Ella’s POV
“Master, someone is here to see you.” Jennie said as we got closer to the house.
The boys looked around as we walked closer to the house and I couldn’t blame them. The house was built in a different manner than the houses back at home. I would have looked around as well if I wasn’t an adult and better at hiding my curiosity.
“Who are they?”
I heard a voice ask from inside the house. I was surprised at how young the voice sounded. I had assumed that the witch Kevin had traded his life to was an old witch. She had to be old and getting closer to her grave for her to have coveted someone else’s life span. That was what I thought until I heard her voice. I didn’t want to assume and wondered if the face of the witch was as young as the voice. It was possible that she was an old witch using spells to keep her voice young whereas her face was old.
“I didn’t ask who she is but I found her looking for you. She is right here so you can ask her who she is and what she wants to see you for.”
“Send her in.” The witch said.
Jennie bowed and nodded at me. “The master said you can go in. That is the door.” She said, pointing at the entrance.
I called the boys who were busy with their sightseeing and moved inside. If I had thought that the exterior looked eerie, the interior looked worse. I wondered how Kevin had been bold enough to not hesitate about giving his life to this witch. I wondered if he had been afraid but had needed to do it. I couldn’t imagine the desperation he must have felt for him to give his life away without fear in a place like this.
My heart felt full of love as I looked around the room and imagined my man sitting here. He must have loved me so much for him to have done what he did. I felt moved to tears and quickly sniffled. I couldn’t cry here, I couldn’t lose my guard here.
The woman narrowed her eyes at me as I moved closer. Her gaze darted to the boys trailing behind me and then her lips filled with an amused smirk. She looked at me like I was familiar and I wondered if she could see the future and knew that I had been coming to see her because I didn’t think I had met her before.
“It’s you.” She smiled.
I was more confused. “I don’t think we’ve met before. Do you know me?”
She chuckled. “Oh! I know you quite well. I have seen you before in my viewing globe.” She said, pointing at the item behind her which looked like a ball. It looked transparent like a molded mirror and I was curious to know how she saw others with that.
“Viewing globe?” I repeated in confusion but I didn’t have to as I got the answer even before she told me.
That must have been how she found me and told Kevin where I was those years ago.
She explained anyways. “Your mate was here to find out where you are. I saw you from the viewing globe and you look the same as you did seven years ago. Werewolf blood must be good to keep you as young as you were years ago. I see also that he found you and you are married to him.”
“Kevin might have come here to look for me but how do you know I got mated to him? I could have rejected him, gotten mated to someone else and here for a different reason.”
She chuckled. “You got mated to him. I can bet my whole spells on that. From the way he was the other day and how he didn’t hesitate to accept my offer, I know that young man would stop at nothing until he made you his. Asides that, I can sense his blood thrumming in the veins of those kids.” She pointed at Neo. “That one looks like him so how could he not have been the father?”
I smirked, knowing she was right. She had caught me.
“Do you know why I’m here too?” I asked.
“You will have to tell me that. I predict the future but I don’t read minds.”
“I’m here about the deal you made with Kevin seven years ago. I’m talking about the offer you said he didn’t hesitate to accept.”
“I know what you are talking about.” She smiled.
“I would like for Kevin to have his years returned to him. I don’t want the kids to watch their father die early.” I said, pushing the kids forward.
She laughed. “Emotional manipulation doesn’t work on me.”
“Should I buy it? How much do you need?” I asked, pushing forward a big pouch jiggling with jewelry.
She didn’t even look at the pouch. “I don’t need your money.”
“What do you need then?” I asked, knowing I sounded as desperate as Kevin must have been the other day.
She smiled as she looked at me, narrowing her eyes. “Would you like to make a deal with me?”
I swallowed. I was nervous about this but I had known that already before I left that would do anything to protect Kevin. I didn’t know what kind of deal she would like to propose to me and it made me frightened, despite the bold front that I was trying to maintain.
I would be a fool after all to trust a red witch, not after knowing what she took from Kevin just for a little information about my whereabouts. I didn’t want to think of what she would ask for in exchange for restoring the ten years of Kevin that she had taken. I didn’t want to think of it but I found myself wondering.
