Chapter 24
Rixon
Rixon tugged against the restraints of the bond holding him in place. Fucking Mina. He had to hand it to her, based on the bloodied scene before him, she had handled matters thoroughly. He’d drawn several conclusions of his own.
“Let me go,” Julian said through gritted teeth as he thrashed against Mina’s magic. She’d snared him much the way she snared demons, leaving only his face free to move. Veins bulged in Julian’s neck, his forehead dotted with sweat. Blood seeped from the shoulder wound.
He was still fucking shocked—shocked that Lola and Julian were working with Trudy Holland of all people. Not just that, his chest ached. He hadn’t expected the betrayal. Frankly, it hurt. He’d gotten to know Julian, had believed him to be a decent male.
“Come to me,” Mina ordered, looking into the darkened corner of the room. Weiss gave a cry of fear. A Tharn stepped forward. Ah. So that’s how she’d managed all alone. He shouldn’t have been surprised.
Earlier that evening, she’d informed him that she had matters to attend to alone.
That it would keep her up late. It had been on the tip of his tongue to question her, but he’d seen the need in her gaze, the desire to do this alone—for him.
He knew it had everything to do with the pardon she’d shredded in his study that afternoon.
Given that he had plenty of work on his plate, he’d hardly questioned her.
It must have been the soothing way she’d tackled his need for control, because when she’d asked him to trust her, he’d simply agreed.
“See this demon? It follows my every command,” Mina purred, stalking closer to Julian. “So, I’m going to ask questions, and you’re going to provide answers.”
Julian’s jaw clenched.
“Are there other witches in Mya’s cohort working with you?” She waited for a beat. When it was clear that he wouldn’t answer, she turned to the Trong. “Take a finger—just one.” The demon rushed forward, eager. Julian screamed as it took its first prize.
Rixon watched with sick fascination as Mina continued down this path of questioning.
He knew she’d used a demon to question Weiss, too, though she’d healed him after each mauling.
It should have made his insides squirm to see her resort to such measures, but he was king now, and didn’t have the luxury for mercy where traitors were concerned.
“Who else is working with you?!” Mina demanded. The demon took another finger, and another, alternating hands.
“I’m going to ask you one more time, and then it will take your eyes. Who else is working with you?”
Julian didn’t answer, though he did scream as the demon used a long finger to scoop out one, and then the other eyeball.
Julian would have fallen to the floor had Mina’s magic not held him in place.
She looked less human than ever, black hair flaring around her, eyes possessed as she worked.
Little by little, she chipped away at Julian but he never once broke.
“Enough, Lady Witch.” Rixon’s voice was rough as he spoke. “End it. You’ll get nothing from him.”
He had to respect the way the male held out, though he knew why Mina had gone to such extremes. They could not afford to allow something like this to happen again. If any of Mya’s other witches were working with Skye in secret, it could ruin everything.
Mina turned to him, that otherworldly gaze meeting his. “End it,” he said again.
She seemed to come back to herself a little. Turning to the Tharn she said, “Take your meal to the corner.” It was all too happy to pull Julian into the shadows. The male’s screams died abruptly, cutting off into a series of gurgles before he fell completely silent.
Weiss looked at them in horror.
He felt the ties of the bond dissipate and moved into the room.
It smelled heavy with blood and demon carcasses and excrement.
He stepped over Lola’s prone figure as he went to his witch, stroking a hand down the back of her hair.
He needed to touch her, if only to reassure himself that she was real.
“You must think me a monster,” she whispered, sounding dazed.
“If you are a monster, then you are my monster. I love you no less for it.”
A derisive laugh burst from her chest, eyes cast to the bodies on the ground. “It was Trudy all along.”
“Explain.”
“I heard voices in the hallway today, near the high tower. I didn’t know who they belonged to because they were whispering. A male and female. It could have been Trudy’s father or her brother. I’m not certain. They were talking about the risk of her behavior affecting the family.”
“I’ll have both males arrested.” He took a step back but she reached out, catching his wrist and squeezing.
“No.”
“Let me guess, another plan?” He eyed her warily.
“Something like that.”
He exhaled. “Trudy is dead. Her father will find out sooner or later. If he’s guilty, I want him apprehended.”
“He won’t find out. Not if we play this right.”
“How do you mean?”
“Trudy told whoever it was that she planned to free Weiss and flee the city. For all the male knows, she’s already gone.”
He rubbed a hand against the back of his neck. “So, you’re saying we destroy the evidence and make it look like she got out. Like they all got out, even Lola and Julian.”
“Yes.”
“And her family?”
“Well, we know they can’t be trusted, that they’re traitors, so we use that to our advantage. Wait until the time is right, then take everything from them. The Nebrine mines can become property of the crown as punishment for their family’s betrayal.”
He hummed, intrigued. “And what about Weiss?”
The male whimpered at the sound of his name.
She sighed. “Regrettable situation, yes. He’s seen too much.”
“If you kill him…”
“Let’s see how long we can get away with keeping him alive. He can pen letters to his king from here.” Weiss shook his head, as if to disagree. Mina huffed. “You’d rather I just kill you?”
The male blanched but gave no more protests.
“We’ll need a way to determine if the others can be trusted,” she said.
“Fuck,” he breathed, pacing towards the cell’s exit and back.
“I hope…do you think Anne and Elianna…?”
“No. Of anyone, they seem the most trustworthy.”
Her shoulders dropped. “I hope so. I…I care about them, Rix. It would…it would hurt me if they…if they…”
“I know. Come here, Lady Witch.” He pulled her against him, only just now realizing there was a slight tremble to her. “Are you all right?” His voice was a low caress against her ear. He desperately wanted to know exactly what had happened down here, but now wasn’t the time to demand details.
