by Zoe Warner
I opened my eyes and glanced at the plant I’d help save before we’d gone up against the Demon. It withered in front of me into old dead pieces.
I felt my breath catch and looked into the sky as clouds thundered and lightning pierced the sky.
This was the beginning of the end.
Thirty
I ran my hand over the dark blue book with Silver writing. It was the only book in the house on Demons, but it had a lot of great information that was bound to help me at least a little. I shuffled through the pages about how they came about and how I couldn't kill them. I sighed. That was not what I wanted to hear.
"Did you find anything that might help you?" Zander said, taking a seat beside me at the table.
"No, just a bunch of things I already know," I said.
"You are the only one that's gotten close to a Demon around here."
"Is there anyone else that might be able to help?"
"I don't know anyone, but Owen is still here. We can ask him," Zander said.
I nodded my head and looked into his icy blue eyes. They looked different somehow. Like they weren't his anymore. I put my hand on his.
"You don't have to worry about me," I said with a smile. "I've been in his hands twice and both times got away."
"Yeah, I know, but it's our job to keep you safe and figure out what is going on with your magick."
"It's better than it was. I have control over all of it, for the most part," I said.
"With this addition of Caleb, things might get... interesting," Zander said. "Zarrick is not taking it well."
"I know. He won't talk to me."
"Give him time," Zander said. "Caleb hurt him and it's not going to fix itself overnight."
"Except we have to figure out how to kill a Demon that seems to be unkillable."
Zander smiled. "Maybe you should take a break. It's only been a few days since you dealt with this Demon."
"Maybe," I admitted. It might be time to take a minute and figure out what was going on with myself. I didn't tell him about the Oleander plant dying. I slid my gaze to the healed plant in the corner. I simply fixed the damage this other magick was doing every morning. The less they worried, the better.
"How is Caleb?" I hated the idea of him being in our coven, but it was the only way I felt we could overcome this Demon.
When I had all the Elements running through me, I felt whole and unstoppable. It was like everything I'd been fighting just melted away and I could control the thing that had fought to control me. The only part I wasn't so sure about was the darkness that was creeping up on me. It had wound its way inside my bones and was threatening to stay there. I had to find a way to get rid of it and stop this Demon forever.
"Fighting us. We expected it, but he has to agree or we don't stand a chance," Zander said.
"I know. Let me talk to him," I said. "Maybe he will listen to me."
Zander gave me a hard look and I raised my eyebrows.
"He has to trust someone and it's not going to be any of you," I said.
"He took you and you want to save him," Zander laughed as he spoke. "This is truly a crazy world."
I walked down the basement stairs and stopped as soon as I saw him. He was sitting on the ground with a circle around him and a cage around that. It seemed Zarrick didn't want to take any chances. I breathed the smell of earth and concrete in deeply. This wasn't going to be easy.
Caleb was sitting with his eyes closed and not moving even as I stepped closer.
"What do you want?" He said, still keeping his eyes closed.
"I came to talk," I said.
He opened his eyes and met my gaze. "I don't want to talk."
"Then you can listen to me talk," I snapped. "I know we've had our differences, but we have to work together."
"You want to talk to me about working together?" He laughed. "Your coven took everything from me."
"Why do you think that?"
"If you hadn't come into the picture, Alda wouldn't have used my coven as a road to building her own super one." He shook his head. "Mine would still be alive and we would have stopped the Demon."
"Instead you joined him," I snapped.
"I didn't have a choice. I'm not willing to die for an idea," he said, standing.
"You would rather be a puppet," I said. I felt the white-hot anger inside me, it was harder to control now that I'd used a Demon's magick. It was as though they were corrupting my elements.
Caleb smiled. "You're lost anyway," he said.
"I'm the one thing that can stop him, but I can't do it on my own."
"No, you need all the elements. Zander already tried. I don't care if you think I’m your earth. I'm not going to do anything for this coven."
"What did Zarrick do that was so bad?" I knew they had a falling out and that Zarrick had left the coven, but I didn't know exactly why.
"Why don't you ask him?"
"I tried that," I said. "He wasn't so giving of information."
"Sounds like him," Caleb said, crossing his arms.
We stood there for a long moment in silence before anyone made a move to speak.
"You do realize you're bound to him now," Caleb said without breaking his gaze.
"I've been bound to Zarrick this whole time," I said.
"Not him, the Demon."
"What?" I laughed. "Not possible."
"You said yes to him and he used the chance to connect you to him," he said.
"But I wasn't fully unbound from my coven," I said, watching him.
"It doesn't matter. His power will overpower theirs eventually. That's why he started the process and then did it in the middle. In case you managed to get free."
I looked away. "What's your excuse?"
"I did it willingly," he said. "My coven was dead, there was no one left to be bound to."
