Page 19 of To Crave Deeply
She smiled softly and gave my hand a pat. “I figured. Look, the plain and simple truth of it is that you’re going to have a fight on your hands when you get back down there. My colleague can send you back, but you have to do the hard bit and make that demon submit.”
“It will be like stepping into a black box.”
I flinched. Shit, I hadn’t even seen the other woman enter. She was a serious looking lady, with her bright red hair scraped back in a tight bun and a suit with lines sharp enough to cut you. She peered at me over her spectacles, and I had a sudden feeling of being caught doing something naughty and sent to the headmistress’ office. She was terrifying. But there was also something worryingly familiar about the way she looked at me. Like she was in awe of my stupidity but also found it fascinating and wanted to know more.
“Lori, this is Sybil, and she is going to send you back. Isn’t she great?” Cindy chirped, a wide grin spreading across her face.
Yeah. Sybil looked fucking peachy.
“I’m not going to sit here and explain the ins and outs. All you need to know is it’s up to you once you’re down there. Demons are stubborn and this one you’ve got tied to your body is old. She won’t give up easily.”
“How do you know she’s old?” I asked Sybil.
She gave a little derisive snort. “Her soul reeks of death. She has lingered far too long on the mortal plane. It’s unnatural. There aren’t many magic users left who know such old magic. There might even only be one.”
That was interesting. We had all thought she was part of me, that she had come to exist when I had but in reality, she’d probably done this to other people before. My anger at her actions started to run anew through my veins, firing up my determination to teach that demon a lesson.
“Which one?” I asked. If I was going to have any hopes of understanding the magic that bound Iveri to me and how to undo it, then I was going to need that old witch.
“The original witch,” Sybil replied, smirking.
“But no one’s seen her for centuries. She’s probably not even alive anymore.” My heart sank. I was never going to find her, and I was never going to be rid of that backstabbing demon.
Sybil leant across the table and tapped her finger on my chest, right in the centre of my soulbond mark. “There is a touch of her magic in this. Like it’s from the same family line.”
I looked at the mark that bound me to Lucifer and I remembered that he’d said that the magic that had created this was older than him. I was still new to the world of magic and witches were a whole different ball game to mages. I didn’t even know where to begin to start understanding this.
“How do you know it’s her?” I asked, curious.
Sybil pursed her lips as she thought about her answer. She really did look familiar, but I couldn’t have met her before, could I?
“Magic speaks to all those that can use it, whether you’re a mage or a witch. I can tell this belongs to a witch because it just feels right to me. Mage magic feels alien to a witch. It’s like touching something hot or cold; you instantly know which is which. I can also tell that it’s old magic because it carries a reverence that you don’t see in modern magic. That soulbond is a magic that’s so intricately crafted it must have taken a great skill to create it. Lucifer can do magic, which was a gift he poured into creating his original witch, but he must have gotten the ability to create magic from somewhere, or some creature much older than him.”
“So why can’t I just talk to Lucifer about the magic?”
Sybil smirked. “Because he never used magic like Selene did. She truly harnessed the power of magic until it consumed her and drove her mad. She had a better understanding of magic than Lucifer ever would. Legend states that she went on a wild rampage before disappearing completely from the history books. One day, she just vanished.”
“How am I supposed to find someone who vanished centuries ago?”
“If I were looking to find the original witch, I’d start with the Devil. He was the one who made her. If anyone knew where his creation was, it would be him.”
Okay, so that was going on my to-do list. Right after getting the demon wearing my body as her new favourite outfit was dragged into submission.
“Right. Let’s do this,” I said with more confidence than I felt. I was an emotional wreck, but I couldn’t think about that now. I had to focus on getting back and making my body my own again. Once I’d done that, I could find the time to grieve. Tears threatened to fall again as I thought of Cassian, but I had to push them to one side. I wasn’t going to be able to fight Iveri if I was a bubbling mess of sorrow. There’d be time for that later. Now, it was time for action and cold, hard revenge.
“Excellent,” Sybil said as she stood and walked around the table towards me.
I stood from my chair and faced her, fear starting to show its ugly face as I realised this was the moment. I was going back, and I was going to see everyone again. If I were alive, my knees would be shaking, and my stomach would have dropped through the floor. I had no idea what awaited me on this journey back to my body and I was absolutely shitting myself.
“Okay, Lori, I’m not entirely sure how this is going to make you feel, but once I finish the spell, you’ll be pulled from this realm and back into the mortal one. The spell I perform will link you to your body but you’re the one who is going to have to reclaim it.” Again, Sybil peered over the top of those spectacles at me. “Understand?”
I nodded, my mouth too dry to form words.
“It was nice to meet you, sugar. I hope I don’t see you again too soon,” Cindy called cheerily. If she could bottle that happiness and sell it, she’d be loaded.
“Thanks for your help, Cindy. I hope you’re my case worker when Iactuallydie.”
Her bottom lip trembled, and my heart sank. Shit, did I say the wrong thing?
