His eyes glittered as he studied me. “My guess is at your birth, Cassia and Zander gave you not only their DNA, but also their powers. And while the Erinyes are the jury and decide the punishment, it is the Watchers who carry those punishments out. With Tarja, you were able to do both.”
“Wait a minute.” Johnna sat up. “If that’s how the system works, why was Niki able to condemn my grandfather to the Pits of Despair and not a Watcher?”
“Not in the Demon Realm,” Niki answered. “I am the king’s top enforcer. If he commands me to carry out a punishment, I carry out said punishment without question.”
Johnna nudged my shoulder with hers. “You need to put your self-esteem issues to rest, dear cousin. You have such a cool power and you’re beautiful.”
I squirmed under everyone’s stares, a warm flush covering my cheeks. I hadn’t wanted these powers, yet it seemed fate had made other plans for me. I could feel their love and support surrounding me, filling my once empty heart. For once I didn’t want to sit back and disappear. I wanted to understand my new world and discover all the possibilities it had to offer. I wanted to experience everything life had in store for me—and then some.
From the corner of my eye, I peered at Johnna and returned her shoulder nudge. “I’m still kind of fuzzy on what you actually did. Can you please explain?” I forced myself to focus on her face instead of on the black curtain covering the entire wall at the end of the room. Some sort of huge power emanated from behind it, and it really creeped me out. Otherwise, the large space looked like a boring conference room. In my opinion, Lucien needed to redecorate.
“Layman’s terms for us non-mages,” Malachi added.
Johnna’s lips twitched, but she didn’t give her normal smartass remark, giving me a glimpse of her more solemn side. Something she didn’t normally show. “When Super Slut laid her hand on Joachim’s chest, everything changed. Normally, when I read someone, the metal sings to me. The better the person, the purer the tones.”
“Amazing,” I whispered, completely awed by such a magic. Johnna’s normal grin appeared, easing the serious atmosphere enough for me to begin to relax.
“I know,” she agreed. “It’s totally cool. However, when I try scanning the Watchers, I get nada. Not even a tinkle. Or so I thought. Tarja tried to pump sulfur into Joachim’s body, and it caused a reaction. A very bad reaction. I realized then I’d read both of you wrong the first time. I couldn’t wrap my brain around what I wasn’t hearing. There’s only one known substance so completely hard and dense, almost nothing affects it. Its sound is below human hearing. Diamonds. And as we all learned in science class, a diamond is nothing more than highly compressed carbon.”
Niki let out a low whistle. “Along with minute traces of nitrogen.”
“Exactly. The chemical reaction between nitrogen and sulfur is a solid boom.”
The horror of what Johnna said washed through me as I met Joachim’s sad gaze, tears filling my eyes. “She blew my father up?”
Johnna nodded, all joviality gone. “I’m sorry, Willow. Not him, per se, but his heart. The highest source of nitrogen is in a Watcher’s heart.”
My teary gaze never left Joachim’s face, but even then I’d almost missed the slight widening of his eyes when he heard about the nitrogen. He hadn’t known. I wondered if any of the Watchers did.
“Why do you think the Watchers’ body chemistry is so different? And why couldn’t you hear the carbon? I know you said it was in a lower range than human hearing. But you aren’t human,” Malachi said.
“I didn’t know what to listen for. I’m still learning the periodic chart and what each element sounds like. I wasn’t aware I could hear and also manipulate the inert elements at the same time.” Johnna dipped her head toward Joachim. “To change the outcome and with the help of Willow’s powers, I changed the chemical equation. More or less of either element? No boom.”
Joachim cleared his throat. “Now that we know how she killed my men, we can prevent more deaths. As far as we know, Tarja was the only succubus present at each death. I will not take a chance another succubus can’t do the same thing.”
