And now I’m afraid she’s done exactly that. I can’t be sure, though. The only way I’ll get answers is if I can get the book, fix the circle, and follow her to wherever she went.
Finding anything else in this room isn’t possible. I dig my nails into my palms and pull in a calming breath. It takes me a minute to gather a bowl and one of the black candles. I should use some oil as well, but I’m pretty sure I stuffed that in the closet. This’ll have to do. Setting all this up might not do a damn thing.
I flip off the circle before I flounce out of the room and back to the closet. Once I set everything up, it takes me a full minute of snapping my fingers for a soft flicker of flame to ignite the wick. I let out a heavy sigh and roll my shoulders to ease some of the tension. I’ve never spent so long without using my magic. I was afraid I lost the ability. I don’t know if that’s a thing, but if could happen, it would happen to me.
“Come on,” I mutter at the fire, then remember I’m supposed to be gathering good vibes or whatever. “Be nice and don’t knock me on my ass. I’d also prefer to keep all my hair. Fuck me, I really should have done more research before I sealed this bitch. Um, deliver something good. A breakthrough perhaps.Yeah, that’d be great. I’d rather not gallivant all over by myself searching for this.”
I swallow hard, then wrap my cold hand around the knob. Heat sears through my palm and I attempt to yank it away. A tendril of purple shadows winds its way around my wrist and snakes up my arm. Despite it not hurting, my chest still tightens. The spell I used must have strengthened over time. It’s the only explanation.
Something pounds on the wood from inside and the door violently rattles. I grip the knob tighter and squeeze my eyes shut. It’ll be over soon. It has to be or my magic will eat me from the inside out. Already it’s bubbling in my veins as the tendrils wrap around my throat. Just because they’re not strangling me yet, doesn’t mean they won’t. My lip quivers and I grit my teeth, determined not to cry.
Time warps and nausea crawls its way up my throat. Then the world shuts off. At least, that’s what it feels like. Silence permeates the space, and a shiver rolls down my back. The flame wicks out, plunging me in darkness. After a momentary panic, my vision clears and moonlight filters through the window.
I twist the knob and the door bursts open. I fly back as the smell of sulfur mixed with something sweet swirls around me. My back hits the chair and the whole thing tips over, taking me with it. A purple haze fills the air, hissing like a smoke grenade. When I try to get up, something hard crashes into me, and I let out a terrified scream.
Frantically, I shove at the heavy thing crushing my body. I thrash around, though it doesn’t do anything. Whatever magical bullshit grew in the closet shouldn’t be attacking me, yet here we are. I won’t go down without a fight. At the very least, I’m going to go out screaming my bloody head off.
I hit something soft, and the thing above me grunts. I freeze, my palm pressed against something warm…something that feelslike skin. The smoke clears enough for me to see the outline of a man—creature—being. One with small horns poking from black hair and dark grey skin.
He grins, revealing a row of sharp white teeth. “Whoops.”
Discovering a witch on the other side of the door shouldn’t be all that surprising. The screaming, on the other hand, is a bit jarring. She’s been doing it since the wood exploded. Even after I crawled off her and shuffled back. Not enough to put me back in the closet. No fucking way am I doing that again. I spent enough time in there.
“Can you stop?” I wince as I shove my fingers in my ears. They’re ringing and I’m going to get a migraine. Not entirely sure if demons can get migraines, but I’m not willing to risk it.
“Seriously? You break my door, wreak havoc on my life, and crush me with your heavy ass and expectmeto stop?” She paces in front of me, and I exhale heavily.
“Wait, you think my ass is heavy?” I crane my neck to look at my ass. It’s the same size it’s always been.
“That’s what you got out of—” She yelps, and I swing around in time to see her feet flying over her head as she crashes into the chair.
“Well, shit,” I mutter, shuffling closer to help her up.
She holds up her hands, and I stop. “I’m fine.”
She winces as she pushes to her feet. Huffing, she stomps across the hardwood floors and light floods the room. As much as I wondered what was on the other side of the door, I don’t give two shits about the space. Not now that I’m staring at her.
With her plump cheeks and even plumper lips, I’m already mesmerized.Dark purple hair cascades down her back with wisps brushing her forehead. She’s smaller than me. A lot smaller, but I tower over most humans, witch or not. It’s her eyes, though, that capture me. I can’t tell if they’re blue or green or grey. Maybe they’re somewhere in between. Even with the fire burning within them, her gaze captivates me. In fact, it might bebecauseof the blaze that I can’t seem to look away.
“You’re a spitfire, aren’t you?” I murmur. Immediately, I wish I could stuff the words back in. If the look on her face is any indication, she’s about to start hitting me again.
“Who are you?Whatare you?”
“I’m a demon. Name’s Dimitri.” I bow, though I don’t know why. Maybe it’s habit. Except when I met queens in the past, I never bowed. They didn’t deserve such deference. Most of them were catty bitches who just wanted to get back at shitty men. I didn’t blame them, but it didn’t make me want to defer to them.
I clear my throat as I straighten. “And you are?”
“None of your business. How’d you get in the closet?”
I shrug, though she doesn’t seem satisfied with that. “Demons can be summoned?—”
“I didn’t summon you,” she snaps.
“Well, I didn’t just pop up topside by myself, spitfire. I was perfectly content in Hell. Why isn’t there a handle on the inside?” I glance behind me at the door still hanging open. Still no way to get out if she closed it again.
She makes a frustrated noise in the back of her throat and pokes me in the chest. I didn’t even realize how close she got, and it takes everything in me not to do something I’ll probably regret. I really like all my appendages attached to my body, and she seems like the type of witch to retaliate before thinking.
“I’m the one asking questions, demon,” she snaps.
