Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Oh!” I sat forward on the log I shared with Auggie at the back of the crowd.
The ground at the center of the sea of people was covered in soot and scorch marks, as if bonfires were often built there.
Men were loading rockets into the area. Already, one had exploded into the air, bursting with a dazzling white light.
“I’ve never seen fireworks. They’re so pretty. ”
“They are,” Auggie agreed. He leaned back and smiled.
“For humans, I mean,” I amended. “It has nothing on true magic.”
“Of course not,” Auggie said, snorting.
I glanced at Narcissa, who sat primly beside me. I watched the next firework reflected in her eyes.
“Oh, it is very much like magic, Mr. Witch,” Therese sighed.
I grinned. She was right. It was special.
I returned my attention to the center of the audience, noting the children staring up at the sky expectantly, wide-eyed.
Parents too. These were the people Auggie had saved with his selfless actions.
The very people I would have condemned because I’d been too stubborn.
Perhaps Auggie and I were similar in that regard, stubborn in our own ways.
And the humans had thanked me. They weren’t afraid of me, hadn’t challenged me or threatened me.
I’d almost wanted them to, to prove me right, that they were irredeemable.
I’d been wrong, but it still rankled me that they’d treated Freya so poorly.
Auggie clapped when another rocket exploded in the sky and his face was temporarily lit up by the brilliance. He was so beautiful. Inside and out. I didn’t understand why he had found it necessary to make any sort of pact with Lucifer.
“You’re missing the show,” Auggie said, grinning at me. “I know I’m pretty, but the fireworks have the edge.”
I flushed, returning my eyes to the sky as two rockets exploded at once, showering sparks raining down. I felt like a child watching them, even though I’d seen much more amazing feats than this over the years. The cheers and gasps of the crowd were infectious.
One firework spilled red light across the sky, and Auggie leaned into me. “It’s amazing,” he said, sighing. Then he jumped as another went off, and his hand found my knee.
I swallowed hard. “It is.”
Auggie’s eyes shifted to me. “Thank you for coming with me. Even if you had to. You probably could have forced my hand to leave Kingsbury to their own devices.”
“You just have this way about you that makes people want to do the right thing.” I shrugged, then stiffened as he scooted closer.
“I understand why you don’t trust us easily. You’ve lost a lot to us.”
I smiled, suddenly feeling very tired. “More than you know. Do you want to hear how I lost my soul?”
Auggie blinked. “You lost your soul?”
“I sold it to the Devil.” I sent him a significant look.
Would he echo that he’d done the same? Would he tell me why?
But he remained silent, waiting for me to continue.
I sighed, disappointed. But I couldn’t leave him in suspense.
“When the mob to burn my parents at the stake gathered outside our home, my mother forced me to hide. I did as I was told. Like a coward. She hoped they would forget about me and be satisfied with killing just the two of them.” I blew out a breath.
“So I took a concealment potion and hid in the big tree behind our shop. I had a perfect view of my parents’ final moments, and I was frozen in terror the entire time. ”
“Callum …” Auggie’s hand squeezed my knee.
I ignored the lump in my throat and continued, “But I knew that the humans wouldn’t be satisfied with just my parents.
They knew about me. I was a loose end, even though I was but a child still.
A loose end who would likely return to destroy them all out of revenge one day.
So, fearful for my life, I went to the crossroads at midnight, just outside town and begged for an audience with the Devil himself. ”
“And what have we here?”
The desolate streets were so quiet this time of night.
A shadow slipped from the fence post behind me.
I turned to regard the handsome man, blond with blue eyes that seemed to see straight through me.
“I’ve come to beg a favor,” I said, my voice squeaking, despite myself.
Even though he appeared human, I could feel the power radiating from this man.
“A favor,” the man repeated, drawing ever closer. He lifted a hand and touched my lips with a finger. “I don’t do favors. I do trades.”
I nodded. “A trade, then.”
Lucifer began to circle me, looking me up and down. “And tell me, witch, what are your powers?”
My mouth was dry as I replied. “Potions. I work with potions. I’m a green witch, just like my parents before me, and their parents before them.”
