Contractually Yours Alpha (Riley) novel Chapter 178

Chapter One Hundred and Seventy Eight 

It had been scary at first. 

The knowledge that Nick was in total control was scary, but when I ignored those fears, it was simply amazing. I looked down; from this height everything seemed smaller. 

I lost track of time as we ‘flew‘, but too soon we plummeted downwards, and Nick landed elegantly. Only then did I notice how tight I had grasped onto his shirt. 

“You could come down now,” Nick says, and I nodded, but my legs wouldn’t cooperate. He chuckled, helping me down. 

“That was… wow,” I commented. 

“I know right?” 

“Is she here?, the sorceress, I mean.” 

“Yeah, come with me,” he says. I followed after him. 

We were in the woods; this had not been what I expected. A nervous feeling settled over 

1. me. 

Finally, Nick came to a stop. At this part of the woods, dense plants with terrdrils formed a curtain, blocking our view from what lay ahead. Nick pushed aside the tendrils of the plants and walked in. I hesitated before following. 

In the little space, there were even more flowers, their intertwined vines forming a secluded nook. 

I saw the sorceress for the first time. 

Her eyes… They reminded me of those of the elders. 

I could tell she had been around for a long, long time. Her face was grim, as if we had disturbed her peace and quiet. She was thin–sickly thin–with sharp features. 

“We are here just as I earlier…. 

She cut Nick off. “My services are not cheap; pay up.” 

I quickly passed the bag to her; she ripped it open and then stared at it. Her eyes found mine. She had this eerie feeling to her. She walked towards me, and it took me some great effort not to step back. 

I could feel Nick’s gaze on me, reassuring me that everything was fine. 

Her long fingers trailed down my face; her hands were cold–very cold. I held back a shiver. 

“The Banished Queen,” she whispered, and I flinched; her words cut deep. I didn’t like this woman very much. 

“I came here for… 

Again she cut me off, speaking over me, “I know what you came here for; I see it in your eyes; you are in search of a gift never freely given to you; you are here because you want to fight fate, and could that be impossible?” She asked, walking away. 

I hadn’t noticed the very skinny cat with red glittering eyes earlier. Nowshe patted its head gently, like it was the most adorable thing she had ever seen. She kept us waiting for five whole minutes, and when she returned, there was a knife in her hand. I backed away, but she held me firm and damn was she strong. 

And then she chopped off a small portion of my hair. “This is payment enough,” she says, placing the strands of my hair on a moss–covered altar, just beside the bag of jewelry I had given her. 

“You,” she pointed the knifé to Nick. “Come,” she ordered, and he lifted the sleeves of his shirt before approaching her. “You do know what you are about to do,” she says to him, and he nods. 

She slit Nick’s flesh with the knife and let his blood pour into a bowl; her voice rose as she chanted foreign words, and then she took the same knife, splitting her own skin and also collecting the blood into the bowl. 

She walked to me with the bowl.