' happen often with witches?" I had seen witches out and in the Forests so the fact the little pixie had been denied that was so absolutely strange to me.

"No." The word was sharp and I shook my head, digging my fingers into her pale legs. "Irma was... different in how she brought me up." The way she said it let me know she wanted to say something else but she either couldn't or just didn't have the words.

"Tha' witch..." I scowled darkly. She was already dead in my mind but I wouldn't mind drawing it out for her for her treatment for the little pixie. "I doona understand how she could do tha' t' such a dainty female." I didn't understand witches. I doubted I ever would. Who could ever look at such a delicate and small creature such as Violet and want to deny them anything?

A small hand clipped me upside the head. "Who are you calling dainty?" At the tiny swat I chuckled. She wasn't nearly as vicious as she believed she was. "Laugh all you want but I don't need magick to kick your ass. Remember that." She sniffed slightly and I gave her legs a small squeeze, my thumbs stroking her skin, she kicked out with them. "Stop!" She sputtered slightly and I fought back a grin. I was wondering when she would tell me to stop.

"Stop what, pixie?" I turned my head, looking through the trees, trying my best to keep my voice as innocent as I could.

"You know what you are doing." There was a heavy dose of censure to her voice and I shrugged, giving my head a small shake. There was a faint pause as I continued walking before she let out a huff. "Stop touching my legs."

"Alright, pixie." I dropped her legs and she nearly immediately slipped down my back. She gave a small inhale and scrambled, trying to hold onto me. I once against grabbed her thighs, jostling her up higher on my back and she wrapped her arms around my neck, holding onto me tightly.

I could feel her heart thudding against me and she let out an aggravated sound. "Fucking prick!" She spat the words out and I grinned.

"You told me t' stop touchin' yer legs." At that I was cuffed upside the head. "So violent ye are." I actually liked that she was a little violent with me. It didn't hurt but I knew it must have made her feel better. It also showed that she was becoming more comfortable with me.

"I'll show you violent." She muttered the words out and I fought back a chuckle as I continued to walk through the Forest.

My instinct was at ease, it had settled last night. We had tended to the little female's feet, making sure they were cleaned and soothed by the herb concentrate we had made, and then we fed her. Despite how hungry we had been we let her eat a majority of the food, enjoying how excited she was with the small rabbit. Her little white teeth had eagerly tore cooked meat from bone and when she spotted us looking, her face would turn bright red and she would hide behind her hair.

I had no worries she would run off so I allowed her to wrap her chain around her ankle. I had urged her to speak, to tell me about her life but she had been very tight lipped, her face twisting up and her mouth pressing together tightly. She hadn't said a single word and so I told her about my life in the Northern Forests, told her about Lyxton and how we travelled with the herds of the deer. She had listened as if it fascinated her greatly but it hadn't been long before she started nodding off. After that it hadn't taken much coaxing for her to curl up in my arms once more.