Witch's Betrayal

by Crystal Ash

  "You're going to get me off again just from that," she breathed. "Damn, I'm still so sensitive from that last one."

  "Well, that's perfect," I said, making my way lower. "Because I need a short break if I'm going to last any longer."

  Whatever response she had was immediately cut off as I sealed my mouth over her pussy, lapping up her sweet nectar like I needed it to live. Her caresses through my hair became greedy pulls as she bucked her hips against my mouth. Her thighs pressed in on both sides of my head and I hadn't even touched her clit yet.

  I teased her until she begged for release. I felt her thighs shaking before my tongue flicked that hard little button. When she came undone, I didn't give her a chance to recover.

  She screamed and I felt the delightful pain of her nails in my back as I entered her again in one smooth motion. This time, I didn't fight to maintain control. I let go of it completely.

  Her convulsions around me never seemed to stop as I fucked her hard and deep, grunting like an animal as I pinned her hips down on the love seat. I felt teeth cut my shoulder and returned the biting kiss, my pleasure swelling as we marked each other.

  I lost track of where I ended and she began. Magic surrounded us and passed through us as we became a single entity. Ordinary humans, even those who were soulmates, would never be able to connect to each other on this level. It was like our souls left our bodies and made love on a plane that wasn't even physical.

  My release came violently, draining all my strength as I emptied into her. Her pussy, her aura, or her soul, I couldn't tell the difference anymore, held onto me like it didn't want to let go. As weariness settled into my limbs I reached above our heads and laced my fingers through hers, ensuring that I never would let her go again.

  7

  DEJA

  The sun was warm on my legs, just like that time in the Garden. The day my whole life literally crashed around me and I found my love and my truth.

  But this time Juno laid next to me on a blanket, pouring over a spellbook while we picnicked in a local park. I looked at her with new eyes after my evening with Ash last night. How strange to think that my coven sister was also a distant daughter, not by blood but by magic.

  After making love, Ash explained to me that the witch gene never diminished as it was passed on through the generations. And it was incredibly strong. Children born from one witch parent could still cast magic, though their innate abilities didn't come as early or easily as those with two witch parents.

  Those with demon parents often excelled in the darker areas like shadow magic. Which meant our direct descendants received the best of both worlds.

  The breeze blew through Juno's pale blonde hair as her large, aquamarine eyes moved over the page. She looked nothing like me in this body but she was beautiful. I wondered where her bloodline originated and how far it went back.

  That thought made me wonder how many bloodlines had ended in the thousand years I was gone. My heart squeezed with an ache at the thought of all the witch families who didn't survive the dark ages, not to mention all the witch hunts in more recent centuries.

  I laid a hand on my stomach. At some point, we'd have to repopulate with more witches. There were so few of us at this point. I grinned at the thought of nonstop baby making with my three men. Maybe I'd look into fertility spells and attempt twins or even triplets.

  "Give me your hand, I need your help with this," Juno huffed, interrupting my thoughts.

  "What are you trying to do?" I placed my hand in her outstretched fingers.

  She didn't answer but continued muttering an incantation under her breath while gesturing with her right hand. And suddenly, I couldn't breathe.

  Trying to suck in a breath, I felt like I was drowning. My lungs and nasal cavity burned and I coughed on what felt like water but nothing came out. The harder I fought for air, the more I felt I was inhaling liquid. And then just as quickly, the drowning sensation was gone.

  "I'm sorry!" Juno shrieked. "It was a self-defense spell using my water magic. It wouldn't have worked if you were expecting it."

  "What," I gasped. "...the fuck?"

  Fresh air never tasted so sweet. Adrenaline surged through me, triggering my own defensive magic. It happened so fast, my body didn't realize it was safe again.

  "Erik said I should practice more combative magic just in case I ever need it." Her brow furrowed and she sucked her lip between her teeth as she watched me struggling to catch a breath. "Shit, I had no idea it would work so well. I'm so sorry, Deja!"

