* * *
Samael
The witch let out a muffled complaint and I shoved more power in her mouth, preventing her from speaking until I was ready. I glanced at Bael and he nodded. He would take over the search of the area.
Danica shifted on her feet next to me. The little witch likely wouldn’t approve of what was about to happen.
“This witch was found near the body.”
Danica glanced from me to the witch chained in front of me, wide-eyed. “Do you have proof she was actually involved?”
I waved my hand. “The witch will tell me if she was involved. Won’t you… Mavis?” I studied the drivers’ license in my hand and gave her a wide smile. She ceased struggling and gulped as the blood drained from her cheeks.
“Samael–”
“Quiet, witchling. The demon she attempted to kill is a father. If it were up to this woman, he wouldn’t have lived to see his children grow.”
Danica gazed past me at the witch, her green eyes dark with fury. But they lightened at the sight of the dark power keeping her quiet. I had a feeling that, for all her pragmatism when it came to violence, she wouldn’t enjoy torture. The thought made the back of my neck itch, but I ignored it. Danica would belong to me for the rest of her life. She would need to get used to seeing things that her moral compass struggled to reconcile.
I ripped my power away from the witch’s mouth.
“If you kill me, they’ll make you hurt before you die, demon.” She growled and shifted her gaze to Danica. “You and your traitor witch.”
Danica angled her head but otherwise didn’t react.
I handed the license to Vas. “Give this to Sitri and have him check it.”
Vas nodded, and slipped away.
“Now, Mavis,” I drawled. “Time to talk.”
She immediately clamped her mouth shut and I laughed. She flinched.
“Who are you working with?”
She kept her mouth shut and I took a step closer. With a wave of my hand, I broke her left wrist.
She screamed. I sighed as profanities poured from her mouth.
“If I didn’t need your tongue, I’d rip it out, witch. But you don’t need your eyes to tell me what I want to know. Do you?”
Her eyes widened and I smiled at her as I opened my hand. I slowly closed it, my power crushing the bones in her right foot. She howled, and I took a step closer.
“So? Anything?”
She bared her teeth at me, and I turned as Vas approached. Danica was leaning against the house next door, the homes just a few feet apart. I studied her. She stared back at me.
“It’s real.” Vas said. “Sitri confirmed it.”
I lifted my hand, and an orb of power appeared. Danica’s eyes widened, while the witch simply gulped.
“Do you know what this is, Mavis?”
“Demon fire.”
“So you know it could eat through your body within moments?”
Mavis glared at me. “If you think your power frightens me, you’re wrong, demon. There are creatures much more terrifying than you.”
