Page 30 of Nope, No Regrets
Wren
Icould be happy here. I was insanely crazy about Rei, and that was certainly unexpected. I usually stuck to other witches when it came to my crushes. Hell seemed like a fantastic place, and, especially after hearing Dakarys and Rajack share Scorchwood stories, I expected it to be freezing cold and miserable. What I had seen so far was beautiful, and the climate was perfect.
And there were other witches here! Cool witches, who could hang out and not judge each other for specializing in different kinds of magic. Charley was a jailbird, like me. I didn’t know exactly what she had done, everyone just kept saying how it was a ‘mistake made in grief,’ but the authorities felt the need to make her rot in Scorchwood for it. Must’ve been serious. Shit, I murdered people, and I didn’t even get sent there.
I knew how things were for people on Earth if you got sent to jail with a release date. Everyone shunned you. No coven would take you, and it was difficult to find work. Most witches had to get jobs with humans if they ended up in jail.
It wasn’t like that here. Charley was the first witch they called when the shit hit the fan, despite being in jail. I knew she’d earned that respect, but I intended to do the same. Yeah, I dabbled in black magic and killed people, but Hell seemed to understand what a lot of people on Earth didn’t.
Black magic wasn’t evil, and there was an appropriate place for it. There were good uses for it just as much as it could be harmful in the wrong hands. I loved that the people here got that instead of trying to hunt down and silence anyone and everyone that practiced it.
The Aether Circle was a prime example of witches who gave black magic a bad name. I pretty much loved Rei to death that since learning that she stole their grimoire, and I was digging Solron’s entire vibe and how easily she located the coven that paid Rei to steal it. I wanted to be drinking buddies with Solron and Charley, because their auras said they were just as psycho as I was.
I couldn’t believe I was getting a chance to look through the Aether Circle’s grimoire and use that shit against them! I didn’t know Autumn, but I knew of the Phoenix Fire coven. They were healers who did a lot of good in the community. Back in my day, they were revered and loved. No one had cause to hurt them. They didn’t just work in hospitals, they had outposts everywhere to teach other witches healing magic. I actually first learned to heal from a member of the Phoenix Fire.
They had never been violent witches, so Sabrina wouldn’t have had a good reason for killing their High Priestess. The Aether Circle had done a lot of heinous shit, but attacking such a gentle coven like Phoenix Fire was going to be their downfall.
I fucking relished being present when karma made an appearance.
Autumn was pretty damn badass when she was angry. Apparently, the High Priestess was her mother, and she was ready to bring the entire Aether Circle down. This grimoire was massive, but as soon as all of our previous Scorchwood residents starting spilling the beans about that shit hole, she knew precisely which bookmark to flip to.
Sota was proving extremely useful as well. He went back home and came back with his laptop. Silverhold had cameras all over the place, so many that you couldn’t fart without it being caught on video. Scorchwood was different. There were no cameras, but there were hidden microphones everywhere. They were still live, and Sota had Solron’s mentor hack into the prison system so he could listen.
There was nothing inside the prison picking up sound. Sota suspected they were in the guard’s quarters. I thought we were going to have to go in blind, but the big ass fairy said he would go check, and disappeared in a poof of flame. I’d never met a Fae before, but that seemed like a handy skill to have.
“I love it when he does that,” Roman said.
“Who is that?” Rajack said. “He wasn’t in Scorchwood with us.”
The entire dream team started laughing.
“Yes, he was,” Amduscias said. “He only came out to play when he needed to burn a bitch alive because they were trying to hurt Serafina. It’s supposed to be seriously taboo with Fae and Fae guardians, but Fergus and Serafina bonded, and he got a little jealous when he realized Skoll was her mate. He initiated some prison dream sex, and she was able to wish him a body to inhabit again. He still has all his guardian powers, which means he can turn into a tiny ember and spy.”
Rajack and Dakarys found that funny, and I didn’t get it. Sure, it was a cool skill, and one we needed, but it wasn’t remotely amusing.
“Let me guess. He spied on the warden of Scorchwood?” Dakarys said.
Oh, that was fucking hilarious! Would he be willing to visit Silverhold and snoop on Warden Snow? That bitch was shady.
“Oh, yeah,” Skoll laughed. “The bastard can get into hard drives and read everything.”
I was about to mention something about pointing him towards Warden Snow and her constant covering up for Brody, but he was already back.
“They are in the guard’s quarters, packed in like sardines and bickering like children. Kudan thinks he’s in charge, and Sabrina wants to boss him around. Care to place bets on who would win when two power-hungry psychopaths decide to try and kill each other? Keep in mind that Kudan only has seven tails, and Sabrina lost her grimoire.”
“Seven tails are still dangerous, and some of those witches probably have spells from the grimoire committed to memory,” Sota pointed out.
Sota didn’t have to tell me that. I’d seen Rei in action when she just had two. She barely blinked and knocked out power to the entire prison. If I could have recorded her electrocuting Venus so I could watch it again and again, I would have, it was a beautiful thing. Venus came charging in with no magic like she thought she could kill Rei with her bare hands, and we were going to let her.
Watching that rancid bitch fly out of the room, with her hair standing up, then seeing her hit the floor as a smoking mess was something I was going to file away in my spank bank. For Rei and for Astrid. I wasn’t underestimating her brother at all, even if he was hiding behind some witch’s skirts.
“There are spells in this grimoire that make a sort of magical alarm system,” Autumn said. “Sabrina would have set them all over the prison. I didn’t know about these back when we asked Rei to steal the grimoire, but I’m shocked they weren’t all over the compound when Rei broke in. I’m sure they have learned their lesson and remedied that.”
“Weird looking symbols painted in blood? Yeah, they are all over the place,” Fergus said.
“Fuck,” Solron growled. “I’m supposed to be the warden when renovations are finished. Nasty witch blood on the walls is just another thing we need to take care of I guess.”
“I’d burn that place to the ground if it was up to me,” Rajack growled. “So, how do we get in?”
