“I’ll talk to him. We have a few things in common,” I said. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say to him to convince him to help us, but I had to try. Everything was riding on his help. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it even with his help. I felt a connection to this Demon I couldn’t explain and with every step closer to defeating him, I felt that connection even more, but I still had to try.
I opened the basement door and made my way down. Standing in the center of a circle was Caleb. His head was down and he was waiting for something. Maybe it was me or maybe it was the Demon that I didn’t want to feel anymore inside me.
“I hear you’re ready to join us,” I said. He looked up and shook his head.
“It’s not like I have a choice,” he said. “What happens I don’t do it?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.
“I do,” he said. “Zarrick will kill me.”
I shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not.”
“You know Zarrick as well as I do. He’ll kill me.”
I stood in front of him and looked at him. For the first time I really saw him. He was full of pain and sadness. The man I’d met who was confident and full of himself was different. Grief does that, I figured.
“I won’t let him,” I said. “It’s not fair that you don’t think you have a choice in this. I don’t want that.” I bit my lip and slid my foot into the circle. “I want you to decide. No killing. Not forcing. Just a choice.”
“You’re willing to give the world to the Demon over me?” Caleb watched me and I shrugged.
“The world shouldn’t be about one person, but it is. I refuse to carry that weight on my own.”
“So you’re going to make me do it?” He laughed. “Perfect. The damaged guy gets to decide if the world should burn or not.” He shook his head. “What if I say no?”
“Then I’ll stand in front of the Demon and hope I can stop him.”
“Alone?”
“I’m never alone,” I said. “I have Zander, Zarrick and Zane.”
He sighed. “You’re asking me to give up everything,” he said.
“No, I’m asking you to start again. To have a life that makes you happy and where you’re loved.” I ran my hand over his cheek. He reached for it and held it there.
“I don’t know what way is right,” he said.
“No one does,” I said honestly. “Maybe that’s what makes you strong. That you have seen the darkness and still stand.”
“So have you,” he said. He sighed and looked away. “I’ll help you kill the Demon, but you have to let me go after. I’ll disconnect from the coven and live my own life.”
I pulled my hand away. It was like a slap in the face I couldn’t explain. “I will.”
Eleven
I walked up the stares with Caleb behind me. I knew the others weren’t going to be too happy about it, but it wasn’t their choice. This was mine. This was the only way to beat the Demon and free not just me, but everyone else.
I didn’t see the Blake until I almost ran into her.
She glanced at me and then at Caleb and back to me. She raised an eyebrow. “You really want to add this to the mix?” She shook her head. “You have no idea what this guy does to this coven.”
“It doesn’t matter. There is a bigger picture we have to deal with,” I answered. She watched me for a moment before walking away muttering to herself.
I grabbed Caleb’s hand and drug him to the entryway and looked around for the other guys. They weren’t there so I walked up the stairs towards the balcony. When I opened the doors, I could see them gathered there. Zarrick looked up and made a face. Zander was sitting at the table with a book in front of him. He smiled when he saw me, but it faded with he saw Caleb behind me.
“I was hoping to find a way to help us defeat the Demon without including Caleb,” Zander said.
I raised an eyebrow and Zane laughed. He was standing at the balcony and didn’t turn to me.
“We can’t get around it,” Zane said, shaking his head. “We have to be a full coven. Even the Demon said that.”
“I don’t want to be tied to you forever, but I’m willing to do this,” Caleb said. He stepped beside me and glanced at Zarrick. “I don’t have to like it.”
“What made you change your mind all the sudden?” Zarrick crossed his arms as he spoke.
“Cat,” he said simply.
“She’s very convincing,” Zander said.
Zane laughed an finally turned around. “There’s a full moon tomorrow. We can do the binding then.”
“Then we can figure out how to go after this Demon,” Zander said. “Hopefully, we can get the upper hand this time.”
“This Demon is not anything like the others,” Caleb glanced at me before looking back to the others. “I saw into who he is. He’s old and he knows he can burn this whole world. All he needs is the one thing that can destory him.”
“Cat,” Zane said. “We already knew that.”
“Did you know that this whole coven thing has very little to do with us? She uses our power. She conducts it through herself,” Caleb said.
“I suspected it,” Zander said. “I’ve been reading all the books I can get, including some old ones the council had. There isn’t much in it, but there were some passages about covens with one that channeled all the powers of the others in it.”
“You made the right choice when you stayed here instead of joining my coven for that reason,” Caleb said. “With what happened, you’d be dead or already in his hands.”
“You helped him capture her and now you’re worried about what hands she’s in?” Zarrick said shaking his head.
“I made a mistake,” he said.
“You made a choice and now you’re trying to get out of it and save your ass,” Zarrick walked passed me and glanced at Caleb. “I’m not staying anywhere near you. I’ll be there for the binding and that’s it. You’re nothing to me.” Zarrick walked away and I glanced at Caleb.