  "It's 'cause water is your element," I said, still coughing. "You have a much firmer grasp on water magic that someone not specializing in that element."

  "I know, I'd just never had a chance to practice that spell before." Her lip wobbled. "I really didn't mean to hurt you. Shit, what if I couldn't stop it? I'm so fucking sorry, Deja."

  "It's okay." I inhaled deeply, my airways finally clearing. "Now you know." I forced a smile. "And you know I'll get you back for that. You won't know where, when or how, but I will."

  "Oh yeah, I totally deserve it." She wrapped me in a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay. Just promise you won't bury me alive or anything?"

  "No promises," I laughed wickedly and resisted the urge to rub at my throat. It would be raw for a while. I had to remember to make some soothing tea with lemon and honey when I got home.

  "So how's the whole shadow lesson going with Seth?" she asked.

  I sighed. Not exactly the subject I wanted to change to.

  "It's going okay, I guess. I'll be happy when it's over with and he jets off to somewhere else again."

  "That bad, huh? I've heard shadow work is difficult and he's a strict teacher. He doesn't take it easy on anybody."

  "It's not even that really," I confessed, trying to decide how much I should tell her. "I just would have liked some choice in the decision."

  "What do you mean?"

  "My grandmother threw this big hissy fit and set me up to take lessons with him behind my back. She's treating me like a petulant teenager when I'm damn near thirty years old! I'm really close to just telling her off but I feel bad after all she's taught me already. Not to mention she's the only blood family I have left."

  "I see where you're coming from," Juno said softly. "But for what it's worth, a search for a qualified shadow worker would have led you right back to Seth. There is really no one else around with his kind of abilities."

  "How does someone get to be like him anyway?" I asked. "Was he born with the innate abilities or did he practice shadow work nonstop?"

  "A bit of both, I think," she mused. "He comes from a long, ancient line of really powerful shadow workers, but it's still a difficult skill to master." Her ocean-colored eyes glanced to just above my head. "I'm not the best at seeing auras but his looks very similar to yours. I wouldn't be surprised if you two are distantly related." She shrugged. "Or it could be all the demons he's killed. He doesn't talk about himself much and isn't here half the time, so no one really knows."

  "What would his, ah, kills have to do with shadow work and his aura?" I asked.

  "Well, the darker someone's aura is, the more shadow abilities they innately have." She held up a hand. "Supposedly, anyway. There are always exceptions to the rule. Shadow work is also the primary magic source of demons. Prolonged exposure to demons is said to make your aura darker and darker over time."

  "I see." I chewed on her words, trying to get a sense of her opinion one way or the other toward the race of creatures I fell in love with. But I couldn't get a clear read, so decided to ask her straight out. "What are your thoughts on the whole demon thing?"

  Her head snapped over to me, surprised. "My thoughts?"

  "Yeah, you know." I waved my hand trying to appear casual, although my feelings were anything but. "Are we justified in hunting them? Are they just as bad as Christians have made them out to be?" I forced a sheepish smile. "You have to remember I'm still new to this whole witch thing."

  Juno recl
ined back on her elbows, not saying anything for a moment while my heart pounded like crazy in my chest.

  "I guess I've never really thought of them as people," she admitted.

  "Really?" I gritted my teeth, struggling to keep my emotions in check.

  "Yeah. I mean we learned about them as kids kind of like zombies." She giggled. "They're mindless drones being controlled by Lucifer. Only instead of brains, they're just hell-bent on raping."

  My blood ran cold. "Rape?"

  She nodded. "They're extremely seductive and don't take no for an answer. They force sex on their victims and often take control of their bodies. Hence the accounts of demonic possessions from Christian sources." She looked over at me with a sad expression. "That's why things are so bad for women in African countries and the Middle East. Ordinary humans think it's because of oppressive religions and politics, which might be true. But a big part of it has to do with demons in power seducing and controlling."

  I couldn't look her in the eye, so I studied the blades of grass poking through our picnic blanket.

