Free Hex and the Single Witch by Saranna DeWylde Page B

her.
    “Why is that?” She struggled to pull the blanket from her head and to get away from his touch. “What do you want?”
    “I was thinking we could meet up with Alexander and Lila tonight.” Brody grinned hopefully.
    “You’re stark raving mad.”
    “Later in the week, then?” he volleyed.
    “Get out.” Her power formed a nimbus over her head that was not unlike a thundercloud. With lightning.
    “Okay,” Brody gave in, “but I’ll be back.”
    As soon as he was gone, she popped another chocolate in her mouth. Coriander was going to kill her. She’d just eaten the last of her stash.
    Suddenly she was angry, chocolate notwithstanding. How dare he come into her room and act like the last two weeks just hadn’t happened? That he hadn’t taken a royal shit on her feelings and just because— oh . Caraway sighed. Brody was just treating her the way she’d let him. She really shouldn’t have...
    Shut it! That damned little voice in the back of her head needed some time off. A vacation. Because when it was silent, that’s when she was the happiest. Maybe not the smartest, because it had been on reprieve when she’d shagged two guys at the same time, but the happiest. She wondered if maybe there was a switch somewhere so she could just turn it off and it would never have to come back.
    Caraway pulled the pillow over her head.
    Only to have her idyll shattered. “Just what the blue Hell are you doing, Caraway Wormwood?”
    What was Lila Darkend doing in her dorm room? The apocalypse was nigh!
    Lila pulled the pillow from her face, then her nose wrinkled like a pug who’d just shoved her snout into something unpleasant. She dropped the pillow back into place. “Devil Almighty, but didn’t your mother teach you any grooming spells? Your breath smells like something crawled in there and died.”
    “It didn’t die, exactly,” Caraway began, her voice muffled through the pillow.
    The bed creaked under Lila’s slight weight. “Listen here, doll. I need you to do me a favour.”
    Lila Darkend wanted a favour from her? “What is it?”
    “You needn’t sound so terrified. I simply want you to keep doing what you’re doing.”
    “And what am I doing?” Caraway sat up and tossed the pillow to the floor.
    Lila blinked and, with a snap of her fingers, she cast a grooming spell. Caraway’s teeth no longer felt like they were wearing a sweater and there was a cinnamon taste on her tongue. “Ah, that’s better. Now, as to what you’re doing...keeping Alexander entertained.”
    “Not that I have a problem with that, but why do you want me to?”
    She laughed. “Because I want to break our engagement.”
    Caraway’s first thought was, Are you crazy? But what came out was, “Why do you think I can help with that?”
    “First of all, because he likes you. Second of all, I’ve decided I like you, too. Probably not as much as Alexander. But, see, that’s a good thing. He’s not bad as far as males go.
    I just don’t want to be married to anyone.”
    Caraway shifted on the bed and cringed with the discomfort.
    “Oh, sugar. They did a number on you, didn’t they?”
    They? How did she know? Had Alexander told her about their—?
    “Brody told me. He’s got problems, that one.” Lila shook her head with blatant disapproval. She tugged a small jar of something out of her bag. “Here, I brought you a present.”
    “What’s that?” Caraway eyed it suspiciously.
    “Something to soothe your bits, darling.”
    “So it’s topical?”
    “Don’t look so suspicious. It’s not going to bite you.”
    “Pardon me if I’m a little cautious.” Caraway raised a brow.
    “Of course you are. And you should be. The current fiancee of your lover comes to your room with the knowledge you’re banging him blue and offers a cream for the part of your anatomy that’s taking him from her? Yes, you’d be stupid not to be ‘a little cautious’ as you say.”
    “Then there’s the part where said fiancee is Lila