Page 9 of Witch's Rebirth
One step toward her was all it took for Juno to absolutely lose her shit.
"Don't touch me! Stay the fuck away! Don't you dare touch me you filthy fucking demons!" They ignored her wailing and patted down over her clothing just as thoroughly as seasoned police officers. "GET YOUR FILTHY FUCKING HANDS OFF MEEEEEE!"
"Got something." Ash ripped open a small pocket that had been sewn into her pant leg and produced a small baggie.
He tossed it to me and I squinted as I held it up to the light. It looked like a golden powder, sort of like ground tumeric, but with an even finer consistency. It even seemed to glow if light passed through it a certain way.
"I'll be damned." Seth came up behind me to look at the substance over my shoulder. His face was almost uncomfortably close to mine and I felt his breath fan over my neck, making my hairs stand on end.
"Do you know what it is?" I asked, not pulling away even though I should have.
"If I had to guess, it's a pulverized angel's kiss. She was probably going to put it in our food."
"Or my tea," I realized.
"Fuck." Seth pulled back and ran a hand through his dark hair. "Diana's probably sacrificing the whole damn coven to the angels on a silver platter. They don't just do favors like making their deadliest weapons easily accessible for no reason."
Weighing this information in my mind, I turned back to Juno just in time to see her flash a look of disgust at Ash.
Then she spit on him.
Something inside me snapped the moment she did that and I acted without thinking.
I raised my hands and Earth magic shot out of my fingertips, the long green tendrils I cultivated while practicing with Diana. They wrapped around her neck and I only saw the fear in her eyes for a split second. My magic yanked and a cleansnaprang out through the basement. Juno's body slumped over, lifeless.
No one around me said a word. They didn't need to. We all knew this would happen. It was just a matter of when.
I fully realized the irony of the next words on my tongue but couldn't stop myself from saying them.
"Burn the witch."
4
SAL
Ilived long enough to know that killing someone had a different effect on everyone who did it. Deja was having a difficult time, but that in itself wasn't unusual. Most humans seemed to feel conflicted when taking the life of one of their own.
She chose to sit with Raum while Ash, Seth and I disposed of Juno. To my surprise, Seth seemed unfazed by the presence of a dead girl and took to lighting the match himself. But then I remembered he ordered plenty of demon death sentences while working undercover for the hunter's guild. He may have been just as seasoned a killer as me.
Aside from wanting to shove my fist through his smug, scowling face every time he looked at my woman, I still didn't know how to feel about the guy.
On some level I understood he was a refugee of sorts and was safe with us. But we weren't the only upper hierarchy demons roaming the earth. Why didn't Ash work it out with Lucifer to give him refuge somewhere else? Did he really want to give this physical connection thing with Deja a chance? That didn't make any sense, considering Ash was the most possessive of her out of all of us. And she certainly didn't seem to want him around, which gave me more satisfaction than I'd admit.
While ruminating on these thoughts, I prepared a mug of tea for Deja and went up to the bedroom to sit with her. She turned at the sound of my footsteps and offered a strained smile when she saw me.
"Thanks, lion." Her voice was flat as she accepted the mug from me. "I was just about to go down for a refill."
"Do you want to be alone, beautiful?" I asked her.
She paused to sip her tea. "No, stay with us."
"Well, this chair won't do," I grumbled, moving in.
She barely had time to react and nearly spilled her tea as I scooped her up in my arms, walked around to the open side of the bed, and placed her down on the mattress before sinking down next to her. The king-sized bed allowed plenty of room for us and kept Raum undisturbed. Any more people though and it would begin to get crowded.
He still appeared to be sleeping peacefully. I swore the fucker even had his signature smirk on his face. I wouldn’t put it past him to pretend being asleep as a joke.
"Does it ever get easier to kill people?" she asked me after a few moments of silence.