“This war is just getting started. Once Johnna and Gaia begin transforming the Summoned, our chance of winning increases,” Lucien added. “The only problem I foresee is Gerard. We need him here. I need him here. Niki and I barely managed to retake my castle. There are doors within this place that should never be breached. I can’t risk someone else trying what Tarja did. I need my brother here in the Demon Realm with me. The Bastille and, I hate to say this, the North Castle are now in the hands of whoever is behind this war. Gerard has knowledge and power that when combined, rivals most gods.”
Gaia nodded in agreement. “True. Gerard is a good man and a wonderful son-in-law. He learned the one lesson most do not, especially the gods. Power corrupts. He once told me if everyone remembered history, the battles fought, kingdoms overturned, and the reasons why these events happened, the peoples of all worlds would emerge as better and more intelligent. I have no proof, but I believe Sabine’s theory that Zeus is behind this chaos.” Gaia closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.
Her eyes opened and she looked at her daughter. “When Zeus refused to let you go, he let slip one important clue. He said in order to retrieve Gerard’s soul, an innocent would have to die.”
My stomach did the kind of dip-roll thing usually reserved for amusement park rides. I swallowed a couple of times. “For those of us who are more or less new here—namely, me—can someone reword that last bit so I don’t feel quite as panicky and dumb?” I forced my lips into a grin, hoping I didn’t look like I felt. Like I was going to throw up.
“I’m with Willow,” Johnna added. “I don’t think a blubbering mass of goo is a good look for me. Is my dad going to be all right?”
Malachi grimaced and rubbed his stomach. “That was an unnecessary visual.”
Johnna threw a desperate glance at her mom. “We can still save him. Right?”
“I’m positive your father has been placed in the Well of Souls.” From the dead tone in Lucien’s voice, I knew this was bad news. When demons lost their color, it’d be the worst kind of bad news, and Lucien’s ruddy complexion definitely looked pale.
“What does ‘by the death of an innocent’ mean?” I asked timidly.
Lucien placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin on the linked bridge of his fingers. “I’ve always understood it to mean just that. The death of an innocent person, whether forced or traded, replaces one life for another.”
“That’s exactly what it means,” Gaia agreed.
I just had to ask, didn’t I? I pondered over his words when an idea suddenly blossomed. “Sabine, did Zeus force Gerard into this Well of Souls? Surely, he wouldn’t have gone willingly?” I looked at Johnna’s bloodshot eyes, unshed tears pooling behind her lids. Meeting Sabine’s worried gaze, I pressed, “Would he?”
Sabine shook her head so vehemently, it wouldn’t have surprised me if she gave herself a mild case of whiplash. “No! He would never—” Her eyes rounded and her lips formed a small moue. “Oh, no . . . He wouldn’t have—”
“He would,” Gaia finished. “If he thought for one moment either your life or Johnna’s was in jeopardy, he would trade his own without hesitation.”
The more I thought about my idea, the more I knew I was right. “Lucien, Gerard is the innocent in all of this. I think it’s the key to his leaving the Well of Souls. You have to enter willingly for the good of another and not benefit yourself.”
Lucien frowned. “Can it be so simple?”
“Yes,” Sabine said. “It sounds like something Zeus would try to do. However, there is still a problem. Gerard has been inside too long to leave on his own, and he was already weakened from fighting Giselle. I’m afraid the Nothing will have breached his defenses. W
e’ll have to go in after him.”
“Uh, we?” I squeaked. “How do we achieve this and what is the Nothing?”
Malachi squeezed my hand. “There are some things better left unsaid. In this case, not described.”
“You have a plan?” Lucien asked Sabine.
She nodded and pointed behind him to the ominous, black curtain I’d previously been curious about. Not so much now. “We go in there.”
Yep. Definitely changing my mind. Ignorance is bliss. “Does fear have a specific smell or taste? Because right now I’m smelling the mucky pool stench again.” I really hated that smell.
“Black licorice,” Niki added with a grimace. “I always taste black licorice.”
“Candy corn,” Malachi chimed in.
I turned to him in mock-horror. “The worst Halloween candy ever.”
“Hey, I like candy corn!” Johnna said, wiping her eyes.
