Page 30 of Battle of Witches
If I were doing this withanyoneelse, I would have wanted a proper speech written. That was how things were done in this century. You, apparently, couldn’t say anything unless it was scripted. We didn’t do that back in my time. Leaders knew how to rouse their warriors and inspire people on the fly. IknewLoki could fire people up because I’d listened to him do it before. I also knew he was perfectly capable of doing thatwithmy shirt on. I was reasonably confident I was standing on these stairs without my shirt because Loki knew I didn’t want to, and he was fucking with me.
“I wish we had time for war makeup, but we really don’t. So, it’s show time,” Loki said, pressing the button in his hand.
ThatI had no problem with, but it seemed as time passed while I was in the pocket dimension, people seemed to associate makeup with effeminate men and drag queens. Balthazar wore it with pride. He would have made a good Viking. Sometimes, the last thing a man saw before he died a painful death was a Viking warrior with their eyes lined in black. It was stupid.
I wanted my shirt and my eyeliner for this.
“Loki here for a serious update this time. I’ve brought my son, Sleipnir, and one of my creations, Bjorn, to drop some truth bombs on another one of my creations who has been misbehaving. Sleipnir and Bjorn have been in a dimension of my creation where they didn’t agewaitingfor this moment.
“Asfrid Aslaug has been painting a pretty picture on social media, but it’s all half-truths and outright lies. The Cult of the Aether Sistersweremass murderers because Asfrid got them hooked on a mind-altering potion and manipulated them into it. That’s her MO. She was always gifted with potions.
“Asfridisa hybrid because I made her that way. She can’t makeyoua hybrid. I know this because she wasn’t given that ability when she was created. I also know she has her followers plotting to kidnap two Gemini twins. Those twins have something in common: they each date a god.
“I’m here to tell you that Reyson and I can’t make you hybrids, either, if this is going to be a kidnap and blackmail kind of thing. You would all die an agonizing death if we tried. And just to let you know, trial and error have already been made on that little science project ages ago, and everyone exploded or turned into goo.
“Also, y’all, when someone comes back from the dead who was part of a group with ‘cult’ in the name promising you utopia, you justdo notdrink the Kool-Aid. Come on. We’re supposed to be smarter than that.”
“She also left out a big part of her shifter necromancy spell,” I said. “IsawLoki’s creations coming back from the dead, eventually. Asfrid managed it, but the spell requires a rare eclipse that only happens every five hundred years and the heart of a shifter and a witch. Valentine isn’t just in jail for trying to get Asfrid’s grimoire back. Kaine Dragovich and the rest of us caught him over the dead bodies of two academy students who weren’t trained enough to fight back.”
“I know all the history has me as an eight-legged horse, but I’m a shifter, just like many of you. Despite what she might tell you, Asfrid has no loyalty to shifters. She thinks all shifters are mentally challenged and only suitable for fucking or brute force.
“A group of bear shifters accepted them back in our time. They were one of the few groups back then that were either not outright suspicious of them or wanted to exploit them for their needs. They were nice and kind to the hybrids. The hybrids liked taking them to their beds, but I heard what they said about them and about me. The hybrids thought they were superior because they were also mages. They thought they were superior to me and my mother is a god.”
“No one wants to round you up and disappear you, or whatever conspiracy theory Asfrid is peddling,” Loki said. “We aren’t interested in you at all unless you’ve murdered for her. Don’t be stupid. Asfrid uses potions to get what she wants. They feel good and make you feel powerful until you need a fix again.
“But let me remind you of something. The last time Asfrid tried this, not only did she die, but so did all of her followers. That’s the story of literally almost every cult in history. She’ll ask you to follow her in everything, even death. Death happens to be a good friend of mine. The same thing will happen to you as literally every other person who has died. You’ll go to the Aether until you are reborn with no memories. A witch isn’t going to bring you back, and we’ve already told you all the problems with Asfrid’s necromancy spell.
“Totally not worth it, my pretties. The god that created you made you perfect the way you are. Iknowmost of the gods that created you personally. If they wanted you to follow someone mindlessly, they wouldn’t have given you free will and curious minds.
“Gods have big egos.Ihave a big ego, and I own it. Butnoneof us want you blindly following us to your deaths. I gave Asfrid free will and a curious mind, and she chose to use that to try to play god. If the god that created you didn’t want you to be a mindless simp following them, they certainly didn’t want you following a hybrid that just discovered indoor plumbing and the internet two months ago. You’re better than that. Have some respect. Love you, babies. Be fabulous and never let someone tell you what to think.”
Loki pressed stop, and I really hoped that did it. He was taking a huge risk doing this. Back in our time, people either loved or hated Loki. From what I understood, he was one of the few gods who were out and proud in this realm right now. Of course, some still lived here, but they were recluses.
Loki and then Reyson were the only gods walking around mingling with people and making videos on social media that showed gods enjoyed things like regular people. Loki just told everyone he was responsible for the Cult of the Aether Sisters. It was a considerable risk, and people could turn on him.
Especially if this all went ass-up and Asfrid got away again.
Chapter24
Killian
Felix and I were living proof that being hybrids didn’t turn you insane. We were both shifters and warlocks, very similar to Asfrid. It was pretty great. I could do any spell I wanted and have all the orgies, but I could also shift and spy on bad people.
I was a badass, but I had been a badass when I was a warlock and again when I was just a familiar. I still would have beenfabulousif I’d been just a warlock when Reyson brought me back. Felix and I didn’t think we were better than everyone because we were hybrids. No one was kissing our asses, either. Felix had been coated in glitter against his will more times than I could count because he so wasn’t a glitter warlock and Balthazar practically bathed in it. You didn’t die and come back as a cat who shits in a box without a sense of humor, though.
I had all the humor. Especially right now, perching on Scooter’s gutters and spying on the enemy. Asfrid had enough hubris to think I was still hibernating, so she wasn’t looking around for bats. She needed to be the most special princess in the room, so I’m guessing Valentine was the only one of her followers that knew I was a hybrid. Neither of them knew about Felix, so she wasn’t some unique snowflake who could give out magical powers.
Scooter’s gutters were black, so it was easy for me to hide. Man, Asfrid wasmilkingthis. She was lounging by Scooter’s pool and about five seconds away from snapping her fingers and summoning shifters to feed her grapes. Most shifters were proud people, and this was beneath them.
I finally got a good look at Asfrid when we weren’t in a dark forest. There was nothing remarkable about her. Supernaturals were created to be beautiful and alluring. It was a part of our natural defenses. It was stupid, but people tended to be less suspicious of pretty faces. Asfrid was cute, but she wasn’t even the prettiest person at the pool for a first generation. That honor went to this hot, little bear shifter in some tiny shorts, sunning himself next to her. Pity he was an idiot because he was very pretty.
Asfrid seemed to be keeping the potion junkies away from her. Everyone out here looked healthy and wasn’t bugging her for a fix. At least, that was the case until Scooter came out. He was a big man who did everything in excess. He used to look and smell like he’d been a big fan of fast food, even when he moved here with money.
Scooter looked terrible. His skin looked like it didn’t fit him. It looked like someone hung a flesh suit on the wrong-sized skeleton. He looked worse than Valentine did. He came rushing out of the house to the pool, and Asfrid just sneered at him like she wasn’t squatting at his home.
“Ijustgave you the potion an hour ago,” she snapped.
There were about twenty people by the pool, and only Scooter seemed to be under the influence of her potion. If there were any other addicts, she must have them on a schedule because everyone here seemed to be about their wits.
