Page 47 of Witch's Exile
Raum stopped walking abruptly and turned to face me. His eyes looked endlessly black in the darkness of night.
"You really don't think that'll change?"
"No, it won't," I answered defiantly. "I have the three of you. Why would I want him? The only reason I do is because of Beelzebub's fucking magic."
My dark, handsome demon drew me close with a surprisingly gentle embrace. "It's been just the four of us for so long. They're not happy with the possibility of that changing. Frankly, neither am I. But if you made that decision, we would accept it."
"Nothing will change," I repeated, propping my chin on his chest to look up at him. "Fuck knows you three are all I can handle anyway."
He let out a throaty chuckle as he dropped a kiss to my lips. "Oh, my little witch. You birthed an entire race of magical people and wield all four elements, plus shadow magic. You can handle so much more than you realize."
* * *
Igot up early the next morning to prepare a tea blend of various herbs I found growing around the house. Lemongrass, peppermint and just a pinch of the silver needle Ash got me to round it all out. The dehydrator was taking too long so I used the shadow side of my Earth magic to zap all the moisture and life from the lemongrass and peppermint. I smiled as I pinched the dried leaves between my fingers. Perfect.
I was so absorbed in my tea-making, I didn't notice Seth enter the kitchen until he cleared his throat. He looked stunningly different from yesterday. Sal's clothes fit him well and he looked clean and well-rested.
"Morning," I mumbled, returning to my work.
"Morning," he greeted just as jovially, keeping a wide distance between us. "Is there any coffee?"
Ugh, he was one of those people. I could let it slide with Ash but with this guy, I'd latch onto any reason to dislike him. Anything to keep from thinking about him inappropriately and damn it, why did he have to smell so good after a shower? Asshole.
"Ash keeps it up there." I jerked my head toward a cupboard without looking up as I gently ground my dried herbs with my mortar and pestle.
He moved closer to rummage through the cupboard and the spicy scent of soap and men's deodorant filled my nostrils. If it were any of my guys, I would have turned into him and hugged him tight. And with him, I still felt tempted to. Damn it.
"Hey, listen." I stole a glance at him, barely believing what I was about to say. "I owe you an apology."
His lips curved in a smirk as his stormy eyes lit up with surprise. Of course the asshole would enjoy this to the fullest extent.
"For?" he inquired.
"Hitting you," I said. "And just, you know, being a bitch since you've been here."
To my complete shock, he returned his attention to his coffee as he lifted his shoulder in a shrug.
"It's alright. You all had your suspicions about me and I didn't exactly have the most trustworthy track record with you." He lifted his gaze back to me. "You are slowly becoming a better apologizer, though. I'll give this one a six out of ten."
Ah, there it was. I rolled my eyes and returned to my tea. "Forget I said anything," I muttered.
"Too late," he snickered. "No takesies-backsies."
Damn it. Why was I smiling at that? Why was I allowing myself to enjoy this brief, fleeting interaction with him?
And why was I so damn curious now that I knew he was essentially a witch-demon mutant?
"So what was it like growing up with your powers so advanced?" I asked him. His life had to be the polar opposite of mine, growing up with no powers at all.
"Shitty," he answered without hesitation. "I came into my powers at five years old. It was too much all at once for someone that young. I had seizures, migraines, and the worst body pains constantly. Kinda hard to make friends when you're laid up in bed all the time."
"Fuck," I breathed, taken aback. Clearly having such power wasn't all it was cracked up to be. "That does suck. Sorry to hear it."
He shrugged again. "Reaching deep into my shadows was the only solace I found. Pain taught me the self-control to wield my powers effectively."
I swallowed. It made sense. My powers were hidden away so deeply from lack of use, I had to look through my shadows to find them. And I was practiced enough that they didn't hurt me when I came into awareness of them.
Seth wasn't so lucky. His powers were so overwhelming he had to force them into his shadows to make the pain go away. I wondered if Raum had to do something similar. He also got terrible pains and migraines from his visions until he learned to control his new power.
