Sorren
Pain hammers at my temples. If I didn’t know better, I’d say I was cutting horns again. The tips of my fingers are sensitive, and the base of my spine tingles. The magick between Eva and me must be having an effect.
The bell rings. Malachi, again. This time of night? I rub my head, trying to relieve some of the ache on my way to the shed.
The bell rings again and again. “I’m coming! I’m coming.”
Malachi’s face is hovering in the center of the shed, waiting for me. “What took you so long?” he asks.
“I’m here now, what do you need?” I have no patience for any of this. I want to lay down in Eva’s bed with her smell surrounding me and sleep off this crazy headache.
“The Board has given your witch forty-eight hours. If you aren’t back by then, they will be taking offensive action,” Malachi says, smoke billowing out of his nostrils.
“What exactly does ‘offensive action’ mean?”
“They will declare war on every witch until you are returned to Hell. I tried to reason with them. I told them you’re helping her with some mission or something. They think she has you under a spell, and you aren’t in your right mind.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to Eva when she gets home tonight. We’ll figure something out and get those leylines open, then she should be able to send me home.” I pace around the shed. Going back down there is the last thing I want to do, but if it will keep Eva safe, I will.
I’ve missed my previous form—red skin, shiny black horns, and useful tail.
What will Eva think of my demon form? The thought is bittersweet.
In order for her to see me in my natural shape, I’d have to be back in Hell.
She will be up here living her beautiful life, casting spells and tending to her garden with our cat.
“When you get back and sign those damn papers, we need to have a serious talk about executive board overreach,” Malachi says.
My chest blooms with pride.
“Kai, you sound like a CEO. I’m proud of you, brother. You’ve managed to keep everything running through this. You are more qualified than you thought.”
He snorts more smoke from his nose. “Just hurry.”
His face disappears, leaving me alone in the empty shed.
I look around for anything that could be potentially useful for spell work when Eva gets home.
If a powerful wand is just sitting here on dusty shelves with empty paint cans and dead batteries, then surely there must be something else we could use.
I scan the top shelf first and don’t see anything of interest.
The light in the kitchen turns on, casting a beam of light into the shed. Eva’s home already? I hurry to the house with a plan to come back after a quick kiss and an update on the coven.
I quietly sneak through the back door, so I can sneak up on Eva and give her a little scare. Her shrieks are adorable. On tiptoes, I inch my way toward the living room where she’s puttering around. My cute disorganized witch has probably lost something again.
I turn the corner. I can feel the heavy angry magick oozing off her. It’s not Eva. Some other witch is in her house. She spins and directs that horrible energy at me, freezing me in place.
“Well, what do we have here?” she asks, stepping toward me. Her eyes are solidly black. “Do I smell… a demon?” she asks. It better be fucking rhetorical, because her magick has clamped my mouth shut.
She circles around me and lets her hand graze across my ass. “Eva is going to kill you for that,” I try to say, but it comes out as an inscrutable mumble.
“Oh, poor demon. Cat got your tongue?” She waves her hand through the air in a wide arc. “Interesting. I’m not the only witch with a demon. I knew Eva was up to something.”
This hag loves to hear herself talk.
“You might smell like a demon, and I can feel your power. But where are the horns and tail? Those are my favorite parts.”
“How rude of me, I’m Lena. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Your name is?” She flicks her wrist, loosening the bonds on my lips.
“You’d better get the fuck out of my girlfriend’s house or she’s going to fuck your shit up.” I give her the same patronizing smile I offer the Board when they are being especially obnoxious.
“Oh, demon. Your little witch can’t touch me.”
“She’s the most powerful witch in her coven.” I can’t resist the opportunity to brag about how incredible Eva is.
She cackles, “I bet she is in that coven of dried up witches!” She flicks her wrist again, resealing my mouth shut.
“It’s my lucky day. I came here to find a dusty old relic, but instead, I got a fresh new demon to keep.”
“Unravel the bond that keeps them together.
Release him to me from now ‘til forever.”
A musty smell assaults my nostrils as the basement comes into focus. It’s mostly empty and lacks the charm I’ve grown accustomed to in Eva’s cottage. Now this is what I was expecting a witch’s lair to be like.
She chained me to the wall, and I feel the iron manacles on my wrists and ankles draining the power out of me. The chains run along the ceiling and disappear into a hole leading up to the rest of the lair. On a positive note, my headache is gone.
