9781618851307WitchsBrewShayNC by Unknown

of those strange looks he had the habit
of flashing her at times.
    Saylym
nodded her head at Talon. “Uh…right.” Her breath caught in her lungs. “Proper
technique for a…er…besom?” She could have bitten off her tongue. Curiosity
killed the cat! Why couldn’t she just leave it alone and ignore the things
said to her?
    Hannah lowered her voice, nodding. “Too many
loop-de-loops. Makes her sick to her stomach.”
    “Ah.” Saylym gave a nervous laugh. It must be a
conspiracy. Everyone was into the witch thing these days. “I’m sorry I missed
her. Tell her to come over to my shop and get acquainted sometime.” Or not.
Please, not.
    The
last thing she needed in her life was another ditzy person believing in
witches. Besoms, for pity’s sake.
Flying brooms. Yes, sir, they perched right up there with a hairbrush crawling out
of the commode.
    Hannah’s deep blue eyes lit up. “I will. And tell your
friend, happy birthday.” She slid the cake into a pink box, then turned her
gaze on Talon.
    “This
is Prince Talon, my tenant,” Saylym said by way of introduction.
    A faint blush stained Hannah’s cheeks. “Prince? A real
prince?”
    Saylym grinned, knowing exactly how she felt. A woman was
simply no match for a man claiming to be a prince, especially one who oozed raw
sex appeal from every pore in his muscular body and had killer dimples too. “So
he says. But just between you and me, he also claims he’s a witch.” Saylym tapped her forehead with a finger, lowering
her voice in much the same way Hannah had. “I think it’s in the water.”
    “Lord,
let’s hope so,” Hannah replied, snickering.
    “Nice to meet you,” Talon said, raising Hannah’s hand to
his mouth and pressing a light kiss to the top of it. His smile vanished and in
its place, a dark scowl lined his face. His lips curled with revulsion and his
eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.
    Saylym felt blindsided. The man who claimed to be a male
witch suddenly looked as if he’d tasted a slug. Now what?

     
    *
* * *

     
    Illumrof!
    Talon recoiled, his insides curdling with distaste. The
female was one hundred percent illumrof . He dropped Hannah’s hand and instinctively
backed away a step.
    How the hell did a human cross into his world?
    He studied both women with a mixture of disbelief and
equal curiosity. It had been difficult to detect the illumrof stench
with the strong aromas of the bakery stifling his sense of smell and Saylym’s Impure scent combined.
    An illumrof? Here? In Ru-Noc? Unbelievable!
    Why wasn’t he doing the smart thing and putting distance
between himself and the human and even Saylym, for that matter? He was allowing
himself to be drawn deeper into the mystery of the half witch. Stupid. He
shouldn’t be doing that. And now here was this human complicating everything
even more. He swore beneath his breath.
    Impures were sometimes suffered in Ru-Noc, but
rarely were they ever fully accepted by his race. Hannah Miller, on the other
hand, was illumrof . Humans were never allowed on Ru-Noc. Oh,
yeah, he was up to his neck in sheeahta and sinking fast. How the hell
did a human get past the border guards of the Ru-Noc realm and into Sanctuary?
    Worse, she planned to stay. She was half owner of this
shop. She’d made herself at home in a realm that, for her, should not exist. It
was all he could to keep from walking over to the only bare section of wall in
the bakery and banging his head against it.
    Why
him?
    There was no choice but to report this infestation to the Waken Guild.
    Talon
smothered a groan. He’d rather eat spiders than face the elders. He took
another step away from the illumrof and inhaled deeply, fresh air not
tainted with the putrefying stench of mortal blood.
    The
human female was in danger simply for having crossed into his world. She knew
witches and wakens existed, that there were besoms and magic and things
that went bump in the night.
    And
she’d die for the knowing.
    There wasn’t a single