He didn’t look like it had hurt him as much as I thought it would. He seemed to almost expect it, but they had a long past that I only knew so much about.
“The binding won’t hurt like an unbinding, but it will give us a chance to get you in the coven and see what the extent of Cat’s powers will be with you as well as the rest.” Zander closed the book he was reading and glanced to the Oleander plant in the corner. It was withered and brown.
I glanced at Zander who met my gaze, but didn’t say anything. He knew there was something else going on. I could see it all over his face.
“Can we have a minute,” Zander said.
Caleb nodded and Zane just stared at Caleb before walking passed him and off the balcony. Caleb just squeezed my hand before turning away and going down the hallway. I knew I should hate him and want to pull away, but I didn’t. I only wanted to take him and help him see how good we could be if we worked together.
“What happened when you with the Demon?” Zander got straight to the point.
I bit my lip and took a breath. There was a lot, but I didn’t know if I should tell him about it and how it happened. I pulled out a chair and sat at the table beside him and sighed.
“He almost unbound the coven,” I said. “He made me an offer to share energy with him to survive the spell.”
“You bound yourself to him,” Zander said. He looked away. “How could you do that?”
“I didn’t realize I did until after,” I said glancing at the dead plant in the corner. “I have darkness inside of me. Even Blake saw it.”
“I don’t understand how it happened when you are stil bound to us,” he said. “I wish you would have told me at least.”
“I didn’t want you to see me differently,” I answered. “That’s why I thought the priestess would help, but that wasn’t what I wanted either.”
“I hope we didn’t make an enemy out of her. That’s all we need,” Zander said. He leaned forward and put his hand on mine. “We’ll figure this out.”
“I don’t know if we can,” I said.
He put his hand on my cheek and let his thumb slide over my lips. “We all love you. We can get through this.”
“After we get rid of this Demon, I want to just relax for awhile,” I said, grabbing his wrist. “I don’t want to do this all the time. I just want to live with my men and have the life I’ve always wanted.”
“If that’s what you want, you will have it,” Zander said. “Let’s wait to tell the others until we get this Demon issue handled. They don’t need to know about this darkness. We will figure it out together.”
Zane
Twelve
He walked passed Caleb, but watched him closely. There was something about him he didn’t like. It was easy to say he would help when he had to, but what would happen when they really needed him? Zane had a stinking feeling, he wouldn’t be there.
“Zane, can we talk?” Blake was standing in the doorway of his room. She was still as beautiful as ever, but she was different.
“What do you need?” Zane said as she moved so he could go into his room. She shut the door and stood in the doorway.
“I am in trouble,” she said.
“Yeah, I know. The Priestess wants you in her coven.” Zane watched her as she paced back and forth.
“That’s not all of it,” she said. She bit her lip and met Zanes gaze.
“What is it?” Zane felt the tension and how unsure she was to tell him this. It made him that much more alarmed.
“It’s not just the Priestess that is after me. The Hunters are too,” she said. “They are going to have an all out war over me. I don’t know what to do.”
“That’s a lot,” Zane said. “What do you need from me?”
“I just need a place to go till I can figure this all out.” She sat next to him on the bed and sighed. “I thought I knew what I was doing.”
“You learned a lot from the Priestess. That should throw the Hunters off, but you need protection.” Zane put his hand on hers. “You need more than just you.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Owen is in with a coven that’s in Washington. They are pretty off the grid,” Zane said.
“Great,” She said. “More Witches. Just what I need.”
Zane let a laugh slip from his lips. “They are good guys and Owen is one of them.”
Blake stood and shook her head. “I can’t do that.”
“I know things are weird when it comes to Owen, you and I, but this isn’t about that,” Zane said. “We’ve been over for a long time and he will just want to make sure you’re safe.”
“How can you be so cool about this?” Blake said.
“I have everything I need here.” Zane smiled. “Cat is everything I want. I didn’t expect it to be the way it is, but it’s the way the universe wants it.”
“You really trust this, huh?”
“I do and you should too,” he said.
“I don’t know if I want to be a witch. I might just want to be a regular person,” Blake said.
“You still have to get the Hunters and the Priestess off your ass.” He stood and put his hands on her shoulders. “Go to Washington. Take care of the Priestess and the hunters and then look at what you can do to be normal.”
“You always seem to know what to do,” she said. “I’m sorry I was so bad to you before,” Blake said. “I’ve changed.”
“I know.” Zane smiled. “I hope you plan to tell Owen the same thing.”
“God, just what I want to do,” Blake said.
Zane smiled. He hoped she could be safe, but he had other things to think about and another woman to save. The only woman he wanted in his life.
Cat
Thirteen
I closed my eyes and called the air to me. I wasn’t sure about anything anymore. Even after coming clean with Zander I wasn’t sure about the rest of it.
I reached out with my mind and searched for the Demon. For the first time, I was looking for him and it scared me. He was always the one that crawled into my head when I was least expecting it.
