As Wicked As They Come

by Emma Dean

  “What exactly is going on, Matriarch Marshall?” Samuel demanded, crossing his massive arms over his naked chest.

  She surveyed the gathered Council members. Mika didn’t know any of them by face or name, other than the Alpha tiger and Jack Pine who was looking around in confusion, a glass of champagne in his hand.

  Utterly useless.

  Mika focused on the one she knew the best, even if it was only because of Selene, the one who might be more sympathetic to her case due to their tenuous ties through Kenzie.

  Malachi stood directly behind her with Audrey beside him. Ethan was on her right and Lucien was on her left. Each one of them were strong and powerful in their own ways. Their strength gave her strength and Mika made sure her spine was straight and her shoulders back as she looked right into Samuel’s eyes, nearly a challenge.

  Somewhere in this room she could feel Corbin, Dagon, and Armad among hundreds of others. The shadows were inkier than normal, telling her Khalida was still around. Mika considered the Council before her and those who she could call upon.

  And for the first time…she felt bad for these people who’d been kept in the dark and coddled, living in their own version of the world. They had no idea what was coming.

  No matter what happened here tonight, she wasn’t alone. All she had to do was navigate the tricky rules the Council followed. How they decided to follow them tonight would decide not only her future, but the future of her kind.

  “I’m here to make a claim,” Mika declared. “I’m here to demand justice for my sisters.”

  Samuel raised both eyebrows at that. “What kind of claim?”

  No one really wanted to listen to her. She could feel their irritation and annoyance. They wanted to go back to their lives, not deal with this nonsense. More than a few shuffled and complained.

  “Make your claim in the morning during normal office hours, girl,” that older male snapped. “Samhain is a sacred holiday.”

  The Morrigan appeared then with Cassandra Jadis in tow, a nasty looking spell had sewn the Head Witch’s lips shut with black thread.

  More than a few Council members cried out in fear, backing away from the Morrigan.

  “You would deny my daughter’s claim when I so kindly brought you all here?” the Morrigan purred. “I know not all of you have forgotten the sacred night of your goddess. Samhain is mine, and I demand your presence here and now.”

  Frightened murmurs rose and Mika surveyed the group of the most powerful people on this continent and wondered if they even remembered who the Morrigan was and what she stood for.

  “Hecate?” someone tentatively asked.

  Mika winced.

  “I am the Morrigan.” Her spear slammed into the floor and cracks splintered outward in the marble. “Goddess of war and death, witchcraft and fertility.” Her voice rippled through the room with its power, cowing the Council members. Even the shifters flinched as her eyes turned completely black. “For centuries I was locked away and now I have returned to help right what has been wronged in my absence. I am the phantom queen,” she snarled. “And you will remember who I am.”

  Too many blinked stupidly, and Mika slid a look to Ethan. This was definitely not going as planned.

  Mika cleared her throat. “I’m sure they didn’t mean to offend, Mor,” she said, using Lucifer’s pet name for the goddess.

  The Morrigan bared her teeth at the Council and shoved Cassandra with her foot, but the pet name seemed to cut through some of her rage. The Head Witch slid across the marble floor toward Mika in a heap.

  The goddess looked to Mika. “As you requested, daughter.”

  With that, the goddess folded in on herself until she was a raven. The giant bird screamed and every single person in that room winced as the sound pierced the chambers like a war cry. She flew to one of the many rafters and settled in to watch, eyeing them all with those endless eyes.

  Mika glared up at the goddess, knowing exactly why she’d done what she did. Even without technically meddling in mortal affairs, she’d cowed every Council member with the extent of her power – reminding them she was a goddess.

  And then declared to the world she was at Mika’s beck and call.

  “Here,” Ethan muttered, snapping his fingers. A pair of black joggers appeared in his hand and he tossed them to Samuel.

  The Alpha tiger caught them and slid them on, glaring at Mika, at those around her, daring them to say something about his current state.