"What did he give you?" I asked.
He cocked a smile at me and didn't answer. I had an idea of what this man wanted and it wasn't going to help our cause in the least. I couldn't have two men in my coven fighting and causing trouble in the magick. We would never defeat the Demon if they did.
"Consider your options. You can stay down here and rot, or you can work with us and have a life."
"I'll rot, thanks," he said before turning his back on me.
I sighed and started up the stairs. Everything was a mess and there was nothing I could do about it. All I could think of was there had to be another way and there was only one person that might have a connection into the deep magick I'd need.
Owen.
Thirty-One
I sat in the entry way and glanced through the window. The air was so hot, it had its own visible vibration. I watched the way the fire in the air danced with it. It was amazing and interesting to see magick working without actually trying to make it work together. Everything had magick in it, even when we weren't looking.
"What are you doing out here?" Owen said coming up behind me. He was holding a cup of coffee and dressed in his signature look. A white t shirt with his black leather jacket over it. His face was shaved today and he looked a lot more like Zane than before.
"Thinking about my issues," I said without thinking.
"The guy in the basement or the Demon in your nightmares?" He took a sip of his coffee.
"A little of both," I said.
"I don't work with the dark stuff, but I used to know people that did."
"I can imagine with the way your power works; the dark stuff would suit you."
He dropped his gaze.
"I'm sorry, that was rude."
"No, it's truthful." He sighed. "Both Zane and I were drawn to the dark side of magick before we found our covens."
"What happened?"
"We took a different path," he said. "There are a lot of people in New Orleans that work with that kind of power, though."
"Doubt anyone can help with my Demon issues," I said.
"There might be one. She's... complicated."
&
nbsp; "What aren't you telling me?"
"She will want something for something." He raised his eyebrows. "She will want something from you that you might not want to give."
"I don't care as long as I can get rid of this Demon thing."
"You don't look the same as when you came to our home. There is something darker about you." He glanced at the floor. "Did anything happen while you were with him?"
I bit my lip. I wasn't sure I wanted to tell this guy I didn't even know something so personal. This Demon who was my lover and then my enemy made everything that much more complicated.
"Nothing I want to talk about," I said.
He nodded. "I'll leave the number to my contact on the table."
"Heading home, are you?"
"Yes. I've been gone far too long." He made a face. "I have to face Erik when I get there and I'm thinking the sooner I do that, the better."
"Maybe it will all work out," I said with a smile.
"Maybe." He smiled and walked to the kitchen. I figured he was going to talk to his brother and maybe the other guys before he went back to Washington.
At least I had something that maybe could point me a solution for my very annoying problem.
I didn't need any connections to a Demon that could change everything if he already hadn't.
I held the paper in my hand with the name and address of the Voodoo Priestess Owen knew. It was as though this one piece of little yellow paper held my whole future.
"What do you have there?" Zander said. He walked into the kitchen and glanced from my hand to my eyes.
"Did Owen leave?" I changed the subject.
"Yeah, he said he needed to go back or Erick would kill him," Zander said, taking a seat beside me. The kitchen was small but had a beautiful wood table sitting to one side. I was sitting at the head while he sat next to me. His blue eyes flashed concern, but I ignored it. I was going to be fine. I just had to get all this figured out.
"Would you be mad if I left for a while?" I asked it before I really thought about it. This Demon wanted me and no one else. If he was able to find me while I was on my own, then everything was lost.
"You can go anywhere you want as long as Zane and I go with you," he said without missing a beat.
I smiled. The thought of these men willing to die for me both terrified me and made me feel safe all at once. I wasn't the same weak girl they had first met. I was as strong as any of them now.
"Where are you thinking?" Zander said.
"Owen told me about a Priestess that might be able to help us in New Orleans," I said. I left the part out about the darkness churning inside me.
Zander nodded, considering my words. "Then we should talk to her and see what she can suggest."
"Owen also said there would be a cost," I added.
"There always is," Zander said. He smiled and put his hand on mine. The simple gesture made me feel warm and calm all at the same time. I ignored the surge of power that grew from his hand on mine. I didn't want that at that moment. I only wanted to feel safe and loved for even a second.
Since my time with the Demon, I'd felt as though a part of me was hollowed out and something was missing. I wondered if that was because Caleb wasn't as accepting as I'd hoped or if it was the Demon and the memories I was having about him,
Everything was so screwed up.
"I'll get some tickets booked and we will leave tonight," Zander said.
"That fast? No questions?" I said. A part of me was hoping he'd be a little hesitant with everything going on.
"Whatever you need to end this." He walked from the room, leaving me with the paper and my own thoughts. That seemed to be a dangerous thing right now.
Thirty-Two
Zarrick
He tightened the straps on Caleb's arms so he couldn't move. There was no way this jack ass was getting away and talking to the Demon that controlled him.
