Free Witchling (Curse of Kin) by Ari Harper Page B

and closer. The air chilled, and I tried to drag Hugo from the lake. “Come on, Hugo, let’s go.” Panic was starting to set in.
    His growl deepened. He pulled away from me and began to pace back and forth at the edge of the mist.
    “Hugo, let’s go!” I cried and grabbed him again, trying harder to get him away, but he was standing his ground, frozen in place.
    “Who are you? What do you want?” I yelled out.
    “I want you, Nera,” a strange voice whispered in the fog. “You belong to me.”
    Hugo lunged, disappearing into the mist. I screamed. Cold fingers closed over my ankles, pulling my feet from under me. I was being dragged toward the water. “Let me go!” I cried. Fear was rising in my throat. “Piss off, you freak!”
    I could vaguely hear Hugo in the mist barking ferociously. I clawed at the earth and grabbed clumps of heather near the shoreline trying to gain a hold. I kicked, and screamed, and fought until I felt myself break free of the icy grip. I lunged back to the path. I ran as fast as I could, convinced my life depended on it, with no other thought than to get to Jasper’s safely.
    By the time I made it to the walled garden, I had almost stopped shaking. My body was drenched in cold sweat. Hugo was still growling, his hackles up.
    “Jasper, where are you!” I called racing through the kitchen door.
    “Nera!” He turned from his breakfast and looked at me. “What’s wrong? Has something happened?”
    “I don’t know.” I gulped some deep breaths and held onto the kitchen chair for support until my shaky legs felt better. “There is something out there.”
    “Take a few more deep ones, girl dear. The kettle is on. We will start at the beginning.” He took my arm and ran his hand over my head. When my breathing was more settled, he pushed me into the chair and got a cup from the cupboard and sat beside me.
    He poured me a cup of tea and pushed it into my hands. “Now, what is where?” he asked. “Did anything hurt you?”
    “No, I’m fine now, I think.” I paused to take a sip of tea, and then continued. “Hugo and I were doing our usual run from home around the lake, same as always. We were almost to the lake when things started to get really weird.” I could still feel my panic just below the surface.
    “One minute everything was normal, and then it started to get dark and foggy over the lake. There must have been something out there because Hugo got his hackles up and started growling. Everything went really cold and spooky and I started to panic a bit, I suppose.”
    “Take your time, girl dear.”
    I rushed on, regardless. “Anyway, the mist came closer, and it literally swallowed us. Something cold grabbed my ankles and tried to pull me into the lake. I think it was panic that got me out of it. I freaked and started to kick, and when I heard the voice that was it. We were out of there. What the hell is going on, Jasper?” I wrapped my arms around my body, trying to hold myself together.
    “Nera, what did the voice say to you?”
    “I think it said ‘I want you, Nera. You belong to me.’ I belong to me, Jasper, not some bloody thing in the mist. I know the lake has its share of ghost stories but I never thought they were true.”
    “This is happening a lot faster than I would have thought. I can only assume that the Others must be aware that you now know about your powers. I must call Bones. We will have to move faster.” He got up and grabbed the phone.
    “Jasper, wait, before you do… last night I had another dream. There were soldiers, but they followed a beautiful woman with long dark hair. There was a battle. I think it was outside this house. Young boys and men were dragged to the gallows and hung in front of their mothers and wives. Women were screaming and trying to hide while their men were dragged out into the open. There was hardly anyone there to protect them.”
    Jasper’s face turned ashen. He came back to me and grabbed my hands. “That is more