Free High Witch (High Witch Book 1) by Mona Hanna

brushed his lips with hers. “I think we’ve waited long enough.”
    He smiled at her, gazing at her fondly. “Oh, Ariel,” he breathed, kissing her deeply. She sighed in his arms. Everything was right. He had her. They’d get through it, whatever it was. They had each other. If their love couldn’t win, nothing could.

    ***
    Brayden awoke early the next morning, cuddled close to Ariel. He drew the blankets over them more closely, as they lay in the cold room. Ariel was still asleep. He felt her breathing slowly next to him.
    His mind began to drift over what they talked about last night, and over what they were going to do next. The usual anxiety that had been following him the last couple of weeks returned. It only disappeared when he was kissing Ariel; when he was making love to her. He didn’t know what they were going to do — where they were going to go. He sighed. It was all so difficult.
    He felt an odd sensation come over him. It was as if a memory was on the edge of his mind, something dark, something unpleasant. He struggled to remember what it was. A dream? Was it a dream? He frowned, then images flashed through his mind.
    Julius and Nadia.
    His mother’s house.
    His mother.
    He gasped, and quickly sat up. Ariel woke up and looked at him. He scrunched his eyes shut. “No, no, no!” he cried, desperately not wanting it to be real. He rubbed his forehead, then turned to her.
    “I had a dream. Julius and Nadia. They’ve captured my mother. They’re holding her hostage. They have her, Ariel! I don’t know what to do!”
    She took a deep breath, and sat up. “I know. I had the same dream. I know, Brayden.”
    They sat quietly, while the seriousness of the situation sunk in. Ariel sighed.
    “We go to them,” she said softly. “It’s the only way.”
    Brayden looked at her, wishing this wasn’t happening. He choked back tears.
    “You know what will happen. We’ll be walking right into it.”
    Ariel looked down, then nodded. “I know. But we have no choice. It’s what they’re counting on. We have to do this.”
    He moved her hair away from her face. “I love you,” he said. “More than anything. Whatever happens — it’s not your fault. I’ll love you forever. You’re everything to me.”
    She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. She moved forward and leaned against him. “I’d never hurt you,” she said. “I never would.”
    He held her as she wept quietly against his chest. He didn’t say anything. Maybe, somehow, this would work out. Maybe, in some way, they would all survive. But he could see the outcome unfolding in his mind. They might save his mother, but Ariel wouldn’t get away from Nadia this time. And Julius would have some kind of elaborate plan in place. There was really only one way this could go.
    As good as Ariel was, no one had ever passed the test.
    And they were walking right into it.

Chapter 12

    Brayden and Ariel traveled for a tense two days to get to his mother’s house. Brayden felt sick to his stomach thinking about his mother with Julius and Nadia for all that time, but there was nothing they could do. They rode quickly, stopping as little as possible to rest their horses and themselves. On the evening of the second day they stopped to camp in a clearing in a forest, when they couldn’t ride anymore. Brayden knew they’d arrive at their destination by the middle of the next day. He sat by the fire with Ariel, deep in thought, lost in his misery and anxiety. Ariel placed a hand on his arm.
    “Brayden?” she said softly. He looked at her. She was wrapped in a warm cloak, the light of the fire reflected in her eyes. She gave him a small smile, squeezing his arm.
    “We’ll save her. I promise you. I won’t let them hurt her.”
    He looked down at his hands, surrounded by his own cloak. He sighed, and put his arm around Ariel, drawing her to him. She snuggled up to him, and he held her close, leaning his head against hers. He held her tightly. He was