  How could she believe that? None of it was true! Demons were created to exercise freedom of choice based on knowledge, not to control. And through me, witches became a mortal extension of that.

  Somehow at some point in time, our narrative got twisted into something so far from the truth. And modern witches were passing down this misinformation like gospel to future generations.

  I leaned back on my palms, bewildered at what I just heard. And I realized bringing demons to a more positive light was going to be much harder than I anticipated.

  8

  DEJA

  I dragged my feet so much to my next lesson with Seth, I practically left rug burns on Laurel's carpet. He waited for me, smug as ever, in the same lawn chair in their backyard.

  "Late again," he remarked.

  I resisted doing a massive eye roll. "Oh no, please forgive me, Seth," I mock-pleaded. "When these lessons are as fun as you make them, how could I ever fathom showing up late?"

  His lip curled into a snarl. "They aren't supposed to be fun. They're supposed to make you stronger. Who knows, they may even save your life one day."

  "And you'll never forget to take the credit for it, I'm sure," I replied. "Shall we get this over with?"

  He stood and swept out his arm as if to say, be my guest. Despite the chill in the air, he abandoned his leather jacket tonight and wore only a gunmetal gray T-shirt that clung to him like a second skin. His body was slender and willowy, yet still covered in lean, lithe muscles.

  I jerked my eyes away, embarrassed that they lingered on him too long and walked out to the middle of the yard where he gestured. He followed, standing a few feet behind me, though still uncomfortably close.

  "If you fall again, I'll catch you." His gravelly voice cut through the night air. "So you won't go home looking like you shit your pants again."

  "Oh, how kind of you," I sneered. "If only other men would aspire to be as gentlemanly as you."

  He huffed a dark laugh, clearly amused with his own joke. I really did roll my eyes that time since he couldn't see them. Then I inhaled a deep breath and closed my eyes, preparing to travel inward through my own subconscious.

  "You got close last time," he said with what sounded like genuine encouragement. "Just work on keeping your focus the whole time, even when you uncover a shadow. That loss of focus is what keeps things hidden."

  The air around me seemed to hum with a gentle vibration. Last time I used my earth magic to lead me through the dark twists and turns of my shadow self, like a rope guiding me through a cave. Tendrils of energy traveled up through my feet, anchoring my focus before traveling up my torso and finally, through the depths of my brain.

  Like last time, I uncovered more memories that I hadn't yet been aware of. It only made sense that thousands of lifetimes in one soul couldn't all come to the surface of my awareness at once. I flipped back through these memories as if they were files in a cabinet. I was looking for something specific.

  There. An uncontrollable smile erupted on my face but I didn't lose focus.

  I saw Raum holding a baby in his arms, beaming down at the little one proudly. Then he looked at me with tears in his eyes and a smile that was full of love and joy. Right then he wasn't my dirty-talking, dominant man, full of flirtation and teasing. He was the father of my child.

  I looked around quickly at our surroundings, trying to get a sense of when and where this memory occurred. My bed was covered in soft animal furs. Raum was shirtless but wore a pair of rough leather breeches. Our son was wrapped in a smaller animal hide. Against the wooden wall of our structure hung dozens of weapons and shields. Axes, swords, bows, and quivers full of arrows stood on display next to a massive bear's head mounted on the wall.

  But attention couldn't be torn away from the two precious people in front of me. I reached out and stroked the soft fluff on my son's head. It felt just as real as if I were touching him at that moment.

  "What should we name him?" Raum whispered, scooting closer to me as gently as he could.

  "Ragnar," I answered as I drew protective sigils on my son's forehead. "Warrior of the gods."

  Raum grinned at my choice. "I knew you would choose that name. It's perfect for the man he will become."

  "You've seen his future?" I watched in fascination as Ragnar's tiny hand wrapped around my index finger.

  "He and his sons will lead armies across the seas," Raum spoke softly and filled with awe. "Their names will be hailed for centuries." Still beaming, Raum nuzzled his face against my cheek until I turned to kiss him.

