Page 97 of Hellish Witch

As if he heard my thoughts, he lifted a hand with a dramatic flourish. Light coalesced above his flat palm, and a warm glow bathed my face like I peered into a fireplace.

“Wow,” I breathed. “No wonder you’re so tanned in this icebox.”

He chuckled, the sound as warm as his magic. “I know, I make a great sunbed. Don’t worry, my services are free for a witch as pretty as you.” He wagged his golden brows at me playfully, even as faint wisps of soapy desire seeped towards me.

A surprised snort had me sounding like a spike boar. I could just make out Killian’s eyes narrowing in my periphery as he stalked behind us.

It was like the magewantedto get his tongue ripped out.

“Enough about me, tell me about you, Eve.” Alvie closed his fist around the sunbeam, extinguishing it. He steered us around a fallen oak, angling us through a denser patch of trees, and tucked a golden curl behind his ear.

They were rounded, just like mine.

“Well…my mother was a succubus, which I guess means my father was a mage, but he didn’t stick around long enough for me to find out. I was born in Hell and live in the Hybrid Kingdom, but I love visiting the human realm when I can.”

Or I had before I’d been sold to hunters on my last trip.

“How did you learn magic without your father to teach you?” he asked, his attention riveted to my face, hanging on my every word. The intensity would almost be flattering, if not for the uncomfortable topic.

“Mostly trial and error.” I shrugged, lips twitching as a hundred memories bubbled up. “I threw whatever power I could at my poor brother until something happened. But now my friend and I have started our own grimoire. She’s a nature mage, but from the Quartz Coven up in Riverside.”

“That’s one of the most inspiring stories I’ve ever heard. Not only is your magical intuition strong, but I can feel the energy radiating off you. You’re incredibly powerful.” The honesty in his golden eyes shone a light on something I’d buried long ago.

I’d never been calledpowerfulbefore.

I wasn’t a force to be reckoned with. Not like Killian, with his mastery of violence, or Alvie throwing literal sunbeams.

I was the outcast service provider people hoped never to see.

And now I wasn’t even that.

“What’s your coven like?” I blurted the first thing I could think of.

“Amazing.” He flashed me a dazzling smile. “I’d do anything to protect my brothers and sisters in magic. Here in the Sage Coven, we have some of the most powerful healers in the world. We respect all life.”

A sense of pride seemed to puff up his chest, and the picture he painted drew me in more than I’d have cared to admit.

“So…they’re not going to try to murder me and Killian for being demons?” I asked, wondering again if following a random mage was a smart idea.

It hadn’t exactly panned out well for me last time. Plus, Zoella’s coven had been run by some evil dictator.

“What? No!” Alvie shook his head, aghast. “We’re more open-minded than those other stuck-up covens.” He gave me a subtle look from under his long lashes, leaking wisps of lavender desire for me to soak up. “Summoning isn’t forbidden here. In fact, I know of a few coven members who’ve dated demons…”

“How very scandalous,” I mock-gasped, clutching imaginary pearls at my jumper’s collar.

Liquid gold eyes caught mine. “Yes, well, the boost of magic from demons can be…tempting.”

Killian’s growl was deep enough to rumble the earth beneath our feet.

My cheeks flamed, and it took everything in me to keep my gaze from raking the incubus. That carved door in my mind threatened to swing wide open and let my craving for him smack him right in his pretty face.

Even now, my core tingled from the…powerhe’d gifted me during my heat.

“Yup,” I coughed, looking anywhere but at the two men looming closer. “I guess your coven’s welcome policy is why my friend suggested I seek you out. Since my magic has started…acting up, I’m hoping someone in your coven has similar magic to teach me to contain it. Or well, just to heal me, I guess.”

Killian scowled at the back of Alvie’s angelic curls. “There’s nothing to fix, sweetness. You’re perfect just the way you are.”

I shot him a look.

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