His eyes roamed back to Rosie again. Could it be that not all demons were evil? Or that demon realms were inhabited mostly by innocent creatures like Rosie, ruled over by the malevolent ones like Koro? These ideas shifted Gavin’s entire world view, and they would keep him awake many nights in the future while he pondered their implications.
Yes, this room was full of complications tonight. Complications and possibilities. Gavin’s gaze snagged on Henry, sitting quietly with Abilene. With his head bowed over a page of translation, Henry’s dark curls fell into his eyes. His lips pursed with thought. Abilene said something and Henry chuckled, his whole expression changing. Abilene flushed.
It seemed his little sister had a crush on the Paragon knight. He could easily forget how young she was. Jane groomed her for leadership of the coven, and most of the time Abilene acted wise beyond her years. But seeing her flirt with a handsome man, she looked like nothing more than an awkward teen.
Henry saw him watching and winked. A slow smile spread across his face, and it was Gavin’s turn to fight off a blush. He knew exactly what Henry was thinking.
How soon can we duck out of this meeting and steal a few private moments together?
Poor Abilene. Someone would have to burst her bubble, but it wouldn’t be Gavin.
A bright orange light flared up from the grimoire, and everyone jumped back. With screeching fireworks, the light exploded over their heads and rained sparks. Grant woke with a snort as Henry swatted a spark on his shoulder before it set his shirt on fire.
Jane smiled grimly. “It seems we found the first trigger.”
*
Kororaeth followed the slave over fiery sands. Amstarth Desert was not his favorite place. Though the heat of the seven suns could not harm him, the desert was too bright, too endless and open for his liking.
“This way, great one. This way.” The disgusting creature urged him on. Koro despised imps. Oh, they could be useful as fodder for dark magic, and they made decent house slaves, but the constant groveling wore on him. He would have dismissed the imp’s claims of finding a rift, but he’d seeded this desert with dimensional snares himself nearly half a century ago.
He stopped and grabbed the imp by its skinny neck, pulling its face up to his eye.
His lip curled in a snarl. “You tell the truth, or I will kill you, kill your clan and burn them for fuel.”
“No, no! Great one, I tell only truth. Always truth!” The creature squirmed, trying to bow even though its feet dangled four feet above the ground.
Koro bared his teeth and let it drop.
“My patience wears thin, imp.”
“Yes, great one. I take you now.” It scampered away again, clambering over a giant mound of rock in the shape of a scull with horns, then up another dune.
Koro followed, his senses tingling now.
Once he roamed at will between worlds, feasting on the delicacy of human blood and magic. But a godling with grandiose aspirations doomed him to live cut off from that nourishment for all eternity. The desire for that meaty aether drove him now. His whole purpose focused on finding a way back into the world of human witches to taste it again. All his plans, all his dealing and scheming directed him toward that one goal.
“Here it is, great one. I told you, didn’t I? I told you I would bring you to the gate.” The disgusting imp bounced with excitement.
They stood in a valley of sand between two natural stone pillars. The air felt different, weightier. That is what drew him here all those years ago. In this place, the veil between worlds thinned. He’d planted his magic snare and let it sit. Humans were greedy for power. They looked for it everywhere. In books, plants and rocks. Even in the heart of their world. Eventually, some weak human would stumble on his bait of pure aether and not be able to resist it. In this way, he’d been recruiting vassals for thousands of years. Rifts had opened before, but they had never been stable. He’d barely snatched four females into his realm before the last one slammed shut. He longed for a portal stable enough to allow him to cross over into the human world.
He pulled back his thick lips, taking the scent into glands in his jowls.
Yes. It tasted of human aether, spicy and delicate all at once. He sniffed again and smiled. That wasn’t the scent of any human. That was the reek of his kin.
He’d hooked his bastard daughter.
His beards bristled with desire, and his phallus stood erect, a mighty monument to his vigor. He had not forgotten how that puny bitch denied him his last attempt to manifest in their world. He would make her pay. This time she would come to him. This time he would drain every drop of her blood to break out of his prison and return to the land where humans ran fat and free, ripe fruit for his taking.
“I smell humans, but where is the rift?” His voice boomed like mountains colliding. The imp cringed.
“It is here, great one. Right here.” He pointed to the empty air. “Look! Look! They tried to close it with their feeble magic. But it is here!” He prostrated himself in the sand.
Koro stroked his lower beard, contemplating the emptiness before him. It shimmered with heat coming off the sand. He reached one massive hand and sliced the air. His black claw snagged on something and his lips spread in a hideous smile full of jagged teeth. He pulled the claw away and a tiny thread of the universe came with it.
The witches tried to repair the rift, but it was only patched. In time, he would unravel it.
“I please the great one?” The imp looked up from his servile posture.
“Yes.” Koro reached down and pulled off the creature’s head. He drank hot blood pumping from its neck and tossed away the corpse. Blood soaked his skin and hair. It was only imp blood, nothing like the ichor from the veins of a human witch.
He sat on the burning sand and stroked himself.
Soon.
Before you go...
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Coming Soon: Bellwether Magic, Hidden Coven Series, Book 4
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About the Author
Kim McDougall is an author, fiber artist and photographer. She is the author of six children's picture books under her married name, Kim Chatel. Since she writes dark, sexy fantasy fiction, she keeps two separate websites so she doesn’t mix these genres up. That would be bad. Kim is passionate about fiber art, photography, children’s literacy, animals, nature, and genre-bending fiction. Visit www.kimmcdougall.com for more information about Kim’s books.
Also available from Wrongtree Press:
Pick Your Monster
Shifted Dreams Series, Book 1
By Eliza Crowe
Who’s the real monster, the werewolf or the man Shayna thought she loved?
A romantic picnic. A secluded spot with a spectacular view of the sunset. A bottle of non-alcoholic wine to toast her happy news. Shayna has everything planned for her big reveal to Nate until a brutal attack leaves her clinging to life in the arms of a stranger.
When Chris finds rogues hunting on his property, he fears for the delicate truce between humans and werewolves. He knows he must stop the predators at any cost, before they kill someone and bring down a wrath of trigger-happy humans. His inner wolf cares nothing for these altruistic intentions. The wolf only wants to punish the scum who destroyed his pack five years ago. But even the wolf stops short when they find the rogues’ beautiful prey.
Shayna is now the focus of a murder investigation that sparks public outrage. At the next full moon, she might turn into a wolf. Or she may have to face another kind of monster, a murderer who hides in pl
ain sight. Neither of these fates will let her stay at Bullrush Ranch with Chris, the enticing man who seems intent on teaching her the true meaning of passion. As she heals from her wounds, Shayna must accept Chris’s protection—and the growing attraction between them—until she can learn to protect herself once again.
Order it now at Amazon.
Trigger Magic: Hidden Coven Series, Book 3 Page 9
