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“Until I believe it,” he admitted.

“How about I make it abundantly clear if I’m about to disappear on you?” I smiled unrepentantly, even as he smacked my ass in reprimand.

“Sassy,” he said, his voice going husky.

I pulled him down for a long, drugging kiss, pulling away just enough to ask against his lips, “Race you to bed?”

“Challenge accepted, my queen.”

XXIX

The Realm of Mortals.

Întuneric Castel, Romania.

But...but I hadn’t technically broken the rule yet. So there is no way they could have carried out the sentence just because I thought about it. Right?

My eyes catch the things I missed before, the remnants of the pyre they tied me to, the scent of accelerant and smoke still lingering in the air. Slowly, memories of the flames heating my feet and burning the soles of my shoes flicker through my mind. I remember the feeling of being torn in two and something breaking free from me.

THE DOOR TO THE PAST AWAITED ME. I stood once again in front of the door where I’d first seen my parents and later my ancestor. No matter how hard I had searched, I hadn’t been able to find it in Întuneric again.

I hesitated before pushing open the wood panel. What would I see this time? My parents? The heartbroken woman giving away her child? More memories that weren’t mine? More questions and no answers? Could I handle more?

My heart pounded as I shoved it open, the bright light behind it momentarily blinding me. I held my hand up to block it, allowing my eyes to adjust, again stunned by what I saw.

A war-torn beach with crashing waves colored red from the bodies claimed by the tempest. Spears and swords were strewn everywhere, small fires raging as corpses burned around her. A single girl stood at the center. Her clothes singed from battle. She wore a dented breastplate and was bleeding heavily from one side, her hand pressed against the wound to stem the flow of blood.

There were several male warriors surrounding her, their spears poking at her, mocking her injuries. Then time slowed. The young girl watched fascinated as a white-robed figure appeared, her skin glowing, her eyes a bright lilac. In my bones, I knew at first sight who the woman was. It was Hekate, Goddess of Witches, and at her side were her two familiars. The large black dog and small black cat strode over the battlefield, their gazes focused on the girl.

“Poor girl, why did you fight? They outnumbered you,” Hekate said.

The young girl showed none of the deference to the goddess I expected. “A fate far worse awaits those who don’t fight. I refuse to submit to that without doing everything I could,” she spat.

Hekate approached her, reaching out a shining hand to touch the warrior’s face. The girl flinched, but she continued to glare up at the goddess.

“You could have surrendered, given up to them.”

“Become one of their slaves? One of their whores? Never,” she said, yanking her head out of the goddess’s grip.

“Why pray to me? Why not Athena or Ares?” Hekate asked, her head tilted.

“I knew they wouldn’t come. I thought you might, but you didn’t.” The woman glanced around at the bodies of her fallen comrades. “Too little, too late, goddess.”

“They didn’t pray to me. You did,” Hekate said, waving away the dead as if they were inconsequential.

“So, you waited until I was about to die to intervene?” The girl spat blood at the goddess’s feet. “I should have prayed to one of the others.”

The goddess didn’t appear offended, only amused. “But you prayed to me. I will not have such a smart woman killed by these savages.” She pointed at the males still surrounding them, frozen by her power.

The woman’s brown eyes glimmered with hope, but she dropped her gaze again. “You will only spare me? What about the others?”

I noticed for the first time she wasn’t the only female fighting off the invading horde. There were others frozen.

“Some fallen are claimed by other gods, I’m going to let you save whoever is left.”

“Me?”

“You will be my instrument. You will channel my powers as if they were your own, and you will be the first witch. The First Ancestral Line. I will establish so many more, but you will be the ruler of them all.”