“Potions,” Lucifer echoed, nodding to himself. “Go on. Tell me what brought you here.”
I licked my lips. “My parents … they were burned at the stake.”
Lucifer clucked his tongue. “How tragic. Those terrible humans. Full of fear and hate. I suppose you want me to send a plague to their village in retaliation.”
“No! I … I just want to be safe. They’ll come after me next. You have to protect me.”
“Ah,” Lucifer nodded sympathetically. “You want to escape your fate. You will very likely join your parents without my intervention, this is true. A young witch like you doesn’t have the experience to escape notice easily, especially before you’ve come into your powers.
” He pursed his lips. “Granting life to someone who has no more is a big request, you know. The Fates demand recompense. As do I for intervening on your behalf.”
I lifted my chin. “What would you have? I have some of the rarest ingredients in the world in my par … in my shop. I have a unicorn horn.”
Lucifer laughed and I felt my cheeks burn. “No, no. I don’t trade for trifles. I want something much more valuable than trinkets.” He reached out and brushed a strand of hair back from my forehead. “Your soul should do the trick.”
I stepped back out of his reach. “I’m not a fool. I’m not giving you my soul.”
“Then you will burn.” He closed his eyes and smiled.
“I don’t think it will be painless either.
I’m sure you heard your parents’ screams?
Your skin will start to smolder and blister first, before cracking and leaking blood.
Then your skin will crisp and blacken. But it will all take place from the bottom up.
You’ll feel the fire do this to you inch by inch as it devours your body.
It will be positively excruciating. Or so I hear. ”
I swallowed hard, closing my eyes.
“A loan, then,” Lucifer said.
I opened my eyes again to find Lucifer watching me, eyes flat, jaw set. “Since you wish for a longer life, I would take some of your years. That’s only fair. You’re a witch, after all. You’re practically immortal. I’m sure that’s not too much to ask.”
I opened my mouth to reply, then hesitated.
“This is my final offer,” Lucifer said impatiently, tapping his foot.
“How many years?” I whispered.
Lucifer examined his nails. “How many? Hmmm. This is my offer: I will hold on to your soul until you complete 666 tasks for me, of my choosing.”
“666?” I echoed skeptically.
“You should have your soul back within 200 years if you’re as capable as I suspect. That’s not so bad, not when you have practically forever.”
“And my soul will be returned to me when the tasks are completed? No tricks?”
“No tricks.” Lucifer held out a slim hand.
I stared at the hand for a moment before I shook it.
Then I closed my eyes as Lucifer reached out with his hand, slipping it into the center of my chest. I only felt a tingling sensation until he pulled a glowing butterfly out from my chest, so brilliant I could hardly look at it. “Oh, yes. This will do nicely.”
“What does it mean, that he ‘has your soul’?” Auggie asked, frowning.
“I have to do whatever he says. At least 666 times. And when I tried to move after a village burned my shop to the ground? I found I couldn’t move a foot out of the village. Not until Lucifer gave me express permission. I had to plead my case.” I still seethed whenever I thought of that.
“And what of the humans who burned your parents? Did you get your revenge?”
I shook my head. “By the time I memorized enough of my parents’ potions and developed my magic, it was too late for revenge. Their killers were all long dead.”
“You could have repaid them by killing their children,” Auggie pointed out.
I scoffed. “What would have been the point of that? They were not their parents. I couldn’t blame them for the actions of others.”
“You showed them mercy,” Auggie said softly. “And you wanted to believe they were capable of being better than their predecessors.”
“Yes, well, that didn’t do me much good. I’m still without a soul. With no real freedom.” I frowned. “But killing them wouldn’t have changed that.”
The crowd oohed over another firework, the brightness briefly lighting up Auggie’s face again.
I straightened, suddenly self-conscious of all I had just shared. “I should check with Benedict on our accommodations for tonight,” I said. I nodded in the direction of our host, who’d appeared opposite the crowd.
Auggie nodded a little too enthusiastically. “Of course. Yes.” He put some distance between us. I hadn’t realized we’d been sitting so close. “You should do that.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
“Okay,” Auggie echoed.
