Read Online A Witch in Love by Ruth Warburton - Free Book Online

Something told me that Abe would find the idea of two girls bitch-fighting over Seth less than enticing. ‘What are you doing here?’
    ‘On my way back from dropping Emmaline. Are you OK?’ He was peeling away the wet, bloodstained denim as he spoke. His hands were gentle but when he touched my ankle I couldn’t suppress a whimper and he shook his head. ‘I’ll take that for a no. Here …’ He shifted the bike and then put an arm around me, supporting my weight. ‘Come on, let’s get you under a street lamp and we can take a look at the damage, see if it’s an A&E job.’
    He heaved me to my feet and I managed to stand, my teeth clenched against the pain, breathing hard. Abe looked at me quizzically for a moment, then he bent down, and swung me up into his arms.
    ‘Abe,’ I said. ‘Abe! Put me down! I can walk, for heaven’s sake.’
    ‘Really?’ He turned his head to look at me, his face strangely close now I was gripped against his chest. ‘So all that screaming stuff when I touched your foot, that was just play-acting, was it? Look, if you’ve got an alternative suggestion, bring it on. Otherwise …’
    ‘I’m too heavy …’ I struggled half-heartedly as he began walking, but he only clamped me closer. ‘Please, this feels weird, put me down.’
    ‘You’re not heavy, for God’s sake. You’re a teenage girl. Stop wriggling or I’ll lose my footing in the snow and we’ll both end up in A&E.’
    I subsided, and a few minutes later we reached a street lamp and stopped beneath its pool of chilly light. Abe put me down in the snow and knelt beside me, pulling the blood-sodden denim up to my knee. What was underneath made me wince and Abe gave a low whistle.
    ‘You don’t do things by halves, woman. That’s quite a gash. And your ankle looks like you’ve got elephantiasis.’
    ‘So what do you think – A&E after all?’
    ‘Hmm … might not be necessary.’ Abe put his hand to my ankle again, not prodding but just letting it rest there, cool against the swelling. I had the impression that he was feeling for something. ‘If it was broken I’d say yes, we need a doctor, but …’ He was silent for a moment and then shook his head. ‘I’m pretty certain it’s not. We can sort this.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Heal it.’
    ‘Heal it? How?’
    ‘How do you think? Magically, of course. If it was broken I wouldn’t mess with it – you don’t want to cause a bone to set in the wrong position; that’s worse than doing nothing. But this is just cuts and swelling, nothing your body can’t sort, with a bit of help.’
    ‘And you can do that?’
    ‘Yep. Only …’
    ‘Only … ?’ I echoed.
    ‘Only I’m not going to.’
    ‘What? That’s horrible! You’re telling me you can fix this, but you’re not going to?’
    ‘No. You’re going to.’
    We stared at each other, hemmed together in the intimate little circle of the lamplight. His black eyes reflected the cold glimmer of the snow.
    ‘Well?’ he asked at last.
    ‘What will you do if I refuse? Leave me here in the snow?’
    He was silent for a minute and then nodded, reluctantly. ‘If that’s what it takes, yes.’
    ‘This is blackmail.’ My voice cracked.
    ‘I’m trying …’ He swallowed and I saw his fist was clenched. ‘I’m trying to help. Anna, you have to start doing magic. I know you don’t want to, for some twisted moral agenda of your own, but you’re going to end up hurting someone if you don’t – probably yourself.’
    ‘But I don’t know how!’ It was a sob of desperation in the still night air. ‘Come on, Abe, I don’t know the first thing about this – what do you expect me to do? I need a spell – something!’
    ‘You don’t need a spell,’ Abe said impatiently. ‘That’s just bollocks, props, fiddling round the edges. Magic – real magic – comes from in here.’ He banged his fist on his chest, his black brows drawn into a frown. The cold light glittered off his eyebrow