What if she wanted my whole life? What if she took my life right here to restore Kevin’s years and I drop dead immediately in front of my kids? That would be a disaster I didn’t ever want to happen. I didn’t come all the way here to spare the kids from the death of their father to have mine happen to them.
I wondered if I should have brought more gold. Was it possible that she wasn’t interested in taking money in exchange for Kevin’s life because she saw that the pouch was small? I should have taken a bigger pouch.
Her house could make do with some money. I thought and refrained myself from looking around. I didn’t think that there was anyone on earth who could say no to money. It was definitely that the money wasn’t appealing to their needs. That was it. She wanted me to increase the gold. She wanted to call the shots.
I didn’t mind at all if that was what she wanted.
“A deal?” I frowned in confusion as if I hadn’t just spent the last thirty seconds thinking of what she might mean by having a deal with me. “Do you want more money? There is actually a lot of gold in that pouch as small as it is. Don’t underestimate it.”
A look of annoyance flitted across her face and she scowled as she glared at me. I swallowed nervously, scared she was going to curse me at that moment for frustrating her.
“I told you I don’t need your money.” She hissed. “Even if you bring all the gold in your kingdom, I still wouldn’t accept it. You have to do something for me, make a deal with me or give me something to get something for me. That is how it works. That is how you will get your mate’s ten years back.”
I gulped, forcing spit down my aching throat. “What do you want?”
“Bring the boys forward. I will only know until they are here.” She said, a slow smile on her face.
I felt my heart plunge to the ground at her request. I couldn’t breathe as I feared the worse. I didn’t trust that smile on her face.
I shook my head. I had started shaking it even before she completed her sentence. “No, I will make a deal with my kids. I will not.”
What if she asked me to sacrifice one of the kids? What if she asked me to sacrifice four years each of their lives to get their father’s back? What if…?
There was a lot of what ifs but none that I was willing to do. I didn’t come all the way here to make a trade by barter with my sons’ life. I wasn’t going to do that.
“Relax. My deals aren’t as worse as they sound. I didn’t ask for the whole of your husband’s life, did I?”
I wondered if she had said that to comfort me but it did nothing to do that. I was more scared to hear what she had to say.
“Bring the boys forward. I’m not going to chew their bones in your presence.”
“Nathan, Neo, Nick.” I called to the boys, pushing them gently forward.
She smiled as she held them by the right hand. “Now, let’s see what the future has got in store for you.”
“I thought you wanted to restore their father’s ten years.”
“Shhh,” she hushed me. “I will but I’m curious about your boys too. Let’s say I’m giving you a free reading into their future.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted a free reading into their future but I kept quiet. I had a feeling she wasn’t going to forgive me if I distracted her again. I hoped satisfying her curiosity about the triplets’ future was enough for her and I wouldn’t have to do anything else to get what I was here for.
I was at my wits’ end trying to think of what I could be expected to do to not let my mate die early.
I watched as she held the boys’ hands and stared at her viewing globe, my eyes intent on her. I wasn’t going to let her try any funny actions. I was going to watch her like a hawk and make sure she didn’t do anything to my boys without my knowledge.
Suddenly, she gasped, her eyes widening and she started shaking. I moved forward, trying to see what had caused her reaction but I couldn’t see anything. The viewing globe had stirred when she had first looked into it but I didn’t notice anything strange afterwards.
I wondered what she had seen to make her react that way but I guessed I was going to have to wait for her to tell me before I find out. She let go of the boys’ hands and they moved towards me in a hurry, crying out for me.
“Mummy,” they called out in fright, moving into my embrace.
I wrapped my arms around them, patting them on the backs and heads as I tried to comfort them. They must have been scared by the sudden actions of the red witch. I had been scared as well.
Slowly, she began to calm down and looked at the boys. She looked surprised as she stared at them but not in a bad way and I wondered what she had seen. I assumed it might not be that bad since the expression on her face was pleasant.
“What did you see?”
“I just saw their mate.” She smiled at me.