  No doubt as a shifter he could feel they weren’t the only ones in this room.

  “Fine,” the cranky old male snapped, face ruddy and his hands shaking ever so slightly as he adjusted his tux. “Make your claim. We all have places to be.”

  They were terrified of Mika. Too many wouldn’t meet her eyes. Some wouldn’t take their gaze off the Morrigan, and too many witches were staring at Cassandra in horror while others looked murderous.

  How many would defend the Head Witch?

  It didn’t matter, Mika had to try.

  “Cassandra Jadis, the Head Witch, is part of a scheme that started centuries ago,” Mika told them, making sure to meet as many eyes as possible. “She hates lowborn witches, and those who wield more power than her. It is why she tried to slaughter every blood witch she could find.”

  Strained silence at that.

  “What?” a female demanded, pushing through the crowd in her ball gown. “Blood witch? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

  Mika tried to stay calm. The Morrigan had said they would remember. She just had to push through.

  “Blood witch,” Mika murmured, looking down at her bloody palm. Then she faced that palm toward the Council. “Blood magic is a specialty, much like necromancy. It was once called sanguimancy, or the Old Ways. When Cassandra started killing my kind, my ancestor Eleanor Marshall performed a blood spell to wipe all memory of blood witches from the world. Only the fox libraries and raven eyries contained the truth thanks to their wards.”

  Too many balked at the sight of blood on her hand.

  “I have proof,” Mika told them. She snapped her fingers and a trunk slammed on the floor before Samuel, full of copies she’d had made of every book on blood magic, blood witches, and the Morrigan, but most importantly she had a copy of Elizabeth’s letters, and the book the fox had written while investigating the Hellfire Society.

  “You can check your own libraries for copies that should be restored thanks to the Morrigan removing that spell, including the Council records.” Mika kicked open the trunk and pulled out the book on the top. “Shall I read?”

  The Council shuffled uncomfortably, and she could see their looks of horror turn to something like confusion. Something was starting to sink in. That, or they were wondering what the hell this had to do with Cassandra.

  “I don’t think that’s necessary,” Samuel told her, eyeing the books. “The fox libraries you say?”

  Mika didn’t dare look back at Lucien as she lazily tossed the book back into the trunk. “Yes.”

  “I thought they never let in outsiders.”

  “They don’t.” Her heart clenched when Lucien stepped forward, eyes glowing gold – declaring what he was in front of everyone. “But Mika is not an outsider. She is a blood witch.”

  Hearing it out loud, in front of these people, terrified her.

  But she didn’t wait for them to speak, didn’t wait for them to question and derail her.

  “Before Cassandra, the Hellfire Society created a seal to hell on Morgana Island. They unleashed demons upon that island and killed nearly every blood witch alive. Only a few of them were able to escape, including one of my ancestors,” Mika explained.

  Morgana appeared then, as if she’d been quietly listening, invisible to them all.

  Scattered across the Council, people seemed to recognize the silent ghost who looked nearly identical to Mika thanks to the armor the Morrigan had given her – and some small part of her wondered if that had been on purpose.


  Morgana didn’t bother to say a word. She eyed the Council with disdain and then went to stand next to Audrey.

  “I can show you the truth of my words, through books,” Mika told the Council, pointing at the trunk. “Or blood.”

  Cassandra glared up at her when she approached, and Mika gripped the old witch’s arm and made a quick, shallow slice.

  Screams filled the air and then hushed silence as Mika concentrated on the dribble of Cassandra’s blood. The truth in that blood shimmered and she murmured the spell that would let it shine.

  A projection of The Head Witch had blood on her hands as she slit a young witch’s throat in clothes that were well over a hundred years old. The screams of that witch were loud in the Council chambers before the memory faded away.

  More than a few flinched.

  “There are more,” Mika told them. “But you get the point.”

  She took a moment to see how many of the Council would actually meet her eyes now, who looked curious, who looked like they were about to shit their pants, and who looked ready to rip her limb from limb.