"This won't work," Caleb spat. "I hate everything about you, including your coven."
"You don't have a choice," Zarrick said without looking at him. "Neither of us do."
"You wanted to kill me," Caleb said.
"I would have. You have Cat to thank for your life."
"I've seen that Demon with her. She can't stay away. It's fated."
"You would say that," Zarrick said. He shook his head. "Cat can make her own choices and she has many times before."
"The Demon will have what he wants. You can't stop it."
"I don't plan to. Cat will." Zarrick was even amazed by his own words. He'd never thought about it, but there was no way he or any of the men in the coven to stop this thing. They all could control an element, but Cat could do all of them. It was interesting and amazing to watch.
"I'm not going to give up this power," Caleb said. The earth rumbled with his words. He was stronger while he was bound to the Demon, but it wouldn't last long.
"You don't get a choice. I remember when you did this to me. When I didn't do what you wanted. I guess payback is a real bitch." He closed the circle around Caleb and watched him. "This is going to hurt, a lot."
Zarrick couldn't even hear his own words over Caleb’s screams of pain.
Thirty-Three
I laid my head back in my seat. The plane was barely holding any passengers, but I still didn’t like I was stuck on a flying bus. I turned to my left and watched Zane looking through the window and ignoring the world. I wondered if he hated this whole flying thing as much as I did.
“The flight is pretty fast,” Zander said.
Sometimes I felt like he could read my mind. He always seemed to know when I needed to hear something from him.
“I’m alright,” I said with a smile.
He rested his hand on mine and glanced passed me to Zane. “You know where this priestess lives, right?”
“I have an idea,” Zane replied. “It’s been a few years since I saw her.”
“Owen was the one that spent the most time there,” Zander said without thinking. “He was going to join her group until they parted ways.”
“Why did they part ways?” I asked, curiosity getting to me.
“Some of the group were using magick for themselves. While the Priestess does do work for others on occasion, it’s not something she likes to do.”
“That sounds like a weird reason to split,” I said.
“New Orleans Witches aren’t like the others. They are darker and fight harder than any others I’ve ever met.” He glanced at Zane as he spoke.
“We are also very stubborn,” Zane said with a huge smile.
I snorted as I laughed.
“Where will we stay once we get there?” I glanced between the two men as I spoke.
“My family still has a house there,” Zane said.
“Do you still have a lot of family in the area?”
“Not really, just my mom and a couple of cousins,” Zane said.
“That will be fun to meet your family,” I said.
He flinched and I realized family was a touchy subject for him. I wondered why but didn’t dare ask.
We sat in silence until the plane landed in New Orleans. The first thing I noticed about the place was the energy. It was as though there were so many people with magick in their veins that it permeated the air. Everything was electric, from the ground to the buildings. The heat and the way it stuck to my skin was the second thing I noticed. It was thick and clung to me like it needed me.
Zane touched my hand and my body cooled immediately. I looked into his cool blue eyes and felt his energy wrap around mine. It helped me to feel safe and loved. I loved when he did that.
We walked through the airport and made our way to the waiting car. I glanced at the nice black Car and then back to Zane. He just shrugged and opened the door for me. The driver didn’t look back as we slid into the seat and closed the door.
He drove for a while before stopping in front of a big white house with columns holding a porch on the second story. It was beautiful and fit right int
o what I thought New Orleans would be about.
The shutters were a dark green and there were two trees on either side of the driveway. They were huge and old with dark green leaves and twisty trunks. I wondered how long they had been there.
We made our way passed them and pulled up in front of the large wrap around porch. It was amazing in its beauty. I wanted to know more about Zane’s life and his family. This was going to be the perfect time to find out.
“This is your house?” I asked.
“It was. My mom still lives here with some of my cousins. They like to stay close.” He didn’t look at me as he spoke, but I could tell there was something behind his words he wasn’t saying. Maybe he was afraid of what I’d think of his family or something else I didn’t know.
We walked to the door, but it was already open with a thin older woman standing there. Her light hair curled down her back. She didn’t smile and looked even a little annoyed.
“Zane, you finally came home.”
He smiled and glanced back at me. “This is Cat and you know Zander,” he said.
“You didn’t bring Zarrick?” She raised her eyebrows.
“He’d home taking care of other issues,” Zander said.
“You guys are always taking care of issues.” She took a step towards me and looked me up and down. “I’m guessing you’re a new coven member.”
“Yes,” I said simply. There was no point in getting into everything. It would just be too much to explain on a first meeting.
“You know this coven wasn’t my first choice,” she said with a shrug. “I would have rather seen my two boys together.”
No one said anything, but Zane put his hand on his mother's shoulder and I knew there was contention there. I didn't say anything but followed Zane and Zander into the house.
