Page 106 of Hellish Witch

The feel of so many people was an incessant tapping at my senses. Even my magic reacted to the shriek of so much life around me.

Darkness stirred in my chest, yawning wide enough to show its teeth.

My heart drummed a rapid beat. Panic slicked my palms before I rubbed them off on my stolen jeans, shoving down the hunger corrupting my blood.

Orion weaved us through the buzzing crowd, oblivious to the monster he led through his people, taking me right to the front. He gestured to the first row of plush chairs before a waist-high tree stump wreathed in frosted sage.

“Sit here with the other initiates, child.” Heavy eyes pinned me. “I hope you’ll let me and your destined family help you. It’s the least I can do.”

Saliva pooled between my fangs. The feeling of being trapped only poked the beast my magic had become.

“Thanks,” I rasped, backing away and taking the furthest empty seat at the end of the row.

The coven elder watched me intently before a mage I recognised from the welcome party pulled him aside for a hushed discussion.

I could hardly bring myself to look at the handful of other mages, all around my age, already seated several chairs down, as close to the tree stump altar as they could get.

The nearest witch flashed me a pleasant smile, eyes sparkling as bright as the firelight catching the polished gemstone of her necklace.

I attempted to return the gesture. Judging by the rapid blinking of her false lashes before she spun back to the mage beside her, I needed to work on the whole friendly thing if I was going to stay here.

My breathing shallowed as the bonfire’s heat washed over one side of my face, contrasting the chill smothering the other half.

Either I joined Sage Coven in the next few minutes, or…

Well, there was no other choice.

I couldn’t go home like this.

Either I take a risk with the Sage Coven, go on the run from hunters in the human realm, or try not to get murdered by purist demons and hungry critters in Hell.

Two of the three options I’d already had a turn with, and I did not care for a repeat experience.

“Fires, am I actually doing this?” My breathing turned ragged, and I gripped the base of the cushioned wicker beneath me, snapping the woven fibres one by one.

The monster within writhed with the need to lash out, and I fought to keep a neutral expression plastered to my face.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Eve.”

I startled as hot breath fanned my ear with the whispered words.

Alvie leaned forward in the seat behind me and offered his usual sunny grin. “You’re going to initiate, right? I’m so excited for you to join my coven.”

His damp breath felt sticky against my neck, and I shifted away, my chair creaking in protest.

My answering smile felt brittle enough to crack my lips. “Where’s Killian?”

He jerked a clawless thumb beyond the tent. “Jacaranda needed to dig the spelled bullets out manually before she could heal the wounds.”

I looked for the building he’d been in, worry churning in my gut. He really had needed medical attention, and I’d just let him suffer for hours with bullets that could kill a normal demon. At least I’d been able to recreate the hunter’s stolen magic poison, mainly by trial and error, so over the years, our people could develop a tolerance with carefully measured doses.

The demon I’d been searching for finally stepped out of the building, and I managed to uncurl my claws from the protesting wicker.

Even from this distance, Killian’s glowing eyes found mine. He stalked through the moonlit clearing with all the intensity of a true predator. Utterly perfect, every inch of his muscular chest and arms had been knitted back together, wiped clear of the blood that had coated him.

Blood I’d forced onto his skin.

A surge of bile threatened to rush up my throat, and I swallowed thickly.

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