Page 94 of Heart of a Witch
“I am presuming you don’t want me to fuck him then?”
A slow smile spread across my face. “Oh, I want you to do much more than that.”
She leaned in. “In my new body?”
“No, that will come later.”
“And how do you plan on finding a willing participant?”
I held my breath. “Because the body you will be taking at the end of this all is mine.”
Her arms dropped to her sides. “You’re willing to give up your soul for your revenge?”
Tears glossed my vision. “What’s the point in fighting for a cause if you’re not willing to die for it?”
She paused for a good minute before she extended her hand. “You have yourself a deal, witch.”
They were such dark, delicately tricky creatures to make deals with. If I did indeed lose my mind, she wouldn’t be able to take over anyway; full permission was needed, and for that, the mind had to be whole. If that failed and I didn’t lose my mind, then I’d have to trap her, becoming just like the hunter myself. Elijah told me how Damian captured demons, with dark objects, and being witches, we had one in our house: my brother’s pocket watch. It was the only way to get out of a blood bond. I wouldn’t be killing her or sending her back to the underworld.
As I walked away from the house, feeling the eyes of the dead upon me, a realization snaked up my spine. In all this revenge, I’d become a monster too. I was willing to hurt anyone in my way to get to him, to trap a demon and go back on my deals… to fuck with my own head. Alex could have died, and Cas had become a murderer by killing Richard Blackwood. At the end of all this, I wasn’t sure if all of this had in fact been worth it.
Twenty-Seven
Elijah
I cracked the back of my neck, massaging out a knot in my shoulder, and stepped into the club. “Thanks again for letting me stay,” I told Charles, who’d allowed me to sleep in his house for the past four days. I’d gone to check on Corbin, and he was making a miraculous recovery, so much I was beginning to think Victoria’s brother was a miracle worker.
Victoria had seemed distant when I’d gone to visit her, like she was preoccupied with something else. She’d smiled and said the right thing, but there was a disconnect. She zoned out at the oddest of times, got headaches from nowhere, and slept and cried a lot. Every part of me felt helpless, but she’d asked me to come stay back at the house tonight, and I said I would. She needed help taking care of Eva, whose throat had been cut by some intruder. I should have been there, but Ambrose had told me to leave that night, so I had. I was never going to push my welcome. “I won’t be staying tonight though.”
“You going back with your father?”
I shoved my hands in my pockets. “No. I’m going to stay with a friend.”
He arched an eyebrow. “I’m your only friend.”
“I have other friends.”
He chuckled, slapping me on the shoulder. “You have people who are afraid of you and those who work for you. There’s a difference.”
“Maybe it’s a female friend.”
He licked his lips. “That pretty girl from your ball?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Perhaps.”
“Man, you’re so secretive nowadays. We used to share everything.”
“It’s not like that. You’ll always be my closest friend, but we don’t have to tell each other everything.”
“Fine, but I’m always here if you need to talk.” He pulled up a stool beside me and tapped his glass against mine. “To friends.”
“Friends.” I clinked the glass back and downed my drink. “I should go and visit my father though, soon,” I said, my thoughts turning back to matters of home.
“Be careful, with him going mad and all.” He twirled his finger around, up by his temple.
“My father? Insane?” I shook my head, laughing. “I mean, I joke about it, but he’s not actually mad.”
“I thought you’d heard.” He shrugged. “Sorry, Eli. There’s been talking among the priest’s wives. My mother has them over for lunch a lot.”
