Chapter 14
Elric sat up out of a deep sleep, gasping as a nightmare held him in its grip.
He couldn’t breathe fast enough to catch his breath.
He was covered in sweat, slicked down his back and through his hair so thoroughly that he could feel droplets running down his spine in an icy trail.
His heart thundered, and he wasn’t even sure why.
“It was just a dream,” he muttered, looking around the room to make sure that Jessamine wasn’t with him.
She wasn’t. She must have gotten up early to meet with the other witches.
He knew they’d been talking with Elissa more, even though he had advised against it.
The witch had betrayed them once already, and now she knew they wouldn’t kill her for it.
They should have beheaded her and set the head out in front of the home for everyone else to see.
Then no one would question what would happen if they betrayed Jessamine. No one would think for even a moment that they could test the might of the coven.
And of the Deathless One himself.
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, trying hard not to think about the nightmare that had plagued him.
It was another experience with a coven. He was certain of that.
Just thinking the word made goose bumps rise on his arms. Witches could not be trusted.
And he no longer trusted the one whose house they were staying in. No wonder the old memories plagued him.
He counted each breath, trying to force his lungs to slow down. This body was far more uncomfortable than he remembered it being. Or perhaps two hundred years alone in the dark had fractured his mind. He wasn’t the same god he had once been.
Waving a hand and casting a quick spell to clean himself of the sweat and grime of the night, he dressed quickly before joining the others in the main house.
He wasn’t proud of how long it took for him to open the door after hearing the low mumble of words on the other side.
He stood out there on the step, listening to the idle chatter within.
The rise and fall of their voices should have calmed him, and yet, all it did was raise his hackles even more than they already were.
He had to close his eyes and breathe again, counting to a hundred before he opened the door.
Immediately, his gaze found Jessamine. Her wild tangle of hair was tied atop her head, coiling curls poking out in all directions like she’d turned her hair into a bird’s nest. Her cheeks were flushed with some emotion he couldn’t guess at, and she was wildly flailing her hands in the air like she did when she was passionate about what she was speaking of.
He’d never seen her look more beautiful than she did right now. And something in his soul eased at the sight of her.
Because for all the witches that had harmed him, betrayed him, tried to make him hurt for the power he had that they didn’t… there was one who only wished him peace.
“Oh, good, you’re here,” she said, her eyes finding his with a soft smile in them before she continued. “There’s another witch.”
Just like that, all the ease vanished. His gaze flicked to Sybil, to the traitor, and then back to Jessamine. “I felt no other join the coven.”
“She has no coven,” Elissa said, her voice pitched low and quiet as though she already knew he was angry with her. “She is known for her magic around these parts, though. An impressive spell caster, apparently, although I’ve never met her myself.”
“Why are we investing our time in another witch?”
Jessamine seemed to hesitate before replying, “I don’t know what Fortuna is up to. But I do know that we need more allies in this district before I feel comfortable walking into the lion’s den. Elissa knows this woman well, and apparently she has connections we do not.”
With a soft shifting of weight, Elissa stood.
She looked like a rabbit caught in a wolf’s maw when she glanced up to see his enraged features.
“It’s just… Agnes Jessup has lived in the Pleasure District her entire life.
She’s always been interested in magic, but more than that, she has her fingers in every person’s life.
She knows everyone, everything, and every step people take in the district.
Not to mention she hates Fortuna. Agnes wants to control the Pleasure District, and used to in the old days.
Before Fortuna, that is. If you want someone on our side who will be more helpful than a woman who breeds birds, then Agnes is easy to get.
Bring her into the coven. Give her real magic.
She will stop at nothing to gain more power. ”
Jessamine stepped closer to him and then placed her hand over his thundering heart.
As though she knew the terror exploding in him.
“The larger the coven, the stronger we all will be. I don’t care about the Pleasure District.
But Agnes is a woman who wishes for power that she’s fought for her entire life.
Give her whatever magic you can spare, and we will promise her this entire district if she helps us bring Fortuna down. ”
He didn’t like it. He didn’t trust it. But moreover, he thought it was a risky decision for any of these women to make. The more people who knew they were witches, the worse the outcome for all of them.
He’d seen it. He’d watched countless of his coven scream as they were tied to a stake while flames licked their heels.
He’d been forced to stand there, watching their features melt and slide off their faces because he was unable to kill those who worshipped his own siblings.
There were rules, even for gods, and he couldn’t be the one to start a war between his family members.
Along the tail of that thought came a softness. An unraveling of who he had once been because there were no gods left.
Elric tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, lingering on the soft seashell of flesh. “I will build you a coven that will destroy this entire kingdom, as I promised. But there are no more gods to save them if they harm you, nightmare. Make sure they know this.”
His gaze slid toward Elissa, whose face had gone pale. He held it, hoping she could see that there would soon be a retribution for her as well. Elric was just biding his time with her.
But Jessamine was grinning. “Such a bloodthirsty god. I’m glad you’ve agreed, because we’re leaving now.”
“Now?”
“There’s no time like the present. I’m certain if Fortuna was expecting us at her home, then she would expect us to regroup, knowing that they should have caught us in a trap. The last thing she would expect would be for me to wander the streets of the Pleasure District immediately afterward.”
“You’re taking a risk.”
“Not really.” She batted those eyelashes at him. “I’m pretending to be dumb.”
This woman would be the death of him. And he was a deathless god.
Elric watched as the other women prepared themselves, and then they all left together.
A dark witch with a bright yellow headscarf wrapped around her head.
Another wearing a garish green dress and sporting a parrot on her shoulder.
And lastly, his gravesinger. A haunting woman all in black velvet, with a slit up the side to show the knee-high boots that had seen more travel than most, her hair piled atop her head like a heathen.
Oh, people were going to stare, and he was certain that was Jessamine’s point.
Elric walked behind them the entire journey to Agnes’s home, and was surprised to see it was a rather utilitarian-looking building.
There was little beauty here, only functionality.
The home was built square, with sharp edges in sensible stone and a copper roof that gleamed in the sunlight.
A black iron fence surrounded it, but there were no gardens on the other side.
Just carefully laid stones that spiraled out from the home in swirling patterns.
Now this was a home that didn’t offend his senses. He already liked this Agnes more than the others.
Jessamine waltzed up the front steps and knocked on the door as if she couldn’t feel the spells woven into the stones around them.
Whoever was inside that building already knew they were here.
And they certainly had enough information on every single person who had stepped on a stone to give them pause.
The door opened quickly and a behemoth of a man stepped out. He had to exit sideways because his shoulders were so large, and when he straightened, he was easily a good foot and a half taller than all the women. He was taller than Elric—a fact that made Elric bristle.
“No solicitors.” The big man crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at them.
“We’re not solicitors. We’d like to speak with Agnes.” Jessamine didn’t back down. She glared right back at the big man, then crossed her arms over her chest, too. “I won’t take no for an answer.”
“She’s not in.”
“I have a feeling she is very much in and that she doesn’t want to see us. Unfortunately for her, that is not an option.”
To that, the big man did not reply. Instead, he just lifted his gaze over her head like she was no longer there, and remained silent.
A sharp tug of power nearly yanked Elric forward.
Jessamine drew on their connection so hard, he knew whatever spell she was about to cast would likely turn the man to stone or blow him to smithereens.
He just wasn’t certain which she would choose.
Rather than make a scene none of them could come back from, he lurched forward and placed himself between her and the big man.
“How much is it going to cost us to see the witch?” he asked, stumbling over the words before he could come up with a better plan.
“There is no witch in this house.”
“There is a witch in that house, or if she isn’t yet, she soon will be. Now, everyone has a price. What is yours?”