This place feels worse than the darkest parts of Mephisto. The energy is heavy and stagnant, all while dulling my senses.
I fight against the exhaustion urging me to close my eyes. I need to get out of here. If I’m not back at Mephisto in less than forty-eight hours… Fuck, how long was I unconscious?
I pull at the chains, but they are secured tightly to the walls. A door at the top of a wooden staircase opens. Lena flips a switch, turning on a single bulb hanging from a wire. She glides down the stairs in an eerie, unnatural, way.
“Oh, good! You’re awake! Now we can start having fun.” She brandishes a silver knife and drags it across my naked chest. A bead of blood collects on the tip, and my stomach drops into my feet.
I need to stop this. She could have me in pieces in minutes.
“It doesn’t have to be like this.” I choke down the saliva pouring into my mouth right before the vomit comes. “We could be allies. These chains are completely unnecessary.”
“Good try, demon. This isn’t my first rodeo.
” She sneers at me, and a veil is lifted from her face.
What once looked like a normal, middle-aged woman is old and terrifying underneath.
Her teeth are rotten, and the wrinkles around her eyes and mouth are deep.
She has been playing with dark magick for a while now, and it’s taking a toll on her.
“You know a lot of demons?” I ask. This tactic works with some of the especially narcissistic members of the Board. Get them talking about themselves, that could take up hours.
“Tsk tsk, handsome. This isn’t the part of the story when the villain spills their guts.” She licks the drop of blood off the knife and nausea roils my stomach.
“You saw me at Eva’s house. I was just walking around. She didn’t need to tie me up because I was helping her willingly.” I’m just going to say whatever might stick.
“True.” She asks with a shrewd look in her eye. “What were you helping her with?”
“The same thing you want. Power.” It’s sort of true. Opening the leylines would make her more powerful, but it’s not the same thing that this witch is planning to do.
She taps the flat end of the knife against her thin wrinkled lips. “You remind me of someone.” Lena drags a wooden chair across the floor with a skin crawling sound and sits a few feet from me. “You don’t happen to know a demon that went by the name Typhon, do you?”
It takes everything inside me to control my face. Hearing this bitch say my father’s name is the last thing I expected. I gulp hard at the rising bile in my throat.
“So you did know him. What a shame. He should have lasted longer. I didn’t even get to have much fun with him before he died.” She sighs in mock disappointment. “I’ve learned to make them last a little longer now.”
This witch killed my father. The stories of their brutality and evil were true.
The image of my father, lying dead, face-down on the ground rushes forward.
By the time I found him, he was stiff and pale.
Immediately, I knew something was wrong, his usual malevolent power was gone, leaving the room feeling empty.
I had gently turned him over and closed his eyelids before calling his wives and Malachi.
There was no sign of injury, and no one could give us any answers as to what happened to him.
An ache I didn’t know was there turns to anger.
Lena’s dark, sickening laughter stokes the rage burning inside me.
“Who else have you dragged to your lair, witch?”
“If you are a good little demon, I might introduce you!” Her cackle echoes off the hard concrete walls. “He’s a little worse for wear. It’s been a rough few days.”
What the fuck?! First my father, now Jeff? This is not good.
“Oops! Did I spoil the surprise? The cat’s out of the bag. Yes, I’ll have Jeff for a while longer at least. Things are not looking good for our bald little friend.”
I don’t like the demon, but no one deserves torture.
“Let’s play a game, demon. I’ll ask you questions, and if you tell me the truth, you can keep your fingernails.”
“I’m telling you, the threats aren’t necessary. Let me help you.” I give my best effort at sounding sincere.
“How did Eva summon you? I didn’t know that little witch had it in her.”
“We don’t know. It was an accident.” I’m going to try and be as honest as possible. If I can just skirt the truth, then she might not notice.
“Wrong.” Lena bounds out of the chair enthusiastically. “Let’s start here.” Tugging roughly at my head, she cuts off a chunk of hair and drags it under her nose.
“It’s true. She didn’t intend to summon me.”
“You think you know a witch’s intentions, you slithering demon?”
Oh shit, that was the wrong thing to say.
Lena shoves my head back against the wall and pins the shell of my ear to the wall with her knife. The veil over her face reappears, and she returns to the younger version of herself.
“You’ve been a bad boy. You’re going to sit down here and think about what you’ve done. When you’re ready to apologize, we can have fun again.”
She stomps up the steps and slams the door shut behind her.
This witch is crazy.