Page 112 of Villain of My Heart

“Wait,” Ollie cried out, stopping the hunter in his tracks right in front of him, his arms outstretched. “There is still something I need to say. And I need to say it for this to work, for me to live with this! There is something Ineedyou to do for me, Noble.”

“Anything,” Noble promised without hesitation, his arms slowly dropping to his sides.

He swallowed nervously, knowing the weight of what he was asking, yet he still asked. “The witch hunters, their organization…it needs to fall. I can’t be with you knowing it’s still going, and that innocent witches are still dying while we are sitting around doing nothing!”

The hunter’s face became void of any emotion at his words, and he stared silently for a moment, before finally saying, “Do you understand what you are asking of me?”

“I think I do,” Ollie rasped softly.

“It won’t be a peaceful takedown, Ollie. Knowing how kind you are, I need you to realize what you are asking me to do, what the results of it will be, because I don’t want you to be shocked later.”

But Ollie did know. He knew exactly what he was asking for, regardless of how lightly he no doubt seemed to be asking it. “I know what it would mean. And I know it won’t be easy. It will be dangerous, and it will take time, possibly even years. I also know that it will be bloody, and people will need to die for it to happen. But I want themgone!” As he finished speaking, Ollie struggled to hold back his tears as he stared, waiting for Noble to answer, hoping that it would be the words he needed to hear to not lose the man he loved.

Noble stared back, his expression unchanging, before the man finally sighed, his eyes closing briefly. When they opened, a sharp look of determination having replaced the emptiness, the man said, “Okay.”

Ollie burst into tears, sobbing hard as he leaped from his chair. Noble caught him effortlessly, picking him up and holding him tight as he buried his face into Ollie’s neck.

He felt the man’s tears hit his shoulder, as the hunter thickly rasped, “I’m so sorry, Baby. I am so sorry for what I am, for what I’ve done. For scaring you, even for a moment.”

He didn’t respond, Ollie just clung to him, breathing in the man’s warm scent. There, in Noble’s arms, he finally felt as if he, and his world, was being put back together again.

Ollie was just thinking that all he wanted to do was remain where he was for the rest of the day, when Jahla burst into his office, blurting out, “I think I’m a witch!”

He felt Noble tense beneath him, and Ollie also froze as he tried to wrap his mind around what he’d just fucking heard. And his brain was still not completely certain, as he looked back sharply at her and squeaked in disbelief. “What did you just say?!”

THE END!