When Sparks Fly
Netherworld Book 3
Olivia Hutchinson
When Sparks Fly
Copyright © 2018 Olivia Hutchinson
Cover design by Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
Created with Vellum
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
About the Author
Wild and Untamed
For my Dad.
Thanks for being best dad a girl could ask for. You’re not only my father but my friend.
Now put this book down because there’s a lot of stuff in it you’re not going to want to read.
Prologue
The alcohol-fueled laughter filled the small house. The seven women couldn’t get through two minutes of talking before someone said something else completely inappropriate and then the raucous giggles ensued again. But that’s what happened when you took overworked best friends and put them into the same room together after months apart. At least that’s what Maggie suspected.
“You embarrassed a man because he stole your pen?” Maggie’s friend Lila asked. It was Lila’s home that they were in with Maggie propped against the living room wall, listening to the back-and-forth, a smile plastered on her face. “Was it made of solid gold?”
“No, it was the one I borrow from the bank,” Carey replied with no indication she’d done anything wrong.
“It was a pen you had stolen yourself?”
“I didn’t steal it, I borrowed it.”
Maggie had learned years ago that nurses seemed to have a pen thing. The current conversation cemented that fact since Maggie had just learned that one of her best friends had embarrassed a rather prominent physician at their local hospital over pen theft.
“You had no intention of giving it back!” Lila yelled, laughing.
Carey rolled her eyes. “I was going to give it back when it ran out of ink. Besides, that wasn’t the only pen he ever stole from me. Every single day he steals my pen. He had it coming.”
Beth leaned across the kitchen table where five of the women sat and swiped the bottle of Jack Daniels. “I work in the lab, and I heard that rumor. You don’t think that was just a bit—oh, I don’t know—uncalled for?”
Carey folded her arms across her chest and glared at them. “I’ve worked with that man for over two years, and in all that time he’s never once said hello to me. And every single day he’s there, he steals my pen. He doesn’t steal Lila’s pens or anyone else’s. Just mine. Do you know how many pens that is?”
“Um, no.”
“Three hundred and forty-six!”
Maggie wasn’t the only one who didn’t know how to respond to Carey’s declaration. Silence filled the room for the longest moment, until Andrea broke it, reverberating the same thought Maggie had running through her own head. “You counted?”
“What? Is that weird?” Carey asked before taking a gulp of wine from her glass.
“Yes. Yes, that’s weird,” Maggie said. “That’s practically the definition of weird.”
“Then I guess I’m weird.”
Heidi, sitting on a pillow now far from Maggie was chomping on a chip when she said, “We’re all weird.”
Maggie couldn’t deny that. She smiled at the thought.
“And that’s why we’ll forever be single,” whined Natalie, laying her head on her arms on the table.
Lila shrugged. “It is what it is.”
Carey was chewing her lip, her eyes on Natalie, when she said, “We don’t have to stay single, you know. We could meet some men. Some good ones, too.”
“Right.”
“I’m being serious.”
Maggie didn’t know if meeting a man would do her any good considering her current situation. She was out a job and had just moved back in with her father while she tried to figure out what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Boyfriend drama wasn’t something she needed to add to her current stress level, but she was still curious about Carey’s suggestion. “And just how do you suggest we do that?”
“We can do a spell.”
There was a collective groan and a bang, causing Maggie to jump. Lila had whacked her head on the table. “Not the witchy stuff again. Please, Carey.”
What was the harm in spell casting? It’s not like anything would happen and it would make Carey happy. Maggie couldn’t see any issue with playing along, even though her friends seemed to have a different opinion.
“Why not? It’s not going to hurt anything,” Carey insisted.
Beth laughed. “Famous last words.”
“I’m game,” Andrea said, surprising Maggie. Out of everyone in the room, she hadn’t thought Andrea would be the first person to jump on board with Carey’s wild ideas.
“Ha!” Carey exclaimed, thrusting her finger into Andrea’s chest. “Thank you, Andrea. Who else?”
“I’m in, I guess,” Lila said. No surprise there. Lila and Andrea were cousins and as close as sisters. If Andrea wanted to do something, Lila would always comply.
Beth rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
“Yes!” Carey clapped her hands, bouncing around in her seat with excitement.
When her eyes fell on Maggie, Maggie shrugged. “Yeah, okay.”
“Me too,” Heidi piped in.
There was only one person left who hadn’t responded. Maggie looked to Natalie, as did Carey and the rest of the women. Natalie looked around her from one inquiring face to another. “Oh, I thought it was a given,” she said. “Of course I’m in. At least this is easier than speed dating. And it doesn’t require waxing.”
