Page 47 of Brimstone and Broomsticks
Chapter 16
Cassandra
The moment I’d announced I was going to do a spell, I’d felt this electric charge. Something about crossing this line energized me. And it seemed to have done the same to Lucien. It was as if I’d been talking dirty, or promising him sexual favors. He’d sucked in a breath, and barely been able to keep his eyes from me as I drove to the deadfall. As soon as we got out of my car, he’d come around the side and walked close to me, heat radiating off his body. I swear I could feel his wings, feel the intensity of his demonic energy. It stirred my blood, made me want to screw him in the back seat of my car. But I had a spell to do and a werewolf, alive or dead, to find, and something about that was just as sexually charged as the idea of fucking Lucien in my car.
I’d come woefully unprepared for this. Bronwyn and Ophelia carried spell components with them all the time. I obviously didn’t. But unlike my sisters, I could work my shit on the fly. It would be difficult. It would take more energy. But it could be done. And with this demon next to me, charging me up and making me feel breathless and aware, I felt as if I could rule the world.
“I’m so going to fuck you after this,” he breathed as I gathered some stones and sticks and arranged them in the appropriate fashion.
“Are you like this with all the witches, or just me?” I teased. Sorta teased. I’ll admit this sort of fascination and attention was heady, but I’d been burned before. It would suck if he just got it on with any witch he came across, much like Marcus had got it on with any female, or male, he’d come across.
He hesitated. “There’s an undeniable attraction between demons and witches. It’s been going on since time began. Every demon’s dream is to be summoned into a coven, to gather those witches to his side and experience the joy that happens every time they cast a spell, every time they offer their bodies to him or her. There’s something electric about a witch that every demon longs to experience.”
My heart fell a few feet. “And there’s seven of us in this town. We’re like a buffet here.”
He grabbed my arm and pulled me over, gathering me into his arms. “You’re more than some damned buffet, Cassie. I knew the moment I met you that there was something special between us—something once-in-a-lifetime between us. You’re more than just a witch. You’re more than a coven of witches. You’re someone to walk by my side, to share the joy of hell with.”
Hell? Wasn’t sure I wanted to think about what he might mean about that one. “So you’d consider an exclusive physical and emotional relationship?” Because after Marcus, there’s no way I could deal with sharing anyone I cared about. Next time there would be more than pants set on fire here.
Lucien grinned then kissed me. When he finally let me up for air, he placed his forehead against mine. “Do your magic witch. Let me soak it all in. Let me savor every moment of it all. And tonight, when we’re alone, I’ll return the favor.”
I pulled away, flustered. I’d had some really damned good sex with Marcus, but nothing like this—nothing like the sense of connection, or worshipful admiration that I got from this demon.
Trying to clear my head, I finished placing the stones and sticks, then placed Alberta’s hair in the center of it all and began to chant. The ground surged beneath me. The air thickened and throbbed. I heard Lucien catch his breath and suddenly the energy I held deep inside my core surged forth in a wave.
The path became clear in my mind—as clear as if I’d seen it on a Google map highlighted in red.
“She crossed the deadfall,” I told Lucien, my voice foggy as if in a trance. I scrambled across the branches and deadwood, barely aware of the hand steadying my way. Then I wandered through the trees and marshy land, my shoes becoming thick with coated mud as I walked. In the back of my mind I wondered at Alberta, a troll, crossing such a wet terrain. Trolls were earth-bound—one of the few fae who were. Alberta lost every bit of her power over water, and would have suffered a reduction of her abilities in such wet land. Dry ground and stone were a troll’s strength. This wet land…it didn’t make sense. Unless Alberta was really serious about hiding whatever treasures she had from other earthbound supernatural creatures like ogres and goblins.
About fifty yards through the damp forest I realized something. The trail I was following was thick. Fat. Wide. Alberta wasn’t a svelte woman, but even in her natural troll form, this seemed to be more of a magical swath than she should have been creating. The realization made me catch my breath. And hurry.
Lucien followed me, silent, intent, his arousal like a caress on my skin. I tried to ignore him and concentrated on the magical pathway weaving its way along the trees and brush. Finally we came to a cliff face, a sheer rock wall that rose a good thirty feet straight up before angling off into a stony terrain of pine. I looked upward, wondering how Alberta could have managed something that should have required ropes and skilled climbing technique.
“Fae,” Lucien whispered. “Think like a fae.”
Glamour. Fae were all about glamour. Outside of Accident, trolls relied on it the most, making their appearance more acceptable to humans and hiding their dwellings from the rest of the world. Alberta would use the same in concealing her special hiding place. Concentrating, I closed my eyes and centered. And when I opened them, I saw the entrance.
With a word I’d dispelled the illusion, and before us was a two-foot opening through the rock.
I swayed and Lucien took my arm. “You okay?”
I nodded, feeling far from okay. I’d spent the last fifteen years of my life actively not practicing magic. I had power. I had skill. And I was woefully out of practice. There was a deep well of energy within me, but tapping it made me feel weak and shaky. Out here alone, I would have probably headed back, but with Lucien by my side, I felt as if I could continue. He would help me. He would protect me. He’d make sure I made it out of here even if I passed out.
Lucien helped me scramble up the rocky path to the opening, then he hovered nearby as I knelt down to crawl through the opening. Inside was pitch black, so I hesitated and dug my cell phone out of my pocket, clicking on the flashlight app. Ahead of me was a two-foot pathway ending in what looked to be a cavern. I crawled forward, shining my light upward. The cavern was about four feet high, and six by eight feet wide. Along the walls were strings of beads, pictures and paintings, statues and pottery. All the sorts of things I’d expected a troll might consider her treasures. And laying on the ground beneath it all was a very pale werewolf.
“Lucien!” I shouted. “Help me!”
The demon was right behind me, but the passage was narrow and he had to practically knock me over to get past me into the cavern. Once there, he sucked in his breath upon seeing the werewolf illuminated by the faint light of my flashlight app.
He knelt down beside Clinton and ripped the duct tape off the werewolf’s mouth. Clinton moaned, his head lolling to the side.
“Hold the flashlight steady,” Lucien commanded as he tore through the excessive amount of tape and rope used to bind the werewolf. Well, excessive for a human. I guess for a werewolf, it was probably a prudent amount.
The beam of my flashlight revealed that Clinton hadn’t just lost a ton of blood and been bound, he’d had the crap beat out of him. And I was thinking all these wounds weren’t from his run in with Lucien outside of the tavern last night.
“Can you get him out of here? He’ll heal quicker outside.”
Lucien knelt down and pulled the werewolf across his shoulders, army crawling his way through the entrance to keep from smashing the comatose werewolf against the stone roof. Once outside, he laid him down on the mossy ground while I came out of the cavern.
