Page 31 of Nope, No Regrets
“They didn’t sense me,” Fergus said. “The Fae have been gone so long, and the grimoire went missing after we came back. I’m guessing they haven’t figured out the right magic to detect Fae just yet. I can burn the ones in the hallways off.”
“Don’t set fire to that prison, Fergus. I’m having fun roleplaying prison warden with Bael. I want to see if the real job is as much fun.”
“Solron, you can’t get kinky with the inmates if you’re warden,” Amduscias pointed out.
Did that really need to be said? She just rolled her eyes.
“Duh. I’d never cheat on Bael. He’s the king of Hell, and his cock is massive and he is a master with the paddle. Anyone else is simply inferior. I just want my power trip.”
“You didn’t spend time there, or you’d be fully on board with destroying that place. I can destroy the sigils and keep your little ego trip intact.”
Power tripping and roleplaying aside, something told me Solron would run the new Scorchwood much better than the previous warden, and even Warden Snow. We had the sigils taken care of, but we still had little in the way of a plan, unless we were going to storm in there and break things. That could be fun, too.
“Even with those wards down, there’s still a lot of people in that jail that want me dead. I’m not staying behind, so no one fucking suggest it. I’m not helpless. I have electricity and fire, and it feels like another tail is coming. This all started because you asked me to steal that grimoire in their cat infested headquarters, with double-sided tape on every surface. Surely, there has to be something else in there, right?”
I was still furious the Aether Circle covered that entire house in double-sided tape, but couldn’t give their cats basic care, so they weren’t having kittens all the time. I wanted to kill them just for that. Yeah, I was a serial killer, but I’d never harmed an animal before. If I needed bits for a spell, I went out to the woods until I found one already dead and then took what I needed.
“I wasn’t finished,” Autumn said. “I’m fully aware that my coven set them against you by paying you to steal from them. Your brother wasn’t us. Almost every spell they wrote in that grimoire has a counterspell. It’s like they didn’t want to write anything nasty without knowing how to fight against it.”
Rei threw up her hands and let out a little shriek.
“Then they shouldn’t be so butt hurt I stole it! Nothing in there can be used against them.”
I gave her a smack on the ass. Rei had this perky, firm little ass that was just so much fun to spank.
“I think it’s the principle, Rei.”
“You all keep jumping to conclusions without hearing me out,” Autumn said. “I saidmanyof the spells have counterspells, but… some of them don’t. And the chances of them having this entire grimoire memorized are slim. They probably have aGreatest Hits of Evilplaylist they know from memory, and still need the grimoire for everything else.”
I knew that, and Charley probably did too. My grimoire was long gone, but I still had my favorites that I knew from memory, even now. Some of them, I wouldloveto break out right about now. Charley gave me this massive grin because she was thinking the same thing I was.
“Every witch worth their salt has their greatest hits memorized. Your coven is made up of healers, but I’m sure you do, too. Wren and I both lost our grimoires when we got arrested, but we didn’t end up with life sentences in the prisons because we failed to pay our taxes… I did dark magic.”
“I killed a few tax collectors for shits and giggles, because they were extorting my coven and a few others in the area. Sometimes, I used black magic. Sometimes I got creative. I had fun every time, though.”
“My coven understands not all black magic is bad,” Autumn said. “It’s all in how a witch uses it. We might be healers, but people come to us when they’ve been touched with it. I might not cast it, but I know how to neutralize it. The only reason Sabrina could murder my mother was that she brought back up.”
“I might have just gotten out of prison, but why would Sabrina come after your mom? Everyone loved the Phoenix Fire coven before I got arrested. That was a long time ago, but I can’t imagine that having changed,” I said.
“My mother healed someone the Aether Circle was trying to kill. They took offense.”
Charley and I both hissed. I think we were both ready to unleash all the fucked up shit from our grimoires on that prison. A plan was formulating in my head, and we were going to need Rei and her tails to be a part of it.
“Before I ended up in Silverhold, in handcuffs that muted my magic, I had a particular favorite that allowed me to do my job with less of a chance of getting caught. If Rei can knock the power out in Scorchwood, I know a potion that can make us able to see clearly in the dark.”
“You’re going tohaveto teach that one to the coven,” Charley squealed. “I know a spell to seal any door. We can lock them in, then round them up for Solron and Bael.”
“No!” Sota barked. “Kudan will portal out. We had him cornered in one of those apartments once, Fergus snuck in, and hestillgot away.”
“One of his tails gives him telekinesis. As soon as I set his clothes on fire and showed myself to him, he threw an entire bed at me, because he couldn’t fight me like a man.”
I snorted. Fergus was massive, and Kudan wasn’t that big. I’d throw a bed at him, too, if I was cornered and if I could. I’d fight as dirty as possible if I were facing a massive fairy who could set shit on fire! In that moment I was glad he was on our side.
“Kudan has seven tails, but the powers he gained with each of them are not exactly highly desired among the Kitsune,” Sota said. “Powerful Kitsunes have telekinesis, and basic magic before they ever earn their second tail. Kudan always had weak magic. I suspect he knew he wouldn’t be as well respected as his father because his magic wasn’t as strong, so he went about earning it the wrong way.”
“I’ve always been able to move things and do magic if it causes trouble, but we can’t discount Kudan just because he’s such a disappointment. He’s managed to use what he got to evade being captured, and he’s slipped in and out of the gates. He brought the Aether Circle here,” Rei pointed out.
Sota bowed to Rei.
