Witch's Betrayal

by Crystal Ash

  Witch’s Betrayal

  Unholy Trinity Book 3

  Crystal Ash

  Copyright © 2018 by Crystal Ash

  Cover Art by Moonchildljilja

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  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

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  Crystal Ash

  WITCH’S EXILE

  PROLOGUE

  About the Author

  Also by Crystal Ash

  Prologue

  LILITH

  I kicked my feet leisurely in the stream, enjoying the cool, flowing water across my sun-kissed skin. The water shimmered in the sunlight and flickered with the movement of small fish in its depths.

  Mud squished between my toes as I dug my feet in. Something skittered over my foot, a freshwater crab probably, and I giggled at the tickling sensation.

  With a contented sigh, I leaned back until the soft cushion of grass met my spine and supported me gently. I closed my eyes and soaked in every pleasant sensation in my body.

  By all accounts this place was paradise, but I knew my time here was limited. I wanted to enjoy the sun on my skin and the mud between my toes while I still could.

  Fear created a knot in the pit of my stomach despite telling myself I had no reason to be afraid. The angel Ashtaroth said he would protect me from harm. He planned to leave Heaven and would take me with him.

  When he came to me, after I ran away from another fight with my incompetent husband, I was practically blinded by how beautiful the angel was. Hair on his head like polished gold, eyes bright and blue as a lagoon, and a smooth face with perfect skin and an angular jaw. And of course, who could miss the massive wings on his back covered in dense, pure white feathers.

  Adam told me about the angels, but I had never seen one before. His vague description and crude drawings in the mud did nothing to prepare me for the beautiful, ethereal creature of light in the flesh.

  As magnificent and pure as the angel was, his body was what I kept picturing behind my eyelids at night while my husband fumbled and grunted while on top of me.

  Like us, Ashtaroth was completely naked, but he looked nothing like the human man I was created for. He was taller by at least a full head, and muscles rippled across his body as if carved from a mountainside. As an angel, he was perfect.

  My body grew hot at the sight of him. I wanted those massive arms to sweep me up in them, to feel those perfect lips on my skin. For the first time in my life, I felt what could only be the cardinal sin of lust.

  And it frightened me. Adam told me it was forbidden for a woman to feel lust. At the time I didn't worry, because I never lusted for him and couldn't begin to know what that desire felt like. But the moment I laid eyes on Ashtaroth, I knew immediately.

  I could be killed or exiled from the Garden for those feelings alone.

  As I laid back on that grassy bank by the stream, I remembered Ashtaroth's words to me and called on them for strength.

  "The world is dangerous outside the Garden," he told me. "If you will have me, I'll continue to guard you from harm until we find a safe haven of our own."

  "Isn't that a betrayal?" I asked. "Won't He cast you out of heaven for helping me?"

  "Yes, but I am prepared," he replied. "I have two allies and we have plans to create our own world with our own followers."

  The Garden was the only home I'd ever known, and yet I wanted to escape more than anything. Adam constantly reminded me that I was created for the sole purpose of serving and obeying him, but the thought of such a life made me miserable. Would our creator really make that my purpose if I was unhappy?

  He created both of us from dust. Did that not make us equals? I was happiest doing the same work as Adam, such as finding wood for our fire and hunting for food. I loved laughing and playing in the stream, but Adam always got angry and told me that was not appropriate for a woman. For him to be happy, I had to be quiet and do essentially nothing but wait around for him to bark orders at me.

  If I didn't want to make children, he said he had every right to force me. Even when it hurt so badly, it brought tears to my eyes. When I cried out to the sky, asking our creator if this was what he truly meant for me, I received no answer.

  We never could make any children. Adam said it was punishment for my disobedience.

  My lonely cries went unanswered for years until Ashtaroth appeared before me.

  "Why do you want to protect me?" I asked after a long silence.

  His blue eyes flashed and his serious face gave way to the barest hint of a smile.

  "Because you are the kind of woman humanity needs."

  He vowed to be my guardian angel and promised to watch over me. Still, doubt swirled in my mind. Could I trust him? Was it a test from our creator?

  Adam told me never to have doubt, never to ask questions. Faith in our creator was the answer to everything. The pursuit of knowledge was another sin. That never sat well with me either. In my head, I was always asking questions but at this point, I didn't dare voice them out loud.

  I kept them in my head where no one else could reach.

  Unsurprisingly, my moment of peace by the stream was interrupted by a foot kicking me in the thigh.

  "Look, wife!" Adam sounded pleased, which was surprising. "Look at His almighty power! Those who refuse Him are in for a rude awakening."

  I opened my eyes to see massive, angry storm clouds moving quickly across the sky. They blocked out the sun and my skin erupted in shivers from the resulting temperature drop. The wind picked up, howling through the trees as the sky grew even darker.

