Page 12 of Kat Bethel

My heart dropped for a beat before picking up double time. None of this made sense.

If this was a spirit, the rosemary would have worked.

My fingers clenched in the air, testing to make sure I was understanding this right. The stench of sweat and my own fear filled my nose as I took too long to understand what was happening.

He could touch me, but I couldn’t touch him.

The longer my hands hovered inside his shadow the more my hands tingled, yet were simultaneously numb, as if they were disconnected from my body. It reminded me of sitting on my foot for too long. I yanked my hands back through his body, cradling them to my chest.

As if my hands could keep my pounding heart from lurching out of my chest as full-blown panic made me lightheaded.

What was he?

What did my ancestors do?

“Stay back!” I spoke, but my voice shook and didn’t carry the authority I meant it to have.

Why did the older witches command we never hunt here?A bad feeling twisted my stomach into knots.I’ve fucked up.

I should’ve done more research before I trolloped into this place like an idiot. I stumbled back to retreat, but he followed me step for step, holding his space beside me.

“What are you?” a deep voice whispered. But it didn’t come from where his mouth should be. It came from all around me.

From inside me.

My fingers trembled as the implication of that settled. That would be impossible.

Stop showing this monster fear. You are a hunter. You’ve done this every day since you were a thirteen-year-old girl. Act like it!

“I could ask you the same question,” I shot back with more bravado than I actually had. I clenched my fist hoping to keep him from seeing my shaking hands.

“You...” He stepped even closer as if he couldn’t stand to leave a sliver of space between us. He was impossibly close, yet somehow still wasn’t touching me. It was more like he was smothering me. His icy breath rolled over my face. The cool air didn’t help my facade, since all it did was make me tremble harder. “You are a lovely dandelion.”

I blinked, bemused by his assessment. Me? A dainty flower?

He chuckled as if my response amused him. As if I were nothing more than some adorable puppy chewing on his shoes.

That made enough anger boil inside my chest to shake me out of the freeze I’d been in. This motherfucker was killing all those kids, and he had the audacity to act like nothing would come of it.

He’d get his. I’d make sure of that.

I grabbed an iron knife from my belt, slashing the blade across his chest. My arm went through him, and he didn’t so much as flinch.

Definitely not a spirit.

But something strange happened to the blade. It turned to rust and crumbled away right in my hand. I didn’t let a new wave of panic set in, even though I’d never seen such a thing before.

Sage! Something!

I’d just chosen the wrong herb before. Easy fix.

I lit a bundle of sage and tossed it between our feet. He didn’t so much as twitch to stop me.

The billowing smoke made the air thick between us. He even made a show of taking a deep inhale, as if to prove how futile my efforts were.

Ok. So, he wasn't mutated by a witch.

Fuck.