Carey’s dark hair was waving erratically as she bounced around in her seat, rattling off a long list of needs for preparation for their spell work. Lila spouted directions as to where some of the women could find the needed items since it was her house. Maggie went to the burning fire in the fireplace and tossed on a few more logs since she was the closest to it.
“There’s nothing like the smell of burning wood,” Maggie said, inhaling deeply as Lila came up to stand next to her. She tossed another log into the roaring flames and soaked up the heat with her hands.
Lila picked up the poker and stabbed the logs. “I bet you’ll be happy when the weather warms up a bit more, and you’re out in the woods again.”
The woods. No place on Earth made Maggie happier than being out in the woods. “Oh, didn’t I tell you? Heidi and I are going up to my dad’s cabin in New Freedom later this week to go hiking.”
It was a trip she needed and one she’d been looking forward to for months. Maggie hadn’t been to New Freedom in almost eight years. Initially, it was a place she avoided, but now? She needed the clean air and open space. She was just thankful someone had agreed to go with her, even if it was Heidi.
“Heidi? Really?” Lila asked with a frown. It was hard to picture Heidi outside in any condition but especially one wh
ere she wouldn’t have internet access. The poor girl had barely left the house in the past few years since she’d begun caring for her ailing grandfather.
“She said she wanted to go when I mentioned something about it a could months ago. She hasn’t changed her mind, so we’re going.” The surprise that Heidi would voluntarily disappear into the mountains just reinforced to Maggie how much her friend also needed to get away.
Lila climbed to her feet as Maggie did. “Wow. How long are you guys going to be gone?”
“I don’t know really,” Maggie said with a shrug. “I few days, maybe a week. It all depends on how she does up there.” And how I do up there, Maggie said to herself. There was a reason why Maggie had avoided the area for as long as she had. “How long do you think she’ll last without electricity?” Maggie asked, quickly stopping her mind from drifting to one person in particular.
“Your guess is as good as mine. I do hope she likes it.”
Heidi was giggling from where she was talking with Natalie by the kitchen counter, capturing both Maggie and Lila’s attention. It was hard to think of Heidi being somewhere without electricity. Maggie knew the vacation probably wasn’t going to seem like an escape to Heidi, at least until she got used to the changes.
“I hope she likes it too,” Maggie said, stretching her arms over her head. “I don’t want to have to turn around an hour after we get up there. You have your vacation this week too, don’t you? You should come with us.” It would be tight quarters, but Lila may like New Freedom just as much as Maggie did.
“I don’t get off until next Saturday and you’re leaving before then, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. That sucks. You’d like it up there.”
“Next time maybe,” Lila said. “I’ll be happy to schlep around here for a couple weeks. Catch up on some reading, maybe do a crossword puzzle or something.”
“If I know you, and I do, you’ll be bored to tears after a day or two.”
“You’re probably right, but I haven’t had any real time off in years. It’ll be nice to not have anything to do for a while.” Lila shrugged as they walked back to the table to help Andrea move around the chairs so there’d be plenty of room for standing, as Carey had instructed.
A few minutes later, when everything was set up, the six women stood around the table, waiting for the seventh to find her way out of the bathroom.
The room was dark, only illuminated by the glow of the candles and the blaze in the fireplace. The lights, as well as the music, had been turned off in preparation. Silence radiated through the room as the women stared at each other, trying to figure out what they were supposed to do next and, without their leader, it was impossible.
“Did she fall in?” Andrea asked, looking to Lila who stood at her side.
Lila shrugged before yelling, “Any time now Carey! Before we fall asleep out here.”
There was no immediate response from Carey, but after a minute the bathroom door opened, and she stepped out into the darkness. The shadows from the candlelight and the fire cast an eerie glow in the room. Carey stood at the head of the table and looked at each of them in turn.
“Finally,” Beth grumbled, hands on her hips.
“Friends, it is time to assemble,” Carey said, ignoring Beth. Her voice was soft and airy as she looked down at the salt and knife ready where she had asked them to be placed.
Heidi smirked, and Maggie didn’t miss Lila’s elbow landing in Heidi’s side. With a shake of her head, Lila warned, “Don’t piss off the witch.”
Carey’s black eyes narrowed. “I need everyone’s equal participation and silence for this to work.”
When no one said anything else, she lifted the container of sea salt from the table and began to walk around them, pouring the salt on the floor. The large circle of salt on the hardwood made Lila cringe since she’d be the one to have to clean up the mess.
Stopping at the same place where she began, Carey put the salt back on the table. Lifting her arms into the air, she called forth the elements. Beth stifled a yawn. When Carey began chanting in a language other than English, Maggie followed along. She mimicked the sounds with everyone else, even though she hadn’t a clue to their meaning.