  I sat up, pulling my feet out of the now-freezing water and wrapped my arms around myself for warmth.

  "What's happening?" I asked. The fear in my stomach clenched into an even tighter knot. Something wasn't right.

  "There have been betrayals among His angels in heaven." Adam gave me a pointed look. "He's casting them out and setting an example for the world to see."

  A bolt of lightning flashed and struck a nearby rock, sending sparks and a burning smell through the air.

  "Adam, we've got to run!" I shrieked, my fear spurring into panic. "We'll get killed if we stay out here!"

  His lip curled as if the sight of me disgusted him.

  "True believers have no reason to hide," he snarled. "His wrath will not touch me, but only those who have been unfaithful in their heart."

  I froze for half a moment, wondering if this man was really crazy enough to stay out in a lightning storm. My answer came in the form of a deafening clap of thunder right over our heads.

  To the sound of Adam's maniacal laughter, I ran.

  Not knowing where else to go, I f
ollowed the stream as fast as my feet could carry me. Like a frightened rabbit running for its life, I ran to escape the lightning which I swore was following me.

  My ears rang and my lungs burned as I ran to my only hiding place, a small cave created by a cluster of mossy boulders.

  I darted inside, gasping for air as I sat on the ground and brought my knees to my chest. Across the horizon, a stream of light shone through the storm clouds as if a hole opened up in the sky. A tiny, dark speck shot out through that hole and plummeted toward the earth. I narrowed my eyes as I tried to figure out what it was. A bird of some kind?

  I covered my mouth in horror as a burst of furious lighting strikes hit the falling figure again and again in rapid succession. It twisted and transformed in the air and I realized it was an angel.

  No, Ashtaroth! I thought.

  The figure disappeared from view behind a hill and another one soon followed, also being struck by lighting at rapid speed. A smell filled the air that turned my stomach. It could only be burning flesh and feathers.

  "How many more are there?" I whimpered aloud. The pain of being struck by lightning seemed unfathomable to me. I hoped falling to earth from that high would give them quick, sudden deaths to end their suffering.

  But from what Adam told me about His wrath, that didn't seem likely.

  My entire cave lit up with a blinding flash before my shelter shook all around me. I yelped and covered my head as small rocks and dust came showering down on me.

  I need to move! It's going to collapse in on me!

  I began crawling toward the cave entrance but a large bolt struck just inches away from my hand. With a cry, I pulled my hand to my chest. A rock the size of my fist hit me on the shoulder and another fell on my head.

  I'm going to die in here, I realized as stars dotted my vision. The large boulder creating the roof of my cave began wobbling. I scooted toward the opening again just to get a painful jolt of electricity through my finger.

  As consciousness began leaving my body, I could barely make out another winged figure hurtling out of the sky. But rather than falling, this one seemed to fly straight toward me.

  A final sharp crack filled the air and I knew the boulder had come loose. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for my crushing death.

  Something with inhuman strength pulled me like I was a limp animal and I suddenly found myself tumbling, wrapped in dense white feathers.

  I came to a stop lying on my back and found myself looking into the clearest blue eyes.

  "Ashtaroth!" I cried in relief, touching his beautiful face which suddenly contorted into a grimace of pain.

  He pulled me tight against his chest and spread his wings out, shielding my body with his as the lightning strikes continued their assault all around us. When his pure white feathers began turning dark red with blood, I realized with horror that all lighting bolts were concentrated on his back, relentlessly striking with rapid fire.

  "No!" I screamed. "Don't die for me!"

  "It's alright..."

  I barely heard him over the thunder. His head lolled to the side as if knocked out or worse, already dead. Before I could shake him, the ground seemed to give way beneath me.

  And together, we fell.

  1

  DEJA

  Waking up sandwiched between two men became increasingly easy to get used to. I raised my head in search of my third and heard a distant rummaging in the kitchen. Ah, Sal was making tea. Or conjuring up some delicious food. I laid back down, not ready to leave the warmth of the two still in bed with me.

  Both of their eyes remained closed. I turned to face Ash, still unable to get enough of him after missing him so much. Up close with my hands against his skin, it was easier to tell he wasn't human. He was simply too perfect, and not only because of his angelic features or marble-carved body. Even the texture of his skin was slightly different than a human's.

  I turned to Raum laying on the other side of me. His arm with the raven tattoo draped across my hip, as it tended to do when we slept next to each other. He breathed softly with his mouth parted, looking all too adorable and human. His raven black hair spread out across the pillows, intermingling with my hair. A light splatter of freckles stretched across his nose that I didn't notice before. I wanted to count and kiss each one.

  He and Ash couldn't have been more different from each other, and yet neither more perfect for me.

