The Unmarked Witch

by Miranda Lyn

“You always have a choice in this world. You can be the hero or the villain. Never both. Think hard about which path you want to walk.”

“Those that love me call me Grey, those that tolerate me call me Sir, and those that dislike me rarely find their tongues to call me anything at all.”

“There you are,” she said, quietly. “May you never fear the death that surely haunts you. The Dark King may very well be death himself. Do not let yourself be coaxed by death. And if you are the weakest link, may your death be swift since you drew this card twice. A rarity indeed.”

“I'll sleep better knowing she lived to be my adversary rather than died while I stood idly by.”

“Never mistake someone's humanity for weakness. Did you see Raven lift that body with her magic and save her? Did you stop to think she could have done the opposite? Dropping your scrawny ass over the edge with merely a thought? Every second you breathe, remember she decided you were worthy of it.”

“Of all the Chosen, I thought for sure you'd be the exception. If not to believe, at least not to blindly follow.”

“Better a villain by truth than a hero by lies. I'll be the devil in your story if that's what you need, but I will not apologize for what I choose to protect.” He looked at me then. His eyes lit with passion and anger and a thousand other things I couldn't define. “That includes you.”

“I think sometimes I miss you when I'm awake,” I told him, listening to his heart beat in his chest. “I think sometimes I miss you when you're awake, too,” he answered.

Ms. Moonstone, On no planet could I sit in a room with a woman as beautiful as you and not make a fool of myself. Forgive me for leaving so abruptly. The first dance is mine. In awe, Bastian Firepool

“You are quite possibly the most stunning little witch I've ever laid eyes on, Ms. Moonstone.”

“The price you pay, Raven Moonstone, is greater than the spell you've come to steal. You could have been good, great even, but the spells will no longer come. This will be your last receiving.”

“Even the villain is the hero of his own story.”

“As far as I can tell, you have a choice. A moment. Right now. You can choose to keep circling these same things over and over in your mind, or you can take a step back and look at the bigger picture.” He stepped away, standing before me with his hands locked behind his back. “I charge you to find a single person in this world that isn't full of regret, rash decisions, and misguided judgment.”

“Life would be so much easier if I wasn't totally enthralled by you alone.”

“I don't know why the coven leaders don't want us to be together, but it's the only thing that makes sense. They want to frame me for Kirsi's murder so you will deny me the only thing in the world I want.”

“Go to him, watch him fight with himself over morality and love. See if he would deny a coven leader. Because that's the difference between him and I, Raven. I would break every fucking rule, I would burn the world down for you. I know you're worth it without needing the time to figure it out.”

I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do, even if it means I pay the price for that. Or the world does. Because you're worth whatever the cost.” His eyes burned into me, and I could not look away. “The benefit to being the villain is there's nothing they can do to me that I won't repay tenfold.”

“This place is full of memories, my home is the same. She's everywhere. I don't want to live without her memory around me, but I also don't want to drown in it.”

“I'm not a chivalrous man. I know you're hurting, and I should do the right thing, but I won't. If you need to use me to feel something, then use me because whatever I feel for you, it's agony. Every day. Every second. Every breath. Give me agony. If that's what it means to be with you, I choose it.”