Carey’s voice was loud and clear as she spoke when she finally switched to English. Her voice filled the room. “We call forth our soul mates. Men of honor and integrity, both loyal and kind—”
“With cocks of steel,” Heidi interrupted, which earned her a dagger-filled glare from Carey, a sharp elbow in the ribs from Maggie, and smirks from both Beth and Lila. Heidi was going to be bruised on both sides of her body tonight if she couldn’t contain her mouth, Maggie thought with half a smile.
Carey cleared her throat. “Loyal and kind,” she re-emphasized. “We seek to bind with these men and create lasting relationships full of love and compassion.”
Picking up the sharp paring knife from the table, she held it out and made a small cut in the middle of her right palm and then the left. Blood welled on her skin as she tried to pass the knife to Maggie, who was staring at her as if she had finally gone over the edge.
“You’re kidding,” Maggie said, staring at the knife. “There’s no way I’m cutting myself with that.”
“I don’t have any diseases,” Carey said, again thrusting the handle of the knife in her direction.
“That’s not the point.”
“Oh, come on and just do it so we can get this over with,” Natalie groaned.
Sighing, Maggie took the knife from Carey and made the smallest cuts she could before passing it along to Heidi. Blood pooled in her palms. Gross.
Heidi made the incisions without a second’s hesitation, slicing through the flesh of her palms before slapping the knife handle in Lila’s hand.
Lila dragged the small knife across her palm after a second’s hesitation, flinched and then repeated the process on her other hand. She passed it to Andrea, who took a deep breath and did the same. Around the table the knife went, each woman making the same cuts.
When the knife finally got back to Carey, she set it on the table in front of her and grasped Maggie’s and Natalie’s hands. The seven women held hands, the blood sticky between their palms. Carey raised their clasped hands in the air, looked up at Lila’s ceiling fan and began chanting something no one in the room could understand.
The flames from the candles and the fire dimmed as she spoke, causing the room to darken. An icy chill curled up Maggie’s spine, goosebumps raised on her arms, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
A shiver went through her body when she felt a light cold breeze float around her. It seemed to have come from nowhere. She wasn’t the only one reacting this way either. A quick glance around the table told her everyone, except for Carey, was genuinely freaked out.
The jokes stopped, and so did the laughter. Heidi stopped interrupting, her hand trembling slightly in Maggie’s. Squeezing her hand, Maggie tried to provide some strength when she felt she had none.
As Carey’s voice rose in intensity, the candles and the fire suddenly roared to life, fully illuminating the room and making the six women jump. Carey didn’t appear phased in the slightest, her eyes lifted toward the ceiling.
Maggie’s ears were humming as the energy seemed to build in the room, creating its own pulse in the air surrounding them. It was almost deafening. Her heart hammered in her chest and the blood pounded through her veins.
The candles extinguished suddenly, save for the one Carey had left inside their circle on the table. Heidi gasped next to her as the fire went out in the fireplace. Maggie’s eyes went wide, adjusting to the sudden darkness in the room.
Carey let go of her hand and slowly walked around the table, opening the circle again. The women released the hands they held, all of them taking deep, shaky breaths as the chill finally dissipated from the room.
When Carey flipped on the light and smiled, Maggie relaxed. No one said anything, and no one immediately moved from their posit
ions at the table. Maggie didn’t know where to go. She didn’t know what to say. Shock reverberated through her as she looked from one stunned face to another.
Beth’s voice broke through the stony silence of the room. “Fuck this. I need another drink.”
Miles and miles away, a lone figure walked through the darkness shrouded in a black cloak. His body still hummed from the power stolen from the little witch bitch. He could feel her strength pulsing through his veins, still hear the pleading screams she had let loose from her heart-shaped lips.
She had begged for her life before he had stripped her of her power. His knife had found that tender spot below her breast and he had buried the blade to the hilt, one slow inch at a time. He had kept her power firmly locked within him as he extinguished the light from her warm brown eyes.
He had wanted her body in the haze of raping the power from her. His cock was still stiff thinking about it, but he had known he couldn’t risk spoiling her. She had what was left of the coven’s power within her and he couldn’t risk tainting it, no matter how much his body demanded it of him. He wished now that he hadn’t saved her for last. He could have at least played with her a little bit then.
Only a handful more, he thought, then he would have enough power and strength so he could continue with his plan. Of course, now that so many had already been killed and drained, it was becoming increasingly difficult to find more of them, but he didn’t let that slow him down. The world would be a better place without their naiveté. Magic was a powerful gift they could never master or comprehend like he could.
This is what Fate had shown him. This was his destiny. He would take his place as leader when the time was right. He would have enough power to truly be a force to be reckoned with. He would be the one to bring the world to its knees.
When Sparks Fly (Netherworld Series Book 3) Page 1
