A witch among witchs

? I would take pride in being the best hostess they'd ever had. Everything was laid out for their hearts' desire-never mind that I ha

dead. I didn't wake up for a full day afterward. At the time, I had no idea what had happened or what he'd done to me, and I thought he'd taken all my magic, never to be restored again. To this day, I still can't figure out if I was happy or sad about it. But my magic returned, just like always, and within forty-eight hours, I was as good as new. It was another three months before I encountered Mindless Thingies Two and Three. They did exactly what the first one had, and I bounced back just the same. I called them mindless because they never spoke. I'd never heard any of them utter a single word or make a sound. They came, they stared, they smiled, and they s*ck*d power. They felt it, too. That's how they found me four times in a row before I learned to shield myself. Shield my powers. Which was another thing I had no idea about because I'd never met anyone like me or anyone who knew others with the same kind of magic. I had magic; I felt it and could use it, but didn't. Because using it meant attracting the mindless thingies, and you never knew when they might decide to end me for good. I'd spent a lifetime hiding my magic, but hiding it from them was a whole other story. They felt it, even when I wasn't using it, so I had to teach myself how to lock it deep inside. It took me a year, but now it was as easy as breathing. My eyes closed as I focused on my ears. When I heard footsteps a floor below me, I let out a long breath and turned around. It was time to properly welcome my guests. With Butter in one hand, Fly hidden under my sleeve, and four throwing knives in the other, I was ready. Guns were fun, but they didn't seem to hurt them-at least not unless I got close and personal, the barrel kissing their skulls. It was just a theory, one I had yet to prove, but I was taking my chances. The first one who stepped onto the open floor, with nothing but dirt, tools, and a few pillars around, was really tall. His black hair was slicked back, his muscles rippling under his black shirt. After him came three others.