The Witch Collector (Witch Walker #1)

by Charissa Weaks

And valuable things get locked away.

Never once did he use it against the Frost King to change our circumstances.

Probably cause he knew better

Instead, I live in a peaceful village filled with good people—Witch Walkers, halflings, and those with no magickal ability at all.

But what you're about to do will probably change all of that

Something must always be lost if you’re ever to gain. Don’t fear this. You will never move forward if you never leave things behind.”

You think you want freedom, yet you never consider that maybe the kind of freedom you long for doesn’t even exist.”

quiet rage sparks to life inside me. I cling to it. Thrive on it.

It wasn’t a question but a command, and I don’t take well to commands.

Pain fuels my anger,

Mother used to say that grief always strikes when we least expect it, and that we rarely realize how those we love inhabit even the most seemingly inconsequential parts of our lives. It’s in those moments that the pain of their absence strikes so much deeper, because the time we took for granted suddenly shines in sharp relief.

I’m reminded that nothing is perfect.

the times that thrill me most—lightning bolts arc across the sky, white-hot light tinted in lavender, fracturing fevered nights, wild and restless as me.

Listen to your misery. Listen to your rage. If you’re angry, let it boil. If you’re heartbroken, let your heart shatter.”

I inherited my father’s hot head, something that has often led me to quite the predicament,

I’d rather have a fighter with me, even if she is scared of her own shadow.”

I like to think that I could’ve kept myself safe, but sometimes, whether I care to admit it or not, experience trumps daring.

We all face moments of decision, and when we look back, it’s so easy to think what might have been.

We often hold the most will for our strongest desires.”

My mind is never blank,

She called me impulsive, impatient, and imaginative, a restless being who needs freedom to flourish and love to thrive.

When I’m grieving, he provides comfort. When I’m angry, he lets me rage but tempers my fury. When I’m frightened, he’s right there beside me, facing whatever comes my way.

Perhaps there are pages and lines I simply haven’t had the time to read yet, chapters to lose myself inside. And perhaps I shouldn’t want to. But gods, I do.

I’m past the point of exhaustion and have arrived at the place where I’m questioning everything. Is this real? Or is this some illusion thanks to the distressed state of my mind and body?

I just want simple and easy. Long walks and stargazing in a world that doesn’t feel like it might crumble any moment.

I don’t feel completely rested, but I no longer feel like I might die from the lack of sleep either.

I like it when he says that. He says it in a way that’s…accepting. No judgment. No voice of reason trying to convince me that it’s better to be anything else but the way that I am, a person who doesn’t always do as she’s told. He says it like he’s learned to like that part of me.

I haven’t had time to be sick. I’ve been functioning within a survival state. But I have enough years in me to know that all of this horror is going to crash down on me at some point.

I want peace. To be surrounded by those I love. For them to be safe. To know joy. To know passion. To know serenity. That’s it. That’s all. Peace—in all things.

There is no love without fear, but no one told me that fear feasts on those with something to lose.