  I began pressing light kisses to Raum's nose. He started stirring by the third one.

  "Mm, who's giving me little witch kisses?"

  "It's me, Sal." I tried unsuccessfully to lower my voice to Sal's rumbling timbre.

  Raum laughed as he pulled me closer, removing me from Ash's arms.

  "Soon you'll learn to glamour as any one of us and then that'll be a good prank."

  "I learn from the best," I murmured, snuggling my face against his neck.

  His warm palms slid across my back as his mouth found mine, drinking me deeply without a care in the world for my morning breath. I shivered as his fingers trailed across the tender flesh of my ass. He left bruises there the night before, but this morning he held me as gently as a kitten.

  "Now that all your memories have returned to you," he murmured against my forehead. "Tell me who you were when we first met."

  "Jezebel," I answered without missing a beat. "Not my finest hour when it came to bringing humans to our side, but I was still learning."

  "I disagree, my little witch." Raum toyed with my hair. "As Jezebel, you were the first and only woman I fell in love with."

  "That's sweet," I said, kissing under his jaw. "But did you forget that I died from being thrown out of a window?"

  "You died in many creative ways," he said casually. "I made bets with Ash and Sal on the different ways your mortal body would die."

  I gasped. "You did not!"

  His shoulders shook with laughter as he hid his smile in my hair. "We did."

  I pouted and he kissed me, still smiling. His chocolate eyes sparkled with that familiar mischief, never letting on if he was serious or joking.

  "But the important thing is," he continued. "Thousands of years later, everyone still knows who Jezebel is. Even if they don't know the whole story, everyone knows what she represents. She's still part of the culture." He propped his head up on his arm, still looking at me and grinning. "That's what you're so good at, little witch. Even if you don't live forever, you make a permanent mark on history. One that the cross-bearers can't erase or ignore."

  He had a point, even if that death was particularly un-glamorous and embarrassing. According to legend, Jezebel had been trampled by a horse and her hands were eaten by stray dogs after her tumble from the window. What a way to go.

  "I like it when you stroke my ego," I told him with a smirk.

  His grin grew even wider. "You know what I like you to stroke?"

  I batted my eyelashes in fake innocence.

  "Your hair?"

  "Eh, that's okay but try again."

  "Your back?"

  He began kissing a hot trail down my neck.

  "Try my cock."

  My pulse quickened under the heat of his mouth but I wouldn't give in that easily. "So charming you are."

  "You love it, baby."

  He rolled on top of me, pushing me down into the mattress as his kisses deepened. A cough and throat-clearing sound made us look up.

  Ash sat propped up on his elbows, his face expressionless.

  "Mind if I cut in?" he asked sardonically.

  "That's up to our woman," Raum answered with the smallest growl of possessiveness in his voice.

  I patted his arm. "Later, Prince Charming. It's still early. Go out for a flight and I'll see you at the shop for tea?"

  He growled an agreement and leaned down to kiss me before reluctantly leaving the bed. A few seconds later I heard the distinct flapping of feathers and "Caw!" cry as he shifted into a raven, and flew out the window.

  I scooted across the bed t
oward Ash and snuggled up against his side. His arms opened and wrapped around me but his face remained steely.

  "What's up? Are you mad?" I asked.

  His arms tightened around me just slightly.

  "No," he answered. His icy blue eyes flicked down to meet mine. "I just missed you. He's been with you the whole time."

  I rested my head on his chest, listening to the backward thumping of his demon heart against my cheek. Before my coven ceremony, I still hadn't remembered all of my past lives. The guys were insistent on not telling me anything, so as to not alter my memories when they finally did return. Ash almost called me by my original name, Lilith, and then avoided seeing me for days to prevent himself from spilling anything else.

  He was my first and the one I'd known the longest. But in this lifetime, I felt like I barely got to know him as well as Sal and Raum.

  "I missed you too, angel."

  He quirked an eyebrow. "Angel? That's a new one." He ran a hand down my arm. "You should know by now, love, that I am no angel."

  "No, but you're my angel." I watched my fingertips trail across his perfect, inhuman skin. "You saved my helpless human ass from the wrath that came down from the heavens. For that, you'll always be my guardian angel."

  His heartbeat quickened underneath me. I felt emotions from his aura spill over into mine, where they mixed like an elixir. I felt his love and devotion to me and wrapped my arms around him tighter.

  "I still remember that day like it just happened," he said with a gentle kiss on my head.

  "Me too," I whispered.

  He squeezed me tighter, flooding me with his joy and gratitude at my memories being back.

  We held each other in comfortable silence while I traced the sigils tattooed in the center of his chest. The top one, just below his throat, was mine. The sigil of Lilith, with Lucifer's directly below it.