Chapter 21 Raven
Raven
Letting other people fight my battles was no longer working for me. Rasmus had told me to stay back, that he could handle the witch. The others apparently agreed because not even Zane followed him into the cave.
But from the awful, debilitating pain radiating down the tether with my vampire, he was in trouble.
Serious trouble.
My other two mates hovered by the door in case the sea witch tried to escape, while Farris scrolled on his phone looking bored and Daresh stayed well back, out of the danger zone.
“Let me past,” I huffed while yelling Rasmus’s name in my head.
“No, little mate. It’s not safe.” Maverick tried to hold me, but I ducked under his arm and flew into the cave. A panicked bellow followed.
I ignored it.
“Finally showing some backbone,” Kenji said. “I’m proud of you.”
“How do I kill the bitch?”
Kenji leaped into my arms as the sea witch blasted my vampire mate with dark magic. He lay in a crumpled heap on the stone floor, but I forced myself not to look at him or Kai.
“Blast her with your shadow magic.”
“Shadow magic?”
“Yes, the magic you inherited from your father.”
“My what now?”
That distraction cost me dearly. While I was busy trying to figure out what the fuck Kenji meant, the witch spun around and cast a black stream of toxic magic at me.
I ducked just as my bear entered the cave.
The full force of the witch’s spell hit him, knocking him to the floor.
He roared before the connection between us faded.
Zane sprinted around him, wielding a long silver blade, but the witch caught my incubus with another spell, and he went down hard, his weapons falling from his grasp.
That bitch had hurt all four of my mates, and I was done.
She smirked at me.
“I’ll enjoy taking your power, hybrid witch. Your father’s magic will sustain me for at least a century.”
“You’ve taken enough from me, you ugly, haggard, old, stinky witch bitch!” I screamed. Hurling insults at a senior was not my proudest moment, but in my defense, she fucking deserved it.
Kenji’s claws dug into my arms as the witch raised her hands to cast magic at me.
The amulet around my neck burned like hellfire, scorching my skin. I clutched it in my fist as the magic vessel in my chest blasted apart, unleashing the full force of my power at the witch.
Fire met darkness, blanketing the cave. For a few glorious, deluded seconds, I thought I’d won.
The witch shrieked with rage when my witch fire incinerated her hair and turned her skin black, but to my horror, her oily magic soon smothered the flames.
I threw more fire magic at her, but her magic repelled it. The flames sputtered out, leaving behind nothing but ash.
“Is that all you have, witch?” Despite her seeping burns and scorched head, she cackled gleefully. I watched in horror as the wounds across her hands and face healed, leaving unblemished milky-white skin.
Although I took comfort from the fact that the old hag still looked at least one hundred and her hair was way messier than mine.
Her power must have waned, and she could no longer sustain a glamor. Either that or her inner ugly was shining through.
“Now would be a good time to get to grips with your shadow magic,” Kenji muttered, doing his best to make himself as small as possible while the bitch witch fired spells at us.
Luckily for me and my loyal familiar, there was so much smoke in the cave, she kept missing. My bear groaned and tried to get up before slumping back down. Zane and Rasmus weren’t moving, and I didn’t dare check on Kai.
Goddess save me if the sea witch murdered all four of my mates. She probably assumed losing them would kill me, but I was petty enough to survive long enough to take my vengeance.
“Some assistance would be nice, Farris,” I hollered, knowing full well the bastard fae was in earshot.
“Sorry, kinda busy right now,” he called. “Got a new match on my Faya app.”
“Seriously? You’re swiping right while I’m trying not to die?!”
The witch grabbed a small potion bottle from a rocky shelf and threw it at me. I ducked just in time, and it smashed against the wall behind me, unleashing a cloud of noxious green gas.
“Focus, Raven!” Kenji screeched in my head as the gas burned my lungs. “Use my magic!”
I thought back to when I battled the demon and the only defense I had was my fire magic.
Since then, I’d bonded with three more of my mates.
With each new bond, the shadows within my fire magic had grown.
It was as if there were two separate strands of magic in my chest. While the fire magic had almost burned out, when I tugged hard, the shadow magic responded.
Thick black shadows burst from my chest. Like last time, having my familiar in my arms, lending me his power, helped to turbo-charge the magic. Whereas the sea witch had repelled my fire magic, she was powerless against the demonic shadow magic.
It absorbed her dark magic, and as I stared in horrified fascination, her body collapsed in on itself. The witch’s screams echoed around the cavern until there was nothing left of her but a pile of smoking rags on the cave floor.