  So few dared meet her gaze.

  “Whoever was responsible for opening that seal, they locked away the Morrigan, a witch goddess, and then recruited Cassandra to finish us off when they realized they’d missed a few. The Head Witch owes my ancestors a blood debt and I’m here to call it in.”

  “Murder is not illegal,” one of the Council members stated. “Did she violate any Council laws?”

  “Seriously?” Ethan demanded. “You’re not worried about anything else she said?”

  “Blood magic is illegal,” someone accused from the back.

  “It is not,” Samuel stated, studying Mika closely. “It was a law that was never passed.”

  Silence.

  No one believed her, not really.

  Mika felt panic rise and she almost choked on it.

  “Dark magic is frowned upon for a reason,” a female witch told Mika. “Witches are neutral and using the darker forces upsets the careful balance we’ve built over the centuries. Before witches became neutral it was nothing but chaos. For that alone we will have to take action.”

  Embrace the chaos, the Morrigan had told her.

  Lucien growled and unsheathed a sword at the same time lightning struck the floor before the female.

  “You better consider which of these two you’re going to take action against very carefully,” Ethan murmured, voice cold and ruthless. More lightning crackled in his palm as he stepped forward.

  Cassandra was still struggling to get the thread out of her lips, but the Morrigan’s spell couldn’t be tampered with. Her nails cut through skin instead of thread and blood poured down her chin and throat.

  Mika needed to reign in this madness. It was spiraling out of control.

  Too many Council members were useless assholes. Too many players with conflicting interests in this room. She’d told them what she was, and they didn’t believe, but they’d honed in on the blood magic like wolves.

  It was something they understood, while the rest of it was merely a horrible fairy tale. The blood, the books…it wasn’t enough.

  She had to embrace this madness and make the chaos her own, not let it rule her as she had for far too long.

  Mika considered Cassandra before her while the Council members squabbled over what to do with her, not the Head Witch.

  Malachi was suddenly behind the female who’d threatened Mika, how he’d gotten there, she didn’t know. But he looked like he was about to take heads and worry about the consequences later.

  Ethan pointed his lightning at the crochety old male witch who liked to argue. Lucien unsheathed his second sword before crouching into a fighting stance, while Audrey summoned pure energy, searching the Council for the first target that tried to rush them.

  “Stop,” Mika ordered.

  The lightning died in Ethan’s hands. Lucien sheathed his weapons. Audrey curled her fingers over the energy and let it sink back into her skin. Malachi stepped back into the shadow realm, irritation crossing his features. When he reappeared at her side too many in the Council yelped in fear and confusion.

  “Blood magic is my specialty,” Mika stated, staring down at Cassandra. “I am a morrigan and I am calling in the blood debt Cassandra owes.”

  Her court surrounded her, the ravens of Corbin’s flock, even though they couldn’t be seen, they were everywhere. Mika could have sworn Samuel and a few other shifters scanned the room, looking for them.

  “By law you must answer this claim, Cassandra,” Samuel said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Regardless of what anyone thinks of the rest of the information presented here tonight.”

  The Head Witch glared at Mika, at the Morrigan – her fur coat rumpled and wet.

  What the hell had the Morrigan done, dragged her through an ocean?

  “Though,” Samuel warned, carefully keeping his eyes on Mika. “Cassandra still hasn’t done anything to punish her for.”

  Mika glared at the Alpha tiger, feeling her rage flicker and dance under her skin, barely leashed as it strained for an outlet. “Genocide isn’t enough?”

  “Most of our laws focus on staying hidden from the humans,” Samuel told her, crossing his massive arms over his bare chest as he explained. His golden eyes were fixated on her. Mika wondered…

  Was it because the tiger saw her as the true threat? The other predator in the room he needed to keep an eye on?