Lucien broke in on our attempt at levity. “For each minute wasted here, it’s a minute less for Gerard. I suggest you give Sabine your undivided attention.” He glared at me. “All of you.”
Sabine’s gaze touched on each of us and finally focused on me. I had a mental uh-oh moment. As if, in the face of extreme anxiety, my heart actually tried to flutter itself to death.
“We will need the power of five in order to breach the realm’s protective wards. And Willow will be the one to say the spell.”
“Me?” I squeaked again. I was tired of sounding like a mouse in pain. I cleared my suddenly tight throat. “Why me? I don’t have spell magic like you and Johnna do.”
“Yes, you do. You are half Erinyes. The magic is a part of you.”
I caught Joachim’s attention across the table. In true form, he’d sat listening instead of talking. “Is she right? I thought I’d already made my choice.”
“You did choose. You took your father’s place. I never said you had to renounce all of your magic to do so. As we discussed, you retained your mother’s ability to spell and judge. Although, if you are going to write the spell to transport everyone to the Well of Souls, I would suggest someone with a bit more experience help you write it.”
Joachim stood and produced a small bow. “I need to speak to my generals. I’ll bring them up to speed on what Johnna discovered and make sure the breastplates are worn to save my men.” He regarded me a final time. “We will continue our training soon, little warrior. Your place is by my side as your father wanted.”
I nodded as he apparated but shot a fierce look around the room. “That doesn’t leave the rest of you off the hook. Does no one here believe in telling the whole story? How can we learn if we don’t know everything up front?”
Johnna spread her hands. “I’ve had the same gripe since I got here. I was told it’s part of my learning curve. The reasoning is about as stupid as teaching a sixteen-year-old how to drive and not telling her about the brake pedal.”
“One of these days, you’re going to understand what ‘layman’s terms’ means, specifically for us non-mages,” Malachi teased, only to dodge the metal cup sailing toward his head. He glanced at me, arching his brows high. “See? See how she treats me?”
I rubbed his knee. “Yes, I know. But what do you expect when you tease her?” I winked at Johnna, thankful for the brief moment of levity.
After finding out what happened to my father . . . Well, I needed a bit of lightness or my own heart might implode from the pain of losing him.
“You remember I told you about the metal thing I do? Well, I tried to do it, but it didn’t work.” Johnna batted her eyes, smiling at Malachi. “How was that for layman’s terms?”
Malachi snorted. “Niki, can’t you control her yet?”
Niki yawned. “Been there, done that—not doing it again.”
I snickered as Johnna reached up and patted Niki’s head. “Good boy.”
“Why do I suddenly feel like a dog?”
My snicker turned into a cough.
Niki met Malachi’s glower and laughed. “You’re doomed, same as me.”
Malachi shrugged one shoulder. “I know.”
Johnna smacked Niki’s chest with the back of her hand. “Shush up. You’re not doomed. I just keep your life interesting is all.”
“By the way, loved the name ‘super slut,’” I interjected.
She grinned. “I thought so. I just came up with it.”
Joachim groaned. “Are you ever serious? You remind me of children—”
“Welcome to my world,” Lucien muttered.
Thoughts about the spell and the grave implications of what I would have to do forced my teasing banter to disappear. A burst of panic tingled in my chest as my breathing shortened to small gasps.
Until a silky, rich voice filled my mind. Malachi’s strong arms held me close, and I stared into his warm brown eyes.
You are mine, kitten. To protect and treasure. I will do that and more, if you let me love you.
My body relaxed against his, my love for this amazing man filling the empty spaces inside my heart. Stretching, I cupped his cheek and whispered against his lips, “I already do, demon mine. I already do.”
THANK YOU for reading Saved by the Spell, Book Two in the OF MYSTICS AND MAYHEM Trilogy! If you enjoyed Willow and Malachi’s story, please consider leaving a review at Amazon.
