Page 17 of To Crave Deeply
My stomach dropped. No. I was not going on a quest to break her from the darkest circle of Hell.
“Shit,” Iveri muttered. She flopped back in the chair, defeated, and I was grateful that nothing had come of it.
“But if that’s the bond tying the girl to Lucifer,” the Queen continued, “I think you might be in luck.”
“How so?”
The Witch Queen let out a shrill chuckle and I winced at the sharp sound. “In his younger years, Lucifer thought himself invincible, and the fool tied all the wards and protections for Hell to his life force. If he’s in a weakened state because that stupid girl is dead, or missing, then the enchantments keeping all those souls in Hell will be weaker, too.”
Iveri pursed her lips in thought. “Why are you telling me all this?”
Smart girl. I wouldn’t expect the witch to give all this up for free, either.
“Because, my dear, I want the original witch. If you can find her and bring her here, where she will find refuge, I will be very grateful. I might even venture to learn how to break a soulbond in my gratitude.”
There was more to it than what the Queen was saying. I didn’t trust that she just wanted to help free the original witch out of the goodness of her cold, black heart, and judging by the way Iveri was eyeballing her, she didn’t believe it, either.
“If the original witch is as powerful as you say she is, surely she would be able to free herself? What do you need me for?”
The Queen’s eyes narrowed at the direct question, and the tension thickened in the air.
“Listen, demon. I will not divulge my reasons for needing the original witch’s help, but I will not risk the lives of my people who seek refuge here in Strigavallis by leaving them exposed while Hell breaks loose on the world. I’ve lost too many magic users already.”
“So, you want me to risk my life to get you what you want. Even though you handed your own witches over to Camael in the first place. What was it you said?” Iveri tapped her lips as if deep in thought and the Witch Queen’s eyes blazed with hatred towards the demon sat next to me. “Ah, yes. The sacrifice of a few outweighs the loss of the whole.”
“You know nothing of what you speak,” raged the Queen while Iveri sat there casually in the chair. I think that irritated the Queen more than the accusation. That the Sin Reaper could be so nonchalant before her certainly seemed to piss her off.
Iveri played with the cuff of her jacket, pretending to remove a piece of lint. “I know more than you think. I might not have been invited to the party, but I was still there. It’s easy to listen to private conversations when no one thinks you’re watching.”
I needed to break this command and I needed to do it quickly. The Witch Queen’s eyes were darkening, and her lips were pulled back into a snarl. This was going to get out of hand quickly if I didn’t put a stop to Iveri’s incessant need to push everyone’s fucking buttons.
I laughed inside; maybe Lori had rubbed off on her a little bit. God, I missed her. I needed her back like I needed air to breathe. I’d always been treated like the lowest form of creature possible but Lori… She saw me for who I was, and I basked in the acceptance and understanding that glowed in her eyes every time she looked at me. I had to get her back. I needed to tell her that I didn’t care about the bond of servitude.
I was hers. And I’d always be hers.
Now, if I could just get my body to obey my commands, I’d wrestle Iveri into fucking submission if I had to. She needed to learn her place and stop thinking she was better than everyone else. I was still a more powerful demon than her, and now, I had the free will to show it.
It was my time to be in charge now, little demon. I couldn’t stop the grin spreading across my face as I leapt from my seat and tackled Iveri to the ground.
Chapter 7
IVERI
The impact as my shoulder hit the marble floor shuddered all the way through me. My command had worn off Torsten and he was exerting his newfound free will in a physical show of dominance. He thought he’d beat me when we first met, but he was going to have a fight on his hands this time. I’d let him win to think he had power over me, and now I was going to get my chance to show him that I was more than a match for him. I was determined to fucking beat him.
The chair I was sitting on broke to pieces as I slid across the floor. I rolled to my side and jumped to my feet ready to face Torsten head on as he dived for me again, but he never made it.
Tendrils of magic wrapped around me and halted my steps towards Torsten. Damn it. I was looking forward to kicking his ass. Torsten fell to his knees as her magic filled the air. I hated the way it smelt, like burnt hair. It didn’t smell like that to witches, but to me, a demon, it was disgusting.
“Enough!” roared the witch, her violet eyes ablaze with fury and power. “I will not have some common brawl performed in my throne room.”
Her magic squeezed my body hard enough that I felt a couple of my ribs crack. A groan of pain crawled out my throat as she continued to squeeze until I submitted. I was going to get her back for this.
I could feel Torsten’s worried gaze on my face as I stared at the Witch Queen. I wanted to rip her face off and get out of here, but I knew that wasn’t an option. I hated playing politics. I was more of the stab first, ask questions later type, and sitting here playing nice with a queen was not my natural habitat. Give me a bar or a brawl over this any day of the week.
“Fine,” I ground out. She really had cracked some of my ribs.
She must have some power in those fingertips; I hadn’t even heard the spell. It was rare for a witch to be able to perform magic without speaking incantations aloud. Only the most powerful witches could accomplish that little trick and they were super rare. There had probably only been about twenty since Selene was born. Mages were different; they could perform magic at the touch of their fingertips, but witches needed enchantments and the boost of a coven to perform powerful spells.
