“A ton of wishes for a ton of magic seems like a dream come true. I live to please if nothing else Gabriel. I am a tool to use.” He appeared to want to use her well and she would continue to serve as long as he was a benevolent owner.

Thinking about what he said she brushed it aside. It didn’t appear like he wanted to go into details about this Amelia woman. She took a gentle sigh and smiled. “Wards look different depending on the caster. Most mages are able to simply chant and provide the ward for themselves. Me? I don’t know any wards I would need a spell book to look it up. Then there is the price of the ward. How many do I need to kill to cast it? How much life energy is required? Is it worth it to be chased out?”

She enjoyed his moan as she leaned forward and kissed his neck. “I simply know what it is you like Gabriel. I aim to please remember?” It was true that she liked this just as much as he did but their deal was a deal. She was his witch in craft and body. “I am merely trying new things I think you would like.”

Paulina felt him devouring her. She reached up and took his face into her hands. “You’re right why worry now?” There was a smile on her face as she brought him down to her. This time there was no mob coming after them. After the deed was well and done the water was cool. She lounged on him and ran the water over her arms as she snuggled into his chest. Her head reeled back so her eyes could look up at him. “I told you, just trying what I think you would like.” There was a coy little smile on her face now.

He had to keep in the ward thing in the back of his mind; while he certainly had no reason to hunt them down aside for her, Gabe found the small talk about it a bit interesting. More so than speaking about his sister or anyone in his family in general. There was good reason for him to be out in the world, away from their presence and even better in the compromising situation with Paulina just now. They would have been quite the distraction and took his attention away from the supple body that laid against his own. Still, the woman seemed very different from the one that had hired his services a short while ago. He had to admit that he was taken back by her advances but they weren’t unwelcoming at all. “New things can be fun. I’ll have to show you some that I think you’d like too”, he replied as he descended onto her, kissing her lips with a slight roughness in the motion before he trailed down her neck and soon moments of bliss and moans filled the air as they partook one another in the heated water.

Time was irrelevant but when it was finally over, he felt exhausted and stroked her back as he was catching his breath. She was definitely learning like she had said to please him and he had no argument against that. “How can I doubt you after that performance?”, he spoke, sighing happily. Gabe could feel the inviting warm of her body against his, especially with the water cooled down now. “Think we should move into our room before we catch our deaths here.” The last thing he needed was a sick witch, and he especially didn’t like to be such either.

A few hours after they settled into room, he got dressed and slipped out of the inn without saying a word. Paulina required a ward and he had a feeling that he knew where to start with his hunt. Many shops around town sold all sorts of goodies, but there was one especially that he knew could be of value towards their situation. An hour or two of the evening passed before he returned and softly closed the door behind him. In his arm was a carefully wrapped instrument in cloth and he approached the bed where she was resting with ease and gently shook her. “Took me a bit to find it, but I think I got what you needed. Just don’t ask how I got it.” The end justified the means, at least that’s what Gabe believed, and besides the vendor tried to rip him off so he was bloody lucky that he left him with only some bruised ribs and a bloody nose. The item was a particularly strange dagger that was said to be one of these wards, and gods help the seller if he was lying about it. 

Paulina knew that to survive she had to adapt. She wasn’t against adapting to this at all… in fact, she quite liked being against Gabriel and letting him do whatever he wanted to her. If he crossed the line she would let him know but in the end… this was better than what she had started with. 

The bog witch was just glad that she could keep up with Gabriel. Her energy was plenty despite the annoyance draining on her magical forces. She laid over him and almost purred as he stroked her back. It felt good and he knew it too. “My hope is that you never come to doubt me, Gabriel. That is trust after all.” And they would come to trust each other she hoped. She nodded and got out of the tub with him.

She rubbed him down with a towel and kissed his shoulder as she wiped the water away. He was certainly fun to have around. After they got back to the room. They settled down and Paulina passed out from exhaustion. The weight on her mind was heavy. 

When Gabe came back she was nearly curled up in a ball sleeping. Her head of black was a mess because of her tossing and turning. Her bi-colored eyes sleepily looked up at him before rubbing them. “You found what?” Her voice was confused as she was dazed. It took her a moment or two to sit up.

She took the blanketed item from him and gently unwrapped it. “GABRIEL,” The word left her lips as the dagger almost reverberated from just being touched by her. She was dumbfounded for a moment. “This is no ward…” No, it was better than that. She could feel the whispers from the dagger and it sent goosebumps visibly up her body. Her arm hair was standing straight up. “It’s better than that.” The words were but a whisper. “I can cast anything with this. Even high-level wards in my possession now.” Before it was an impossibility now… anything was on the table.

“Watch,” She got up from the bed and went to the door and waited. When someone passed by she grabbed them and brought them in. “Shhh,” they were apprehensive with her. “It will hurt but for a second.” She stabbed them in the heart with the dagger. The dagger glowed a strange green as a green essence of life poured out of the person and into Paulina. She dropped the husk on the floor and the very power she held now was almost suffocating to her. 

Going over to her bag she pulled an old book out. She flipped through the page and found the one page she hated more than any. Words left her lips and the wards sprung to life. They were visible for just a second as it came over not only herself but Gabriel as well. The suffocating noise from was gone but there was a price as Paulina fell down in exhaustion but such a high-level ward. “I can do it now. I CAN CAST EVERY PAGE IN THEIR DAMN BOOK NOW,” her eyes never left that dagger. It was almost like she had forgotten Gabriel was there but her magic did not. It was still flirting in the air with him.

She was quick after recovering herself to cover the dagger up and stow it away. She couldn’t kill just anyone with it. Her eyes darted to the husk as it started to become dust on the floor. “You’ve gotten me… a great gift.” She pulled herself up and wobbled a bit. “That is going to take a while to adjust to…” She needed to not overdo it at first.