Page 54 of Rise of the Witch
As Nox would say, I’m a fucking goner.
“Tan, Asa, come here, please,” she called in that addictive voice of hers. “I need both of you to complete the ritual.”
Nox groaned as we approached her. “Do I need to find somewhere else to be? I swear, I can’t take it anymore—listening to you siphoning cum off of my friends all day and night like a fucking succubus.”
Vasi scoffed. “I’m notsiphoninganyone’s cum, Nox. It’s been freely given, and maybe I just like how it...tastes.”She threw a pointed look in his direction, making Nox blanch in a way that told methatclapback hit a little too close to home.
Good lord, just fuck her already and put us all out of our misery!
I followed Tan to where Vasi was kneeling in front of her little altar, lowering myself to the ground on one side of our witch while he took the other. She handed us both small jars containing blue-tinged water, producing a much larger container for herself from the depths of her pack.
“This is the dream tea I brew from blue roses,” she explained. “I use it to assist with opening myself up to messages from the beyond. Besides his appearance at the séance, the last time I saw Veles was during a dream tea-induced trance in a sacred grove...the day I met all of you.”
“Whoa, whoa, hold on a minute!” Nox was suddenly looming over the three of us. “You’ve communicated with Veles? What did he say? Do you think this would’ve been useful information to share?”
“As I said,” she snapped. “Veles appeared the day Imetyou, so forgive me for not mentioning it while you were insulting me at the thermal pools.” She sighed, her annoyance with Nox lessening only slightly as she humored his questions. “If you must know, he said something about how I wasn’t ready for him yet, how I needed to find the ones I was waiting for.” She gestured toward the three of us. “To invite them in, claim them, untame them, and ‘fuse’ my powers with theirs to be ready for whatever’s coming our way.”
Nox silently studied her for a moment before canting his head at the jar in her hands. “How come I don’t get any tea?”
Vasi’s kissable lips twisted as she suppressed a smile. “Well, as you may have noticed, I’ve only given Tan and Asa small amounts compared to what I’ll be drinking. It’s fairly powerful, and I wasn’t sure if Ishouldgive any to you since we haven’t done much…‘fusing’ of our powers.” She shrugged unapologetically. “I wasn’t sure what you could handle.”
Tan snorted, amusement sparkling in those gorgeous hazel eyes of his. “Doll, I’ve seen this man drink a Biergarten dry. Just give him the tea, and if he ends up crying under the table, then perhaps he should stop making you chase him and accept his fate already.”
I stifled my own smile as Nox snatched the jar Vasi held up for him, shooting the others a venomous glare when she muttered something to Tan about how she thinks “Nox likes to do the chasing.”
“Ok, my Riders,” Vasi started to unscrew her jar, suddenly all business. “Drink this down and then put your hands on me in some way.” She paused to playfully elbow Tan as he chuckled at her accidental innuendo. “I think the physical connection between us will make my efforts to call Veles here more effective.”
Opening my jar, I swallowed the blue liquid in one gulp, surprised by its light, floral taste. Bringing my hand to Vasi’s upper back, I almost jumped when Tan placed his hand slightly over mine, praying that he wasn’t only touching me for the sake of the spell.
I am so incredibly sorry.
My repentant thoughts were interrupted by a deafening boom of thunder, the blue sky above us suddenly swirling with heavy clouds, green-tinged and threatening, like the atmosphere before a storm. The prehistoric rock towering on either side shook, the massive trees along the crater’s edge violently swaying in response. A disturbing rumbling sound began to vibrate the ground beneath us, the eerie creaking from earlier growing louder as if it were approaching. I cursed as a crack appeared farther down the canyon, racing toward us as the earth opened up in its wake.
“Don’t move,” Vasi hissed, somehow sensing I was about to grab her and run from the approaching rift. “We are safe.”
Every instinct was screaming at me to save her, save Tan, Nox—the only people I still cared about in this world—but I gritted my teeth and remained kneeling at her side. The crack abruptly ceased its trajectory only a few yards away from us, Vasi’s tiny altar disappearing into its depths like a sacrifice.
Then, it was silent.
Just as had happened at the séance, a figure suddenly rose from the darkness, although this was no gnarled witch; no Baba Yaga. The man who floated over the chasm as if the air were solid beneath him was the embodiment of nightmares.
Veles. God of the underworld.
He was so massive he made Nox look like a teenager, with dark skin that somehow gleamed in the low light. He exuded power—muscles rippling beneath the loose robes he wore, energy crackling off of him like he was a conduit. The sheer size of this man was magnified by the large ram’s horns curling off of his forehead, crowning eyes that burned as if lit from within by hellfire.
Eyes that are looking at what’s mine.
I growled possessively. Veles turned his attention to me, an amused expression flickering over his devastatingly handsome face. “Well, well, Vasilisa. You’ve found your Riders, and aren’t they...delicious.”
His fiery gaze undressed me down to my soul, and it was Tan’s turn to growl. Apparently, two of us challenging the god was unacceptable as a disturbing change came over Veles when he snapped his gaze to Tan. Animosity flashed across his face, causing the power beneath my skin to flare to life, ready to fight for what was mine.
That energy surge fizzled out the instant Veles focused on Nox, a sly smile stretching across his unearthly face. “Why, hello, Nox,” he smirked. “How nice to see you again.”
Chapter 44
Vasilisa
Although calling Veles to appear had been my intention, I still found myself frozen in terror the moment he materialized; so overwhelmed was I by the suffocating power he emitted, the endless pain he promised. Even when his gaze swept overmymen, his expression ranging from lust to malice, I’d found myself unable to speak or to challenge him for what was mine.