  "I love you, Alfhilde," he whispered against my lips. "No matter how many sons or daughters we have throughout infinite lifetimes, my love for them and you never fades." He dropped a gentle kiss to Ragnar's forehead.

  "I love you, Raum. I always will." A giggle escaped my chest. "Even when you're off playing Odin and Loki with the others."

  "Of course. You love being taken by an invisible god." His kisses fell to my neck with playful bites as I squirmed away.

  "You insatiable demon," I teased. "None of that now, I just pushed out your damn baby. Take him to see Sal and Ash. I need a nap."

  Raum chuckled with amusement as he gave me one final kiss before shifting off the bed. "You're sure Ragnar's been fed enough?"

  "Yes, he should be full," I said, reclining back on my pillow, my eyelids already closing. "Wake me up in two hours when he's ready to eat again."

  I felt Raum's weight lift off the bed as he took our newest son to see his other two fathers. A smile played at my lips from the sheer, unrestrained happiness I felt. How lucky I was to experience this love and miracle of life time and time again with the three best husbands I could ask for.

  Just before my body as Alfhilde drifted off to sleep, I prepared to let go of that memory and continue searching through my shadows. But a surge of unknown power made me pause and stay focused there.

  Like a rag doll, Alfhilde was ripped from the bed. I let out a startled cry but kept my focus. Distantly as if underwater, I heard Seth demand to know what was going on but I ignored him.

  Alfhilde was pressed against the ceiling of her house. Pain wracked through me as I stared helplessly down at the bed I just gave birth in hours ago. My back was surely broken. The power wrapped around me was immense and suffocating. I called out for my men but couldn't make a sound.

  This wasn't an ordinary death by the judgment of humans accusing me of heresy. This was different, like nothing I ever felt before and it scared me.

  The force of whatever was pulling me finally ripped Alfhilde's broken body through the ceiling. In horror, I watched my house grow smaller with each passing second. Villagers and animals became the size of ants. I felt like I was in freefall but in reverse. Something carried me up, up high into the sky at breakneck speed. The air was so cold up here, my fingers and toes turned blue.

  Somehow I was able to turn my neck to look up at whatever dragged my
body up through the atmosphere. And my worst fear was confirmed.

  An angel looked down at me with a vengeful scowl on his face. He could have been Ash's brother, golden and beautiful. The feathers of his blindingly white wings barely ruffled while air currents thrashed my body back and forth. So much pain. No human torture compared to this. This body was close to death and I hoped it would come soon-- before this angel got ahold of my soul.

  And then all too quickly, we stopped.

  Blood poured out of my ears and nose, unable to handle the pressure of the atmosphere at such speeds. My back and neck had to be broken but I stood upright, apparently floating in midair before the divine being that ripped me from my home, my lovers, and my son.

  He smirked at me, clearly enjoying the suffering he caused from dragging me up here.

  "Finally, I have the honor of meeting Lilith," he said in a smug tone. "Our dear Ashtaroth's whore. It's not every day we meet the reason for an angel's fall." He tilted his head like a curious puppy. "Too bad our first meeting is also our last."

  I wanted to spit at him, to tell him to fuck off, anything but stand silently in defeat. But either my jaw was broken too or he rendered me unable to speak with magic.

  "Your reign of heresy and wanton lust is at an end, Lilith," the shithead angel continued. "Have you noticed your so-called lovers aren't here to protect you?" He spread his arms out and looked around mockingly. "Where are they, Lilith? Isn't your unholy trinity supposed to guard you?" He cackled, extremely pleased with himself. "That's the problem with you knowledge-seekers. You're so self-serving, you scatter like mice at the first sign of trouble. Even when one of your own is in danger."

  I reached for my men with my aura and felt their panic as they tried to reach me. They knew something was wrong, and that I was missing, but this angel wasn't working alone. They must have coordinated this for years, maybe even centuries. The same force of power that dragged my ass up here, was now acting as a shield preventing them from reaching me.