Page 24 of Midlife Animal Rescuer Dragon

“Youdohave a thing against hybrids,” she said. “You said you don’t see me as a monster, but you clearly do.”

She saw his jaw tighten. There was more silence, and this time she doubted he would speak again. She gazed out the window, across the plain, at the big white house. It looked even more peaceful here. A life here, in Sylva, was one she could get used to. Assuming she managed to survive Ergog.

And assuming Henry even wanted anything to do with her afterward.

“My ex-girlfriend was a hybrid.”

He could have fought a thousand men to the death with his bare hands and it wouldn’t have shocked her as much as those words did. Nora practically spun in her seat, blinking at him in surprise.

“Wh-what?” she spluttered.

“Her name was Carmen,” he went on. “We met over a decade ago. She was a bit like you, a hybrid. Only she was part-witch and part-vampire.”

“You keep speaking about her in past tense.” Nora tried to hide the mild discomfort that suddenly swept over her. “She’s not...she’s not dead, is she?”

He shot her a funny look. “I have no idea. I haven’t seen her since the night she almost killed me.” When Nora simply gaped at him, he explained: “We were together for a while before she did it. I trusted her. And she took advantage of that, tried to steal my shifting ability and make herself something more, something stronger. Fortunately, the spell backfired and I survived. She ran off. Haven’t seen her since.”

A pained expression crossed his face then, as if it physically hurt him to even think about it. Or maybe it was the fact that his shoulder and thigh were injured. He didn’t seem to be bleeding anymore, but the sight of his ripped, bloodstained clothes sent a shudder of horror through Nora. She resisted the urge to try to heal him with a spell.

Another hybrid. His words repeated themselves in her mind. His ex had tried to kill him and steal his very essence. No wonder he didn’t seem to trust her. It was bad enough that Nora was a hybrid, but the thought that she’d killed anyone had done the exact opposite of helping her case.

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” she said, choosing her words as carefully as possible. “That was...it was terrible. But I want you to know that I’m not like her. I’d never hurt anyone—at least, not on purpose. I certainly wouldn’tkillanyone.”

“So what happened, exactly?” He’d torn his gaze away from her now, staring out the windshield. “How’d the witch end up dead? I want to hear everything. Every last detail. Everything you remember.”

“There isn’t very much I remember,” she admitted. But she began narrating, anyway.

Chapter Ten

“I Seem to Have a Thing for Hybrids”

The second she regained consciousness, Nora knew that something was very, very wrong. It wasn’t just the fact that she could no longer hear the fireworks—or much else, for that matter. It was the smell of blood. It flooded her nostrils, almost overpowering her.

She was back in human form; she knew that much even before she opened her eyes. Her senses had dulled, but the smell lingered. It was so overwhelming, she almost wished she would lose consciousness again.

“She’s awake,” said a voice. It was familiar, nearby yet distant. “Be careful.”

When she opened her eyes, she was lying on the ground. It took Nora all of two seconds to realize she was in the woods. The clearing? Yes, it certainly felt like it. The earth was hard and rough against her cheek. She forced her eyes open a little wider. A couple of feet away, crackling gently, was a flame.

Definitely still in the clearing,she thought.What the hell happened?

Judging by that smell, nothing good. She blinked, trying to clear her vision, and other shapes came into focus. A full moon. Trees. And...people.

The witches stood just beyond the fire in a tight semi-circle, all eyes trained on her. Through the flickering flame, Nora caught sight of Isobel in their midst, an unreadable expression on the coven leader’s face.

With a grunt, she propped herself up on her elbows. She was naked as far as she could tell, her clothes lying in tatters a few feet away, just before the dead body.

It took her mind a couple of seconds to register that last detail. With a jolt, she got up, staring at the ground with wideeyes. It was a body, alright. One of the witches lay on the ground in a pool of blood, her silver robes ripped to shreds. She wasn’t moving, not even a bit.

The stench of blood seemed to grow stronger in Nora’s nostrils. Horror wrapped around her like a cloak, and she staggered backward.What...what the hell happened?

“She’s dead,” she gasped, pointing at the body as though bringing it to the other witches’ attention. “She’s dead!”

Why were they all standing and staring at her like that?

“Yes,” Isobel said finally. “She is. You killed her.”

Nora blinked. “Wh-what?”