Page 96 of Filthy Little Witch
I swallowed down my indignation. Trouble was putting it mildly. “I can’t ground. I can’t pull from the earth.”
He nodded but stayed silent, waiting for me to continue.
“I’m shooting darkness out of my hands. It’s like…like I’m infected.”
His eyes narrowed, and he tilted his head to the side. “There’s more.”
I was hesitant to tell him. After all, he wasn’t a member of the coven, but something told me to be honest, that if there was one person who could help me, it was this biker who had been through hell and back. He had no reason to judge me, nothing to gain or lose from telling the others.
I bared it all. I explained the rituals and the demon and what happened at St. Michael’s. Maybe I was just tired of trying to figure it out. Maybe I wanted him to stab me in the chest and banish me with the others. When I was finished, something hot and sticky slid down my cheek, and when I wiped it away, my fingers were tinged pink.
Blood.
More blood.
He took a deep breath and let it out on a sigh.
“You know, there’s all different kinds of supernatural in this world,” he said, glancing out toward the tree line. “Shifters, vampires, demons. Witches that pull from the earth and warrior bonds that don’t act the way they’re supposed to. My magic isn’t like yours. I’m a different breed, but we all must work with what we’ve got.”
“You should exorcise me while you’ve got the chance,” I said, shaking my head. “Tell the others I attacked you or something.”
He snorted a laugh. “No, I don’t think that’s the problem.”
I glanced up at him and loosened my hold on my midsection. “No?”
Hellsing hummed. “Seems to me you started something and never finished it. Whatever was in Wesson spread to you and Atlas, maybe more so you because of your magic.”
“You’re saying there’s a demon in me.” I searched my soul for the truth in this, but all I found was the chasm of loneliness and pain the Colts had left in their wake.
“If you had to give up a piece of yourself to banish the demon and you were connected to the others at the time, they must have given up a piece of themselves, too.” He pursed his lips and shrugged. “Evil clings to emptiness like that. You give an inch, it’s going to take a mile.”
“How do I get rid of it? How do I get myself back?”
“Can’t say for certain,” he admitted. “But if I were you, I’d finish it. Spread it out between the three of you.”
“I can’t—I can’t do this to them.” I couldn’t ruin them more than I already had.
“It’s already done,” he said. “The three of you can already hear each other’s thoughts, feel each other’s pain and emotions. They agreed to share your magic, right?” He turned and started walking again. “Seems like the most logical thing to do next.”
“They’re gone,” I said. “They left me, left this.”
“Hmm.” He glanced toward the sky and took a deep inhale. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
His sudden change in topic momentarily threw me, but I glanced upward and noticed three crows circling above us, cawing and dancing with each other.
I always believed in signs from the earth. Whatever I needed, She provided. And now, with that image in mind, I breathed a little deeper.
CHAPTER 31
Atlas
I sat in my car outside the bar, watching through the windows like some fucked-up stalker. I sensed him close by, which meant he must have sensed me, too. He’d be a fucking idiot not to. Of course, of all the stupid things he’d ever done, this would be the stupidest. Not to mention the most hurtful. I could wring his pretty little neck. And when I got my hands on him, I would have to convince myself not to take it too far.
He left us. He fucking left us. Again.
And this was about getting him back, about convincing him that it was reckless and stupid to run off.
He’d always been self-deprecating, convinced he wasn’t strong enough for this life, that he’d be better suited to something easier, more normal. Well, tough.
