Page 23 of Discord and Cinder (Fire Witches of Salem #7)
CINDER
I slammed into the seer with enough force to send us sliding across a slick patch of obsidian.
We ended up behind a counter, which shielded us from our hunters’ view.
Of course, Bedlam or Seraphine could’ve easily stepped around it and severed both our heads in a heartbeat, but Discord kept them occupied.
“The seer was a neutral party,” he said. “You had no right to kill her.”
I pulled her into my lap, cradling her head as she rasped in a breath.
Ice and black lattice spread from the arrow in her chest, across her shoulders, and up her neck.
Her pained expression wrenched my heart.
She might’ve bound my soul to a demon I just met, but I wouldn’t wish this death on anyone.
“Tell me what to do,” I whispered. “Do you have any of the antidote left?”
“Take what you need,” she wheezed. “Find Hecate. Set things right.” She coughed, and the ice consumed her, freezing her entire body before she crumbled to dust.
“She aided an outlaw. She had no right to live.” Bedlam shoved the succubus to her knees, and I scooted toward the end of the counter to get a better view.
Discord growled. “There are laws. Even Lucifer?—”
“There are no rules in this game,” Bedlam said. “Lucifer wants your heads by any means necessary.”
I rose onto my knees and gently tugged a cabinet door open.
Jars and vials of herbs and potions filled the space, and I unzipped my backpack to shove an armful of them inside.
What they were I had no clue, but surely, they’d come in handy somehow.
My grimoire sat atop a high shelf, sadly out of my reach.
If I went for it now, I had no doubt I’d take an arrow to my chest, and that would be the end of me.
“Where’s the witch?” Seraphine’s voice cut through the room, making my skin crawl.
I slipped my backpack onto my shoulders and buckled it at my waist before gripping a dagger and rising to my feet.
Bedlam held the succubus by the hair as she trembled, tears rolling down her cheeks.
He’d changed out of his dinner suit and now sported black cargo pants, combat boots, and a gray tank stretched so tightly across his pecs that it would probably rip open if he flexed.
Seraphine wore dark purple from head to toe, and her silver hair glinted in the firelight. She leaned her crossbow against the wall by the entrance and held her empty hands in front of her, a swirl of wind and energy forming between them.
Fabulous. She was an elemental witch too.
But she was just a witch. My fire might have zero effect on demons, but it sure as shit could burn her.
“Let the succubus go,” Discord said. “She has no skin in this game, and Lucifer will have your head if you obliterate an unborn spawn.”
Bedlam tried to laugh it off, but a hint of fear flashed in his eyes before he shoved her forward. She landed on her hands and scrambled to her feet before darting down a corridor at the back of the room.
“You didn’t have to kill the seer.” I dropped my empty hand by my side and ignited a fireball behind the counter.
Seraphine scoffed. “This is Hell. We kill anyone who gets in our way.”
“Good to know.” I hurled the flames at her head.
She threw up her hands, and the spiraling wind turned into a gust that blasted my fire away, extinguishing it as easily as blowing out a match.
Note to self: Wind puts out fire. I’d have to remember that if I ever found myself battling another elemental…which hopefully would be never.
Bedlam lunged, his fist slamming into Discord’s jaw with a crack . Seraphine threw another blast of wind at me. The force knocked me from my feet, and I careened backward, smacking into the wall, my dagger clattering to the ground.
I bent to pick it up, and Seraphine’s knee connected with my forehead. Pain exploded in my skull, and my vision swam. I slashed out blindly, nicking her arm. She squealed and backpedaled, smacking against the counter and clutching her biceps.
Gripping my favorite dagger, I sent my magic down my arm, and the blade erupted into flames. “You think freezing to death is bad? Try burning from the inside out.”
I lunged, aiming for her heart, but she moved left. I drove it into her shoulder instead. She screamed and jerked the blade out, hurling it against the wall. My flames had cauterized the wound, but they’d also ignited a hatred in her eyes that could have melted the skin from my bones.
Discord threw Bedlam against the wall, pissing him off even more. Yellow smoke gathered around the hunter, and his clothes shredded as he morphed into his demon form. He grew a foot taller, with twisted horns jutting from his head and six-inch talons extending from the tips of his fingers and toes.
Discord grunted, but he didn’t transform. Instead, he stepped back, his hand resting on the knife in his belt.
“No weapons,” Bedlam snarled. “Fight me in your true form.”
My demon inclined his chin. “No.”
“No?” Amusement danced in Bedlam’s eyes. “I’ll pluck your head from your neck like a berry in that form. Fight me like a man.”
Seraphine scoffed. “Men are all the same. If that one wasn’t so good in bed, I’d have fought him like a woman and obliterated him by now.”
“You’re right. They are.” I held up my hands and laced my words with magic. “There’s way too much testosterone in power here. Don’t you think it’s time the women stepped up?”
“I do, which is why I plan to be the one to deliver your heads to Lucifer.” She held her hands in front of her chest, her palms facing each other.
“I hear you, but a man will still be in charge. Even if he did appoint you, a witch, to be his right hand, he’d still be the one controlling you.”
Bedlam swung a taloned claw. Discord ducked and feinted left before slamming his fist into his kidney.
Seraphine glanced at the demons. “I’ll be royalty. I’ll have the king’s ear, and Bedlam will be my prince. I’ll be unstoppable.”
“Until Lucifer tires of you. One wrong move, and he’ll cast you out like he did Discord.” I slowly lowered my hand toward my knife. “The only way to truly secure your rule is to take down the patriarchy. Make the men serve you, Lucifer included. I can help.”
Discord landed a punch in Bedlam’s gut.
Seraphine pursed her lips, her eyes calculating. “How can we do it? We’re witches in a demon’s world.”
I wrapped my fingers around the handle. “With the help of a goddess. Hecate is furious with Lucifer. If we find her, we can convince her?—”
“Never!” She flung her arms toward me, and a gust of wind lifted me from the ground, whirling me in circles before she fisted her hands. The air steadied, pressing in on me from all directions, holding me in place with my feet dangling six inches from the floor.
“I will never seek the help of that treacherous goddess again.” Keeping one hand tightly fisted, she splayed the fingers of her other hand and curled them into a clawlike gesture. “I’ll kill you for speaking her name.”
I attempted to suck in a breath, but the air around me turned solid, like a block of concrete pressing against my nose.
My pulse sprinted, nausea churning in my gut as the panic set in.
I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, and as Seraphine tightened her claw, what little air that was left in my lungs rushed out through my nose.
My vision tunneled until all I could see was the sheen of her hair and the smirk on her lips. A flash of light passed across her face. Silver. A blade. Growls rumbled to my right. Discord roared. The blade turned horizontal, getting closer…closer. Cold steel pressed against my neck.
The world went black.