After the McCormick coven opened the portals, humans turned against witches— maybe even more so than the way they turned against werewolves.
After all, the werewolves had been turned without their consent. But it was a coven of witches who decided to go searching for power— and led to the slaughter of almost a billion people.
Anyone suspected of being a witch was marked. Humans drew cauldrons on cars, houses, mailboxes— anything that they could find. And the things that they did to women who were– for the most part— low-level witches and powerless humans? It made the witch burnings look like a campfire singalong.
Why would a witch have a tattoo of a cauldron? And especially in that location? I winced at the thought of how painful that would be. Something tugged at my subconscious as I stared at the cauldron, but my phone vibrated, jolting me from my thoughts.
Keigan was calling. “Hey,” I said. Vas turned and began rifling through Mary’s dresser.
Keigan got straight down to business. “The witch you were looking for just turned herself in.”
“Mary?”
“No. Beatrice Phillips.”
I glanced around the room. We weren’t going to find anything else in this house. Mary had been too prepared.
“We’re on our way.”
Vas flew above my car for the ride to the Mage Council’s facility. Once there, however, he refused to wait outside. His planted feet, wide stance, and crossed arms were 100% pure stubborn male.
“This witch had something to do with the murders of my people,” he said. “I’m coming.”
As inconvenient as it was for me, I couldn’t blame him. I sighed, turned, and he fell in step with me as I walked up the concrete stairs and through the wide doors of the facility. I held my hand over the bowl of water and signed in, attempting to ignore the stares.
The owners of those stares weren’t looking at me though, they were looking at Vas. He glanced once over his shoulder as we made our way to the elevator, and the lobby instantly cleared out. Now that was a power I’d kill to have.
“So this is where you work.”
“Yeah. Um. Can you please–”
“I’ll behave.”
A muscle was already twitching in his cheek and I raised one eyebrow at him. He simply gestured for me to get into the elevator.
I sighed.
I pressed the button for the basement level. The doors opened to cold steel and concrete, and I shivered as we walked toward the main desk.
“Danica Amana and guest to see Beatrice Philips.”
The woman behind the desk raised her head, and bright orange curls caught the light. One chunk near her right ear was inexplicably green, and I couldn’t seem to look away from it.
“Hand.”
I held my hand over the spelled bowl of water, meeting the woman’s eyes as it flashed green. She glanced at the demon behind me but wisely decided not to say anything.
“They’re interrogating her now. Third cell on the right.”
With a buzz, the steel door opened, revealing a long stretch of corridor. I’d always felt claustrophobic down here, and I didn’t have wings. Poor Vas.
There was only room for one of us to walk at a time, and I glanced over my shoulder at the sound behind me. Even tucked in, Vas’s wings were brushing against each side of the corridor. He sauntered down the corridor like he was on a catwalk, clearly aware that his every move was being recorded. Demons would never show any hint of discomfort in front of the mages.
I banged on the steel door and it immediately swung open. “Danica?” Rose scowled at me. “What do you think–” her eyes landed on Vas and she ran out of words. “Demon,” she hissed.
Vas gave her one cold look. A look I’d frequently seen on Samael’s face. I wondered if Vas had needed to practice that look in the mirror. Rose paled, clamped her mouth shut, and moved back so we could enter the room.
“Ah, Danica. I held most of the questions until you arrived.” Keigan appeared calm and collected, sitting back in his chair with a file held in front of him like he was reading the newspaper over a leisurely breakfast. Beatrice Phillips sat across from him.
