Page 131 of Black Willow Witch
Ripper inwardly sighed. ‘Baby.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Much as I appreciate the creativity behind your revenge – and admittedly find it amusing – I need you to undo the spell.’
‘Why?’ Adding more magick dust into the brew, she stirred it with her athame again. ‘To placate her itty-bitty feelings?’
‘No, because I don’t want the rest of my clan to fear you. Theyshouldfear you, I know that, but I’d rather they didn’t.’ He wanted them to be perfectly comfortable around her. ‘Help me out here.’
She let out a long-suffering sigh and then looked at Kerr. ‘Tell her that her hair will go back to its normal color if she says the following words out loud: “Ripper belongs to Emberlyn, not me.” She’ll also have to write lines.’
‘Lines?’ Kerr echoed, his lips twitching.
Emberlyn nodded. ‘If she wants rid of the mold, she needs to write “I must not piss on people’s tires” twenty times.’
Kerr laughed, spinning to face Ripper. ‘This is extra. I love it. CeCe, however, is gonnahateit.’
Anyone would hate having to concede a difficult truth aloud. But for them to then have to write lines like a child – a silent message that a person saw them as childish– would add insult to injury. So yeah, it was ‘extra’.
Ripper took a step toward her. ‘When time passed without anything happening to her, I thought you’d decided to let my punishment be enough.’
Opening a jar of honey, Emberlyn again briefly flicked her gaze his way. ‘I was just lulling her into a false sense of security. It makes things more fun.’
‘Agreed,’ said Kerr. ‘You need to keep this witch, Rip, because she’s awesome.’
‘Thank you, Kerr.’ Emberlyn dropped a little honey into the cauldron. ‘So, she reported it you, huh?’
‘She did,’ Kerr confirmed with a nod.
‘Did she cry? I was hoping she’s a sobber.’
‘There were tears.’
Smiling, Emberlyn closed the honey jar. ‘Excellent.’
Kerr chuckled again. ‘I’ll see you guys later.’ With that, he left.
Ripper remained in the consultation room, watching as his witch added lavender to her potion. Green and moldy. She’d turned CeCe’s hair green and moldy while also providing a way to reverse it that wouldgallthe female wolf.
God, she was mean. Seriously mean, but in the best way. It was one of the many, many things that he liked about her. ‘Why didn’t you tell me about the spell?’
She waved her hand at the cauldron, and the brew ceased bubbling. ‘You would have done what you did just then – asked me to undo it. I would have said no. You would have nagged me. We would have gone round and round in circles with neither of us willing to back down.’
‘So? There’s a lot to be said for angry sex.’
She chuckled. ‘I suppose wewouldhave worked it off in bed.’
Ripper crossed to her. ‘Like I said last night, I see you. But you still often manage to surprise me.’
She searched his gaze. ‘You’re not mad at me?’
‘No. I’d have done a fuck of a lot worse to anyone who territorially marked something of yours and professed to love you.’ They would have been pissing blood for at least a week. ‘I’m kind of scared of what you’ll do to me if I ever upset you.’
‘Aw, you don’t need to be afraid of me.’
‘Oh yes, I do.’
Her lips curved. ‘Definitely not all brawn.’