I swung my bag with Therese onto my back. Narcissa leapt to the ground and followed in my footsteps. I glanced back once to find Auggie still watching the fireworks, even though the display had slowed. My heart thrummed in my chest.
What was I doing? I had to stop seeing Auggie as someone so … likable. If I was going to have to see that Auggie’s soul made its way to Lucifer, it would be a lot harder to stomach if I felt something for him.
Too late, my mind warned.
I needed to get my head on right. This was a job. I would probably deliver Auggie to that address in New York in less than a week. Then I would have my freedom back and I could move on with my life. Without Auggie.
I didn’t like how the thought made my chest ache. I did not need this complication right now.
I shook my head. No. I should drive such thoughts from my head at once. Focus on the job. The job. The job with Auggie. The job that might drive Auggie from my life for good.
I reached where I’d seen Benedict a moment ago, but he was no longer there. I searched the crowd, but it was thick with people watching the fireworks display. If he was still in the town square, he was hidden among the throngs.
There was a commotion near the front gate.
A firework exploded behind us, drowning out the shouts of men scrambling up the steps to the ramparts. But as soon as the sound faded, I heard them. Demon-hounds. Not one or two. Dozens of them howled into the night.
I felt a chill run down my spine as I charged for the gate.
“What’s going on?” I asked the nearest man, who was holding a shaking pike in hand.
The man was wide-eyed as he turned to me. “They came out of nowhere.”
“The witch was out there,” another said. “They got her.”
“They …” I pushed through them, sliding aside the small opening in the gate that allowed me to see outside. It was dark, but the torchlight scattered across the field was enough to see the demon-hounds retreating. “Let me out there.”
“What?” the man I’d questioned asked, scoffing. “That would be suicide.”
I grabbed him by the front of his shirt. I felt myself shaking with rage as I pulled his face close to mine. “Open. The. Gate.”
He went pale as he seemed to realize I was one of the witches. “I can’t do that, sir. Not without Benedict’s permission.”
“And you will not get it,” Benedict said from behind me.
I pushed the guard away from me and spun to face our host. “What do you mean by that? My friend was just … those demon-beasts could be ripping her to …” My mouth went dry as I thought of those creatures’ teeth tearing into Freya….
Benedict shook his head. “They don’t kill. They’ll be bringing her to their master. The Ember King.”
I felt a chill run up my spine. The Ember King.
“If you want to go after your friend, you’ll go in the morning. But I won’t risk my people by opening that gate.”
Narcissa protested, “There’s a salt barrier. They can’t get in here.”
“I’m not taking that chance.”
I pulled on my hair. “She … she risked her life to create that portal for you, and to bring you that salt, and this is how you repay her?”
Benedict drew up to his full height. “She risked her life to save all of these people because she understands that thousands of lives are more important than one.”
I glowered. “I should have known this place was full of cowards.” I said to Narcissa, “Familiar, bring me my broom.”
Narcissa slunk into the crowd, obedient for once. I turned to Auggie, who’d been drawn by the commotion. “You stay here. This town will at least keep humans safe.”
“Not on your life,” Auggie said, crossing his arms. “I’m coming with you.”
“You’re …” I stared at him in disbelief. “Auggie. There are demon-hounds out there.”
“And so is my friend.”
“Your …” I shook my head, incredulous. “How could you possibly help? You’ll only get in the way.”
To my surprise, he pulled something slender and made of metal from a sack. “With this.”
I blinked as he loaded two feathered projectiles into a tube and cocked the contraption. “What will that do?”
“A small explosion will propel these darts coated with a neurotoxin that should kill anything they hit. Including these hell-beasts of yours.”
I remained skeptical, but Auggie’s face was set.
I didn’t have time to argue. “Just … do as I say, without question. You never leave the broom. At the first sign of trouble, you can use your weapon, but then I expect you to fly like the wind. Narcissa can ensure my broom takes you straight back here.”
“I can help more than—”
“The first sign of trouble,” I reiterated, pointing my finger in his face.
He looked unsure but nodded.