Page 49 of Hex
My fingertips are buzzing, the ground shaking, and my heartbeat is pounding more rapidly than I thought possible.
“Ah man. You killed everyone without me.” Slash’s voice makes me blink a few times, the vibrations at my feet calming.
Was that me too?
“What the fuck happened?” Slay’s shadows thicken before he appears from within them.
“Where’s Hack?”
“Well, that’s the question of the day, Slash, because I’d like to know the same thing. He was taken after these djinn and harpies decided to attack us. Twice. The professor who kidnapped Danika showed up branding this angel blade thing, managed to cut through my protective shield. Then, apparently, I blew everyone up with some magical blast right before I woke up to find this.” Waving my arms out to the sides, I spin on the spot, as if what I’m saying is perfectly logical and obvious. “Oh, and some djinn with a master somewhere—because of course they have masters—left a glowing communication ball that told me, and I quote, ‘Found you. Now I have your chosen. Come and find me’. Like, what the actual fuck is that all about?” Finally taking a breath, it stutters, but I push the fear of the unknown down. Far away. It is not wanted here.
With a roar to rival Hack’s, Slash begins hammering down his sword into the bodies strewn across the ground, slicing and dicing what’s left into pieces. Pierce is tapping on his phone, and Slay sighs before coming closer to me.
“You did good. None of this is your fault.”
“I didn’t say it was. This is all fucked is what it is.Fucked.” The last word is clipped as I shake my head and replicate Slay’s heavy sigh.
“Dei Samhain said we need to get the fuck out of here, leave no witnesses so it can’t come back on us.” Pierce comes to stand with us while Slash continues to…well, slash the bodies.
“I have already searched the area. There are no kyn for miles. None that are alive, anyway.” Slay begins to disappear, his mist appearing as he does, and I’m sure he sniggered a little.
It’s easy to forget they are demons. Death and destruction isn’t a big deal to them.
It is to me, though.
I’m officially a murderer.
What if there were kids here? Parents? Families?
Oh, goddess…what have I done?
The tingling in my fingers comes back as tears spring to my eyes. I try to blink them away but I can’t even do that. I’m useless.
I killed people. I lost Hack. I lost Danika. I got Saffron killed.
It’s all too much.
Murmuring voices make my pounding head thud harder. I can’t pinpoint any of them at first, but one finally breaks through.
A cold touch against my neck accompanies a female voice. “Sage…come back to us, child.”
My eyelids are going to fall off with the amount of blinking I’m doing, but eventually I realize the bronze glow in front of me isn’t going away. It’s surrounding my original mother. The Goddess of Magic, the moon, the night, and crossroads. Ha…I just put the link together there. The crossroads and choices to be a good witch or a shitty one.
“Hekate.” The single word feels like a breath I had held in, finally breaking me free of the magical hold I had on myself.
“Daughter, mine.” She grins, the most regal and sophisticated grin to ever exist. “We need to give you a crash course in controlling your abilities.” Pausing, she holds my hands in hers,grounding me to this moment instead of letting me get washed away in my panic. “And I think it’s time I told you who your father is.”
Chapter Seventeen
Hack
Blind rage. It’s all I can feel. Not just from myself but from Sage as well. There’s a maelstrom of pure, blood-boiling fury so strong I can’t seem to turn back into my anthros form. My only saving grace is knowing that if I can feel her anger through our bond, then she’s alive.
“Come back here, you fucking pussies!” My fists are curled around the bars of my cage but no matter how hard I pull and shake, they don’t budge. There isn’t much a demon can’t break, but for the sake of balance, the Dei of Thirteen had the faeries and nephilim create chains and cuffs, as well as the itherium, to keep us down when we lose our shit.
This is me, losing my shit.
It doesn’t matter that these bars are demon-locked and the entire fucking cage is sprayed in itherium to keep me at my weakest, I won’t rest until I get the fuck out of here. Even in my demon form—pumpkin head and all—I’m having a hard time, not to mention my vines feel spellbound inside me. To top it all off, I can’t communicate with my brothers, which is the ultimate proof that everything here has been set up.