The trilogy concludes with Book Three, The Curse That Binds:
Released from the containment spell trapping her in a diary, Cassia Kallias finds her family embroiled in a war with the egotistical god who spelled her there, but Zeus still covets the power he senses deep within her.
The demon king, Lucien struggles to contain the chaos spiraling out of control throughout Dark World, but when he accidentally hits the diary of judgments with his demon flame, he releases Cassia from her curse.
Reunited with the daughter she was forced to leave, Cassia must come to grips with all she has lost, accept her growing feelings for Lucien, and learn to control her new powers to defeat Zeus to save Dark World and those she loves.
Please enjoy this excerpt from The Curse That Binds:
Prologue
Lucien, Demon Realm Dark World
“We can’t let that twisted pipsqueak of a Greek god win this war!” Lucifer pivoted like the general he was and retraced his steps across the dark jewel-toned slate floor, his long blond hair flaring behind like a cape with each turn. The Overlord of Dark World was in a fine snit.
“Zeus is behind this, Lucien. I know he is. He’s always wanted my job and control of my domain. I’d let the idiot have it, but I don’t relish being tortured for another millennia by Big Britches upstairs. Besides, I know Zeus too well. His tyranny would destroy everything we’ve worked toward—what I’ve worked toward. After eons of waiting for even the tiniest hint of a positive response, I am so close,” he growled, jabbing a fist in the air in front of him. The ever-present darkness surrounding him rippled, swelling and distorting like a building tornado.
My boss’s face turned as red as a lobster boiling on high heat. Not a good look for the lobster, much less the ex-archangel. I had learned long ago it was best to let Lucifer work out the frustration in his system. Interference could be deadly, and I had too much work left to do in this ridiculous war to die today.
I brought my attention back to Lucifer, surprised to see him standing before the fireplace, staring into the undulating white flames. My eyes watered from the brilliant aura until everything went fuzzy. Blinking to clear my vision, I focused instead on Lucifer’s leather-covered back and bit back a smile. Red leather. No wonder early Christians believed a red-skinned devil hid in the shadows, biding his time for someone to do something wrong.
Lucifer had been the peoples’ advocate and God’s best soldier until a certain sniveling Greek God—Zeus, to be ex
act—manipulated events. Now my boss controlled Dark World, trying to prove his innocence and regain his position by God’s side, which meant he needed proof the little shit had done the manipulating in the first place.
“Find out what he’s up to, Lucien. The Oracle’s predictions grow more dire with each passing day.” Lucifer’s fists flexed at his sides, the whitened knuckles a stark contrast from his café-au-lait skin. “I don’t have to remind you everyone’s future is at stake. Find him and destroy him.”
I gave him a single nod then left the room. So much was banked on Sabine and Willow’s spell. Not only did I need to rescue my brother, but we needed Gerard’s vast knowledge and magic to help them. Help us.
With a slow, steady pace, I thought about everything that had happened in the short time Johnna and Willow had appeared in Dark World. My world. I couldn’t help but worry what Zeus had in store for all of us. His plans were notoriously bad for everyone. I stopped in the doorway of my conference room and studied the people within. My amazing family.
My gaze landed first on Johnna and I felt my lips curving up. I couldn’t be prouder of my niece, how well she’d adjusted to this crazy world. I then glanced over at Willow, her wild honey-colored mane of hair hiding her face as she and Sabine worked on the spell. While Willow might not be related to me by blood, my heart was drawn to the young woman. I could see why Malachi had fallen so quickly under her spell. She was just as amazing as Johnna—perhaps more so, because of her tragic past. She was so strong, whether she realized it yet or not.
Sabine straightened with a satisfied nod as she met my gaze. “Done. And if I do say so myself, this is the best spell I have . . .” Her gaze dropped to Willow and she smiled. “We have ever written.”
Willow returned her smile. “It’s the best for me because the last spell I wrote summoned a demon. Anything has to be better than that.” She met my gaze. “Now what do we have to do?”
Saved by the Spell (Of Mystics and Mayhem Book 2) Page 24