“Is she dead?” I whispered to Kenji.
“Does she look alive to you?” It was good to hear his usual sarcasm had returned. It reassured me that my familiar had suffered no ill-effects from lending me some of his power.
“She might rejuvenate and come back as a zombie,” I huffed while praying she did nothing of the sort. Ugh, that would be too traumatic for words.
“Fuck, little mate, are you alright?” Maverick dragged himself up while Zane lay groaning on the floor. Rasmus opened his eyes and made a pained sound too, but like Zane, he seemed unable to move.
I ignored all three of them and rushed over to where my poor merman lay slumped in the corner.
“Kai, please wake up!” I knew he wasn’t dead—the tether between us remained intact, no thanks to the now-dead sea witch—but that didn’t mean he would recover. Goddess, what would I do if my merman was in a coma?
Fat tears dripped down my cheeks as Kenji jumped from my arms.
“We need to go,” he said. “I’m hungry after expending so much power. If my blood sugar dips too low, I get cranky.”
“Time to go, princess,” Farris called from the doorway, phone in hand. He surveyed the smoky cave, took in the state of my four mates, and then focused on the pile of rags.
“Nice work, princess.”
I scrubbed my teary eyes with my sleeve and strode over to the smug fae.
“This is for being an asshole,” I snarled before punching him in the face.
“Hey!” He glared at me while I pretended I hadn’t just broken my hand. “That was uncalled for!”
“If you upset my mate,” Zane commented as he sat up with a wince, “you deserve it.”
“I suggest you be a little nicer to me given I’m your ticket out of this fucking place!” the fae snarled.
“My poor boy!” Daresh ran in and dropped to the floor. He lifted Kai’s head and choked on a sob. Kai needed me, but Maverick staggered over and pulled me into his arms.
“I’m so sorry, little mate. I didn’t help you.” Anguish and sour shame radiated across our bond. My bear thought he’d failed his mate, which was absurd.
“I didn’t need any help,” I lied, trying to extricate myself from his grip. “I had everything under control.” Kenji scoffed loudly before licking his butt.
“And that’s why I didn’t bother assisting,” Farris sneered, still annoyed because I’d punched him. Fucking asshole. Like he would have helped.
“Fuck off, Farris. Go swipe right on some poor unsuspecting female with low self-esteem.” I pitied the poor females who bought what he was selling. Thank the stars my bestie had more sense. She’d never fall for his crap.
She was a witch who knew her self-worth. Just like me.
“I need to go to Kai,” I told Maverick. He reluctantly let me go and moved to help Zane up. Smothering my surprise that one of my harem was willing to help another, I sank to my knees beside my merman.
“Will he be okay?” I asked Daresh. Surely he’d know what magic the sea witch had used on my mate.
“I don’t know,” he admitted, his eyes wet with tears. “The sea witch was vague about her methods, and besides, my queen knew I wasn’t happy about what she wanted to do, so she told me very little.”
“Why didn’t you stop her?” I still didn’t understand why he and his other mate let the queen hurt Kai. If I had a child—a hypothetical child because I was still in denial about my recent conception roulette incident—I would kill anyone who tried to hurt them.
“As would I,” Maverick growled, having read my thoughts. My other two mates both nodded in agreement.
“My beloved queen is very traditional in her outlook,” Daresh sniffed. “She wants the best for our son, which means a mermaid mate who can thrive in our kingdom and help him rule once the queen passes.”
“Uh oh, the queen’s on her way,” Kenji warned me exactly five seconds before Her Royal Highness, Queen Laryssa, the Esteemed and Most Beautiful Mer Queen, stormed into the cave, Krillian close behind her. From the state of the queen’s hair and her disheveled gown, she’d left the banquet mid-tryst.
Krillian’s eyebrows shot up to the ceiling while the queen’s eyes flared with rage as she gazed at what remained of the sea witch.
Kai coughed, and then his stormy gray eyes opened and met mine. My heart burst with love for my shy, sweet merman. I sobbed as fresh tears fell, soaking through my charred pants.
“You came for me,” Kai croaked. “My fierce mate.”
“Of course I came for you!” It was rather hurtful that he thought I’d abandon him, but having met his mother, I could see why he had mommy issues.
“My beloved son, I’m so sorry.” Daresh stroked his son’s gaunt cheek, his head low. The queen sneered in disgust, not at all happy the sea witch had failed to break our soul-bond with her evil magic.
“Guards!” the queen screeched at the top of her voice. “Arrest these traitors immediately!”