“So someone like Odin was also Zeus?” Diana’s eyebrows pulled together. I was glad I wasn’t the only one who was working this out.
“Correct.” Merlin smiled at her, and the corners of his eyes crinkled into his familiar smile lines, deepening them. “And after he was Zeus, his followers called him another name. And another, and another, as humans explored and settled the world.”
“The god formerly known as Zeus,” I joked, which earned me a confused look from our teacher, but chuckles from the other two.
“Indeed.” The wizard shrugged and glanced out the window before rising from the table. “The daylight is upon us. Where are Eva and Hunter?”
“In the shack,” Diana replied. “And I’m not going to get them. They were giggling and kissing when I left . . .”
I snorted. Hunter and Eva were less inhibited than me and Alex; we had only snuggled and kissed since coming here. But I knew full well they were taking advantage of their free time right now.
“Let’s leave them be,” Alex said wisely. “They’ll come out when they’re ready.”
“Very well,” Merlin said with a laugh. “We won’t begin anything new until they arrive. Nor will we go far, just to the field on the side of the cottage. They can catch up later.”
CHAPTEREIGHT
It took two hours, but Eva and Hunter finally emerged from the tiny shack, their lips swollen, and Eva’s mop of red hair an absolute mess.
I sniggered when I caught sight of them rushing up to meet us. “Please tell me you remembered to leave the door cracked open.”
Eva stuck out her tongue at me. “We did. There will be no bow-chicka-wow-wow smell when you go to bed tonight.”
“Bow-chicka what?” Merlin asked, his bushy eyebrows arched in amusement.
“Uhh, nothing,” Eva said, her face turning red. She’d never been quiet about her and Hunter’s sexcapades, but around Merlin and Morgan, she was more demure. It was like she was starstruck. “What are you all doing? Where’s Morgan?”
“We think she’s searching for black witches.” I pointed to the book Merlin had brought out and set in the grass. “And we’re learning druid spells.”
Eva’s eyes lit up. “Cool. Are any of them working?”
“Errr.” I shrugged.
They’d worked for Merlin, but the rest of us hadn’t experienced success yet.
Merlin leapt into the conversation, explaining what he’d told us earlier, and then listing the spells we’d tried. Once he had filled them in, he tilted his head. “And now that you’re here, Eva dear, I’d like to test something I’ve been considering. Would you mind?”
“Oh, sure,” Eva said, approaching where our mentor knelt by the book.
Merlin gave her a bright smile and began flipping through the pages. When he paused, the illustration on the page caught my eye.
A creature that resembled a wraith, a lesser demon with wrinkled, gray skin and a hundred rows of shark-like teeth, stared back at me. Except, somehow, this guy was even more hideous than the wraiths I’d seen in real life. He had a serpentine tongue that protruded a foot out of his mouth, and claws as long as my hand that seemed to emit some type of magic.
“What is that?” Alex asked, his brow furrowing.
“That is one of the first forms of demons,” Merlin told him. “They no longer exist in this time period. Nor in yours, I suppose. They were absolutely deadly and terrifying, a boon for the royals. Unfortunately for them, they also had the bad habit of devouring each other.”
“If they don’t exist, why are we looking at this illustration?” Diana prompted, ever the one to get down to business.
Merlin pointed to the page. “Do you see they possess magic?”
We all nodded.
“That’s not just black magic. It’s said that these demons were once witches who made deals with the royals. And once the witches had received what they wanted from the demons, this is what they became. It was ideal for the royals, because they gained a new soldier with an inherent grasp of magic—no matter how temporary their existence. However, in their new bodily form, spells had to be modified.”
His blue eyes traveled to Eva’s scar. “These altered spells became even more deadly—to all sorts of demons. But only those who bore a demon-touched mark or had been turned into a demon, like the one depicted here, could manage them. Since you have said that you are the only two demon-touched witches in centuries, I doubt a soul in your world remembers that spells of this nature existed.” His gaze dropped to the page. “Alas, there is only a single spell in this book for witches like you. However, it seems particularly useful for defense.”
“Are you saying that you want Odie and me to try out the spell?” Eva murmured.
