Page 20 of This Witch Is Not Wicked

The lily pad stopped in front of the piece of land where the humans were digging. Tall grass and a slew of wildflowers surrounded them, coming up to their waists. These were not my plants but were part of the natural habitat of the bog, here long before I ever arrived.

Bald Man stuck the shovel in the ground and leaned on it. “I don’t see any bones around here.”

Bones? Whose bones were they looking for?

Broken Nose sighed. “I don’t either. If she died, her remains sure aren’t around here. We’ve been digging for hours.”

My eyes bulged. Hours? They had been here for hours digging? My temper flared.

Broken Nose bit the inside of his cheek. “First we discover her cottage and all those unnatural plants are gone—like the earth swallowed them—and now she’s gone too.”

I nearly fell forward. Me. They were talking about me. They were looking for my bones. For proof of my death. If the humans thought I was dead, soon enough, they’d be crawling all over my bog. Part of my bog lay outside Fairwitch Isle, and because of the high prince’s strict rules about leaving, I hadn’t been able to visit it for a long time, but it was still mine.

The high prince wouldn’t like that there were mortals here. I didn’t like it. For once, we might be in agreement on something.

I wondered how long it had been since humans visited the Cragh. It must’ve been since before Fairwitch Isle landed if they were just now noticing my cottage had disappeared. It made sense: humans didn’t come often, not when I’d earned my reputation for scaring them off.

Broken Nose’s lanky form crouched to study something on the ground. “No one’s been here for years, so how do we even know this disappearance was recent?”

That confirmed my suspicions.

Bald Man scratched his stubbled jaw. “I don’t fucking know.”

The High Prince of Fairwitch had made it clear only those who had permission could leave the city, since leaving put everyone at risk. If anyone saw someone emerge from an invisible barrier, it would lead to questions. And questions led to rumors. And rumors could get back to the Brotherhood of Magic.

I’d dealt with the brotherhood before. They’d come to my bog once, trying to take some of my magical plants. Vine had suffocated one of them, and they’d never returned. But I had heard horror stories about how they conquered cities, burned them to the ground, started wars, all so they could obtain powerful magic for their own gain.

The godwitches would’ve been disgusted by that behavior, even though the brotherhood preached they were doing all this in the name of the godwitches.

“Well, if her cottage disappeared, maybe she disappeared with it. Maybe her bones are at the bottom of this bog,” Broken Nose said. “Maybe the sentient bog finally turned on her.”

They thought my own bog had killed me? This was unacceptable. I had to show these men I was still very much alive. Forget Prince Cillian’s stupid rules.

I was about to step forward and reveal myself when someone shouted out, “No, no, you’re going too fast.”

I whipped around to see Nevan stumbling on a lily pad behind me, holding out a bouquet of flowers. His legs wobbled, and he swayed, unsteady on his feet.

The lily pad carried him closer until it was almost touching mine. I gaped at him as he yelled out, lost his balance, and fell straight into me.

CHAPTER 9

Enid

Nevan’s hard body collided with mine as I toppled backward onto my lily pad, bringing him down with me. Every muscled part of his body molded to mine, and my first instinct was to shove him off me.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I yelled, pushing him.

He landed beside me, spectacles falling from his face, causing the lily pad to undulate. The edge of the lily pad folded under his weight, and his eyes widened as he yelled, “I can’t swim,” and rolled right into the channel.

The water swallowed the rest of his words as he slipped underwater, and it took me a moment to process everything that had just happened. Nevan floating toward me with flowers. Nevan falling on top of me. Me shoving Nevan into the water as he screamed.

I stared at Vine, blinking. “Did he just say he can’t⁠—”

Nevan’s head emerged again.

“Help!” His garbled words interrupted my thoughts, arms flailing as his head disappeared again.

I stood. “You’ve got to be joking. Do you want to get him, then?” Vine shook its head, then slumped into a coil like it was bored of this whole situation.