“No,” she breathed. “No. I’m not fucking all right.”
His low laugh mirrored her words. “I don’t think any of us will be until this is all over.”
“Will it be? Will it ever be over?”
“I don’t know.” He really didn’t. Ever since leaving Rockfall, it seemed things had only escalated, and they kept escalating. Would they ever know a moment’s peace? Perhaps the only way to was to carve it out.
She stepped away from him, using fire to destroy the two remaining bodies.
“You going to do something about that Tharn in the corner?”
“I’ll send it back through my star.”
He hesitated, would have preferred to just kill it here and now, but he didn’t question her.
It should have bothered him that she had a working star beneath his palace, that she used it to summon demons whenever she wanted.
Here he was, bleeding on a fucking portal to keep them out.
But these beasts were under her control.
He’d seen just how well she handled them as she tortured Julian.
It will keep her safe, he reminded himself. Being able to control them. Fuck, he was tempted to request that she summon an entire army of them, retainers to keep at her disposal, if only to protect her.
What would that mean for her enemies? For Raeria’s enemies?
The thought made him shudder as he recalled the murals in the portal’s room.
Depictions of armies, of demons fighting against humans.
Only, what if this time, the demons were on their side?
He couldn’t help but think of how easy it would be to run Carth off their lands with a host of demons in thrall.
No. Those were dangerous thoughts. He wouldn’t use Mina that way.
“Come away from here,” he said at last. “I’ll have the guards move Weiss to a more suitable cell, perhaps the one you stayed in.”
“I…” she glanced at the ambassador, a flash of regret in her gaze. “I think that would be favorable.”
She led the demon through the dungeon and into the hidden corridor beyond. He’d never seen her work a circle, so he watched now. It looked no different than when the council witches did it back at the Citadel. Knowing her power, it was no surprise that she exorcised it with ease.
When they returned to their chambers, he stripped her down and led her to the bath. He ran a cloth over every measure of her skin. He spent extra time on her neck, where evidence of a blade remained in the form of dried blood. The mark might have healed, but the truth was there.
“Lola,” she said by way of explanation.
“I wish I could kill her for it. You promised me I wouldn’t lose you.”
“And I made sure to keep my promise,” she reassured him, pulling him against her, sinking into the water.
He dragged her over to the shelf and sat, nestling her atop his lap.
Her ass rested against his half-hard cock.
He wasn’t in the mood to fuck—for once. He just wanted to hold her, to marvel in her.
“Tell me everything that happened tonight.”
She sighed, leaning her cheek against his shoulder.
He listened as she told him of how she’d waited in the neighboring cell, how she’d confronted Trudy, thinking the woman planned to single-handedly free Weiss and flee.
Her surprise when Lola had pressed a blade to her throat.
“I had the demons hiding in the corner because I didn’t know what to expect tonight,” she explained.
“When I saw Trudy, it was almost comical. I thought to myself that I had well overestimated how difficult it would be apprehending your would-be killer. But the person who wanted you dead was none other than Trudy Holland. It felt like a joke. But it was a relief, too, that I wouldn’t need to use the demons.
Only, in the end, they were what saved me. ”
“You could have used your magic.”
“I did,” she said. “But there was a risk that Lola’s cut would have been deep. She warned me that if I did use magic, she would drag the blade across my throat in the process. There was some risk, even if I didn’t feel much fear.”
“Even the slightest risk leaves me fearful,” he admitted. “I don’t ever want you close to death.”
“I’m afraid that’s inevitable at this point. What have our lives become but a close dance with death? These days, anyway. Besides, I wasn’t as close as you were with a blade buried in your throat that day.”
“True. Seems everyone is out to kill us.”
“That just means we must stay one step ahead.” She pulled back, looking him in the eyes. “It just makes me realize that I need to find a way to protect you beyond the norm. I can heal from anything non-lethal, but you cannot, not without my magic. It makes me wonder…”
He ran his thumb across her jaw and prompted, “Wonder what?”
“Well, if Nebrine can be imbued with magic, something to keep demons away, what if something else, a token perhaps, can be imbued with magic for protection of a different kind? Healing protection.”
He frowned. “And you’d what, hang this token around my neck so that if someone harmed me it would heal me?”
“I…” A scowl pulled her brows down and she blew out a breath. “It’s probably stupid.”
“It’s not,” he said, eager to see her expression replaced with a smile. “I think it’s brilliant, if you can pull it off.”
“Really?”
He shrugged, pulling her closer. “You are the most powerful witch the world has seen in a long time. I dare anyone to argue that. If anyone can do it, it’s you.”
“Sometimes, I don’t feel like a witch anymore. Or, at least, that I don’t deserve the title.”
“You earned it.”
“Yes, but, this thing—”
“Having something other doesn’t minimize what you already have. You are a witch, and a better one than any I know. Don’t ever forget that.”
“All right.” She pulled her lip between her teeth.
He immediately freed it with his thumb. “Don’t do that.” His voice was rough as he scolded her.
“Why? Does it make you want to fuck me?”
“You have no idea.” Even as he said it, blood rushed to his cock, making him immediately ravenous for her.
Maybe he did need to fuck her after all.
He could have lost her tonight, even if the chance had been slim.
So, as he pulled her around and positioned her over the head of his cock, he thanked the gods she was still here.
Then, he fucked her just to remind her that they were both alive, that it would take far more than a few assassination attempts and a betrayal to end them.