  “Our laws are about keeping balance between our realm and others,” Samuel continued. “And even then, most of our laws are nothing more than bargains, such as the one we have with Lucifer, among others. Cassandra Jadis did not expose witches to the humans. She did not earn her place as Head Witch illegally. She challenged and won. She may owe you a blood debt, but the Council decides if she pays it, if the claim is worthy.”

  Mika bared her teeth at him, not caring if she was challenging an Alpha. She could see now why the Morrigan had hated the Council.

  Mika looked up at the raven in the rafters and nodded. The goddess screeched and the thread disappeared from Cassandra’s lips.

  A shudder went through the Council members.

  “Blood magic isn’t a specialty,” Cassandra spat at Mika, wiping the blood from her mouth. “This one just loves the attention and seeks more power. Killing her sister, apparently, wasn’t enough.”

  All Mika could see was red as those words clanged through her like a klaxon.

  “Tell them the truth, Cassandra.” Mika’s voice was cold, unfeeling as that icy rage whipped through her. “Or I will make you.”

  They both knew Mika could. They both knew if it came down to it, Mika could shatter every bone in the other witch’s body.

  But the Head Witch just smiled and Mika wondered again what power she held – gifted to her by a god just as Mika’s was.

  “I could always give her my new truth serum,” Ethan said, eyeing the Head Witch.

  “Or I could simply take her head, leaving her soul for the Morrigan,” Malachi purred. “Since murder isn’t illegal.”

  Cassandra curled her lip up at Mika. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

  Someone very stupid reached for their phone, no doubt to call in the hunters at their beck and call.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Corbin said lazily, appearing out of the shadows.

  And suddenly hundreds of ravens appeared out of the inky darkness, flying above the Council – circling. Armad and three others she didn’t know shifted, landing next to Corbin.

  “The Morrigan is our goddess too,” Corbin told the Council. “We were tasked with protecting blood witches and Mika is the last. So, lucky her, she has my entire flock at her disposal.”

  The ravens all landed, shifting into human forms as they did so. Every single one of them wore the assassin’s garb and the Council members huddled together to put as much distance between them and the killers-for-hire as possible.

  “They are not
alone,” Khalida said. That terrifying echo of her voice filled the room before she appeared out of the black smoke, dark cloak over her head and scythe in her hand, Dagon suddenly at her side in his hound form – massive with those hellfire eyes and acidic spit sizzling onto the ground.

  Then Lucifer appeared next to Khalida and Dagon, Jess at his side. “We’re here to stand witness and ensure justice is properly served.”

  So many faces drained of color.

  Eisheth popped in. “Samesies.” He gave Mika a wink and disappeared – only to reappear, sitting beside the Morrigan, legs dangling off the edge. All he needed was some damn popcorn to complete his look of pure glee at the dramatic events unfolding.

  “I will not be cowed by this Council.” It was Mika’s turn to warn Samuel.

  It was impressive how easily he ignored the army of assassins that had gathered, the various gods and ghosts and creatures of hell. If she wasn’t so close to unleashing everything she was on this place, wiping the world clean of this bullshit, she’d be impressed.

  Before the Council could give their decision, Cassandra screeched in fury and pointed a finger right at Mika, her other hand whipping above her head in a circle.

  Wind blasted outward and Mika unsheathed Excalibur, driving the sword into the ground to keep from falling.

  But so many, too many, were pushed to the walls as the wind howled endlessly.

  Except the wind didn’t touch twelve witches. They glared at Mika from behind Cassandra, so clearly loyal to the Head Witch.

  It was all she could do to hold on. Mika unsheathed a knife and threw it right at Cassandra, but it bounced harmlessly off a shield. The witches started chanting, and before she could get her feet back under her and stand…

  A circle snapped up around them, separating Mika from every single one of her allies.

  The wind finally died, and Cassandra smiled at her, the holes in her lips still gaping and bleeding.

  “Now, Mika Marshall, I am the most powerful witch to ever have existed. I am the ruler of our people, and I deny your claim. Arrest her.”

  35