I followed my thoughts until I could feel the fire and darkness of the Demon. He was right there, crawling in my skin and under my flesh. I was close, but he was locking me out.
I pushed a little harder and felt his blocks cracking. I couldn’t see him, but through the cracks I could feel why he hadn’t come looking for me all this time. He was weak. The all powerful Demon was hiding until he could gain his strength back.
I knew one thing. This was the perfect time to attack and kill the Demon once and for all. Now, I just had to get Caleb on my side and convince three very unsure men I was strong enough.
I made my way into the kitchen and Zarrick was sitting there at the table. His face was twisted with worry and I ran my hand over his back. He glanced up at me and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me to him.
“I missed you a lot,” he said. “I was stuck with Caleb the whole time.”
“I know you don’t like him, but we need him.” I rested my chin on his head and ran my hands through his hair.
“I know. I just can’t get the fact he helped that Demon get you and now we are supposed to trust him,” Zarrick said.
“I know it’s not easy, but this is the way it needs to be. I don’t know why, but it is.” I kissed the top of his head and he pulled me into his lap.
“We don’t have to think about that right now,” he said.
“I have other things on my mind.” He kissed me and I closed my eyes. Everything seemed to just go away when I was with him.
He ran his hand down my arm and I pulled at his shirt.
Zarrick kissed down my neck and I reared my head back. He pulled my shirt over my head and kissed down my neck to the top of my breasts. He slid my bra off my body and lifted me onto the table, his hand sliding over my ass.
I pulled his shirt over his head and threw it on the floor.
He leaned over me and kissed my breast, before taking my hard nipple into his mouth. I moaned with need as his tongue flicked over my nipple.
He kissed my stomach and worked his way down, biting at the top of my pants to unbutton them. Once he had them loose, he pulled them off and pulled my body to the edge of the table.
He kissed me before he slid into my already dripping pussy. I gasped and grabbed at the table. He bit at my neck as he pushed into me.
I closed my eyes and moaned. It was better than I’d felt in a long time. I rocked my hips into him as he pounded into me. This wasn’t a sweet night of sex, it was a hard need he had for me. I couldn’t think with the sensations he was sparking in me.
He pounded harder and I grabbed at his hair. He growled as he pushed his cock into me. I wrapped my legs around him and pulled him to me. He grabbed my hands and pinned them behind my head.
I didn’t fight him. I couldn’t. The only thing I could do was feel with every nerve in my body as he moved inside me. I felt my release building and arched my back, meeting his cock with my pussy as I finally let go. I gasped as my release and writhed underneath him.
He gave one last push for good measure and pulled me to him.
I pushed him back into the chair without even letting him pull out of me. I kissed him hard, with need and rolled my hips slightly on his cock.
He grabbed my hips and held tight as I moved. I grabbed the chair and let all my anger and fear over what was maybe going to happen go. All I wanted to do was ride him until everything else was gone.
And that’s exactly what we did.
Fourteen
I sat in the entryway sipping my coffee with a smile on my face. It had been too long since I’d had a night alone with Zarrick. We both needed the togetherness we’d had last night.
“You look happy,” Caleb said coming up behind me.
I glanced at him. While I was happy he felt okay with being here, I was still worried this wasn’t going to work out the way I wanted it to. Whenever I looked at him, I saw something twisted and brok
en, but there was also something that made me want to take care of him and help him through the hardship he was already dealing with. I’d been in the same boat as him when it came to the Demon, but I also hadn’t lost my connection with the Demon. Caleb had.
“What are we doing today?” He took a seat beside me.
“I have no idea. We have to do the binding and then we will probably go after the Demon,” I answered.
“Do we know where he is or how to stop him?”
“Nope, not a clue,” I answered.
“Then how the hell are we going to do anything about it?”
“I have to find a way to connect and figure out where he is. The last time I worked with air, I could almost find him,” I said.
“Have you tired using the darkness with air to find him?”
“I don’t know how?”
“Yes, you do,” he said. “It’s not as hard as you may think. I’m sure you could see it when you were using air. You just have to let it mix and that’s your way in.”
I stared at him for a moment. I realized all the questions I had over this darkness could be answered by him.
“Did it take you over when you were bound to the Demon?”
“It tried. It’s easy to get lost in the power of it.” He licked his lips. “I would have went totally under without you.”
“But I’m supposed to just deal with it?”
“You are the one that can handle it,” he said. “It’s a part of why you ended up with all this power.” He sighed. “It’s why I wanted you in my coven.”
I laughed slightly. “I’ll try. I just don’t want to be tied to this thing forever.”
“That’s too late. Even when you defeat him, you will still have the darkness inside you,” he said.
“Are you ready to do this?” Zander said walking into the room. My eyes met his and he smiled.
“I guess, but remember when this is over I’m going to break these ties and go my own path,” Caleb said. He turned to me and smiled. “Thank you for helping me, but this is the way I want it.”
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