Page 11 of This Witch Is Not Wicked

My mind whirled with possibilities. She was terrifying and angry and hated pretty much everyone, which was exactly what made her perfect for this ridiculous idea. There would be no chance of her falling for me or wanting to monopolize my time.

Plus I could help her. She needed someone to improve her image.

Courting me could do that.

I could do this. I could fake date Enid and solve both our problems.

“I have to go,” I said, backing away. “I forgot about a patient I need to see. Very urgent.”

Mother reached for me. “Wait a minute, what about⁠—”

“I’ll see you for dinner soon!”

I turned and ran before anyone else could ask more questions and hoped that this insane plan might actually work.

CHAPTER 4

Nevan

It was still dark out, stars twinkling in the purple-pink sky, as I snuck through the silent streets of Fairwitch Isle, hood covering my head. I’d decided that if I was going to visit Enid, it had to be at a time when no one would see me.

I walked down the cobblestone road that wound around the castle. Businesses lined either side, and green smoke rose in the air from the bog, its scent sweet and slightly acidic. Not many were brave enough to venture into the channels and marshy land surrounding our city, not when so many creatures and dangerous plants lurked within its depths. Enid hadn’t exactly been forthcoming about any of it. We knew the bog was sentient, likely from the earth godwitch’s magic. What we didn’t know was how Enid seemed to have such a command over it.

All the godwitches had left pieces of their magic in our world when they departed thousands of years ago. We had magical animals, magical plants, magical objects, and buildings like our castle. The thing was that humans couldn’t control the magic. The magic never answered to us. We just used it and hoped it would cooperate.

I glanced back at the white stone castle that rose tall into the sky. Our castle was a perfect example. The magic did what it wanted. The castle chose its ruler—it had chosen my brother years ago.

Between the dress shop and the bakery, a flower with eyes swiveled in my direction, unblinking and watching. I gave an awkward wave as if it might wave back.

Enid’s cottage appeared in the distance, right at the bend in the road. It was stuffed between the blacksmith and the cobbler, both owners often loudly complaining about being next to Enid, but there was nothing that could be done about it. We couldn’t move an entire cottage. It had just been the way our city landed, her cottage shoved into that exact spot.

I glanced around to make sure the road was still empty. If anyone saw me going to Enid’s cottage, the rumors would spread far too quickly, and my mother would have a lot of questions. Everyone would have a lot of questions.

I’d have to give my mother an answer about who I was courting soon, and I needed Enid to be on board with this, or I’d have to admit I lied, and my mother would be devastated.

I approached Enid’s cottage, sending yet another cursory glance behind me.

I wiped my damp hands on my trousers, not sure what I was about to walk into. As I went over the proposal in my head, it sounded ludicrous.

I couldn’t believe I was about to do this, but I had no choice.

The wooden steps creaked as I walked up them, careful to step over the vines that snaked across the porch. I’d seen too many people accidentally, or purposely, step on them, only to be swatted or shoved away.

I cleared my throat and raised my fist to knock but hesitated. This was stupid. It would never work. What had I been thinking? I couldn’t do this.

My stomach clenched at the thought of telling my mother the truth, at how upset she would be. Then my brothers would be upset. Then my father would be upset. And then I’d be upset. Basically everyone was going to be upset because of me.

Mother’s face would crumple like it had yesterday, tears streaming down her cheeks. My stomach twisted tighter at the image, and then I thought of another time her face had crumpled like that—a horrible, dark time for our entire family. I pushed that particular memory away.

The door swung open, and I was about to jump back when something wrapped around my ankle, yanking me to the ground.

I crashed to the floor, my spectacles flying off my nose and landing out of reach. Pain shot through my head and back, and I stared at the ceiling, dazed and not entirely sure what had just happened.

Enid’s pinched features came into my periphery as she leaned over me, my view of her upside down. Her green cheeks flushed pink as she picked up my spectacles, looking through them at me while her vine dragged me across the floor. My spectacles enlarged her eyes, the deepest umber with flecks of gold. I’d never seen eyes so dark, so full of depth.

Whatever had a hold of my ankle gave a sharp yank, and I looked behind me to see Enid’s vine wrapped around my leg. I flipped onto my stomach and clawed at the wooden floorboards, but the vine was incredibly strong. It had crushed an entire crocodile once, so this shouldn’t have been surprising.

Enid stared at her long black nails. “Throw him in the bog.”