The Witch's Familiar

Chapter 23

 It was late afternoon when you woke again. You were still curled around your new familiar, using Loki as a pillow. He didn't seem to mind. He was reading and absently stroking your hair. You sat up and shifted the sleeping cat-dragon to your lap, sitting cross-legged on the bed. Loki snapped his book shut. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Much better," you told him. You waved your hand and levitated the book from his lap, grinning that your magic was back. It wasn't back up to full strength, but it was a relief that your power was back at all.

"That's a relief," he sounded as though he meant it. He'd been worried.

"How bad was it?" you asked him softly, petting the sleepy cat in your lap.

Loki growled softly. "I should never have let you go on that trip alone," he snarled.

"Lokitty..." you said in the exasperated tone your voice took on when he was being more overprotective than was acceptable. "None of us knew that witch hunters would attack at a business conference. Hell's fire, none of us knew that they were after me."

Loki's eyes narrowed at those words. "That is too close to a lie, little sorceress," he informed you, not quite coldly, not yet.

You rolled your eyes. "The man who snuck in on Halloween was wearing the robes of a witch hunter. I didn't really believe at the time he actually was one because it was a costume party," you explained quickly, before he could get angry, thinking you were hiding things. He nodded accepting your explanation.

"It was bad, love, very bad. Based on the shape you were in, I believe they were planning on killing you," he said softly, sadly, but you heard the hint of rage in his voice too. You set the cat-dragon on the bed and went to Loki, wrapping your arms around his neck, stroking his long hair.

"I'm here, Lokitty. I'm here and I'm safe, thanks to you," you told him softly, reassuringly. His arms wrapped around you and he held you tightly to him.

"I can't stand the thought of my life without you, my little sorceress, not now that I have finally found you," he whispered into your hair. Sometimes you forgot that you'd only been on one official date, that you'd only been an official couple for less than a week. Loki'd been your best friend since he moved to the tower months and months ago and had been carefully courting you ever since he turned human again. It felt like you'd been in a relationship with him forever, though it was technically new.

"I love you too," you told him and kissed his forehead. You sat back, failing to notice that you were sitting, probably uncomfortably, on his legs. He didn't seem to mind. "Is there any news from home?"

He shook his head. "Thor told the team what we were up to before he followed us through the Bifrost. They agreed that the witch hunters can't follow you here since we actually appreciate magicians here..." Loki grumbled, hating the witch hunters for wanting to hurt you because you happen to practice magic. "So they asked us to keep you here for at least a few days while they make sure the tower is safe for you to return to. Thor got Odin to agree, however grudgingly. I don't know how he did it, though I think Mother got involved. The team promised to investigate the witch hunter issue while you're here,"

"I hate this. I should be there helping them," you grumbled at him helplessly. There was no way he or Thor were letting you go home until the team had time to make sure you'd be safe. You loved your overprotective boys, despite that they were overprotective. You knew it meant that they cared and you couldn't begrudge them for it.

"I know, darling, but until we're sure it's safe, you will just have to suffer with being pampered like an Asgardian princess," he teased.

"I'm no princess," you reminded him firmly. You were just a little witch from Midgard, nothing special about you.