Page 27 of Discord and Cinder (Fire Witches of Salem #7)

CINDER

D iscord was fully clothed by the time I finished my shower, and thank the goddess for that. If I’d had to look at those ripped abs and perfect pecs for a moment longer, I would’ve had no choice but to take him up on his offer to wash my back, my front, and everything else.

He lay stretched out on the bed, his hands folded behind his head, his eyes closed. He looked peaceful…serene…which was weird as all get out considering who he was.

Discord.

His name literally meant disagreement, conflict, strife. Yet, as he lay there quietly, his chest rising and falling rhythmically with his breaths, all I wanted to do was crawl into the bed, curl up next to him, and fall asleep with my head on his shoulder.

It was absolutely bonkers. I knew.

Still, the man had much more depth of character than I ever expected a demon could possess.

The little glimpses of vulnerability he’d shown me—like the fact he had a secret hideout for when he got overwhelmed—only endeared him to me more.

I couldn’t imagine the pain he must be enduring after getting kicked out of the palace. Lucifer’s prime predator turned prey.

He sucked in a sharp breath and opened his eyes, his gaze locking on me. His pupils constricted, and he sat up so quickly, my heart leaped into my throat.

“I normally don’t require sleep in this realm.” He moved to the foot of the bed and pulled on his boots.

“There’s nothing normal about any of this.” Especially my warm and fuzzy feelings for a demon. Oof. “Did you eat?”

“I did not.”

“Here. I have no idea what it is, but it looked like a burrito so I grabbed it.” I handed him a thin piece of bumpy bread wrapped around some kind of meat with arugula and a brown sauce. “Please tell me that’s not a paste of pity and purgatory.”

“No, it’s a sauce of severed sinuses.” He unwrapped the roll and took a bite.

I was about to dig in, but his comment stopped me mid-bite. “For real?”

He laughed and took another bite.

I set mine on the table and opened a bottle of water. It was glass, of course, because plastic would melt in the Underworld. “What’s in it? Actually, what is this? I don’t want to drink the tears of the tormented.”

“Such things are delicacies found only in Lucifer’s palace. You purchased water and roasted beef, though the shape and texture of the bread are unfamiliar.”

“We call them wraps in my realm.” I took a sip of water. It had a hint of rotten egg smell, but I supposed that was normal for his realm.

“Wraps.” He nodded thoughtfully. “An appropriate name.”

We finished our food in silence, and I choked down the whole bottle of stinky water because hydration seemed extra important in Hell for some reason. Then I gathered the trash and stuffed it into the bin before taking stock of my magical supplies.

I opened the leather pouch the seer had given me and emptied the contents onto the bed: Two red candles, a sachet of herbs, a few bone fragments—from what creature, I did not want to know—and an obsidian pendulum hanging from a chain made of pointy teeth.

I pressed the sachet of herbs to my nose as I sank onto the mattress. The scents of sage and wormwood, bitter and pungent, were unmistakable.

“Oh, sweet spirits.” I wrinkled my nose and dropped the pouch next to the other items. “I don’t know how the seer scried with this stuff, nor do I want to find out. I’m a light witch. Aside from the candles, this stuff is useless. She didn’t even give me a bowl.”

“How does a light witch scry?” He picked up the pouch and gave it a whiff, curling his lip as if the odor offended him.

“Not with dead things.” I paced to the sink and filled a stone mug with water. “If she’d given me pure sage, I could’ve burned it to cleanse the space. I’d choke on the stench if I tried burning wormwood.”

“I’m surprised her demonic side didn’t recoil at the use of sage.” He lifted the pendulum, running his fingers over the strung teeth. “That foul herb is not native to this realm. I can only imagine the demon who brought it to her must’ve requested a taxing favor.”

I cleared the table, moving everything but the mug and the candles to the bed. “It’s valuable then.”

“Exceedingly rare.”

“Considering the amount I paid her, I suppose it makes sense then.” I set the candles on either side of the mug and shot a flame to each wick, lighting them before peeking out the window to be sure “housekeeping” wasn’t on the way with more towels.

“Scrying puts me into a trance. I’ll be vulnerable while I’m under, so please stay awake and alert.” I settled into a chair and rested my palms on the table.

“I won’t let any harm come to you.” The conviction in his voice sent a warm shiver up my spine, and he moved to the side of the bed facing me and sat up straight, resting his hands in his lap.

I inhaled deeply, preparing to center myself, but the overwhelming scent of the candles gave me pause. “Why do they smell like bacon?”

“They’re made from tallow, rendered fat from the elysian boar.”

“Tasty. If only I had a spoon.”

“I wouldn’t recommend consuming them. Their scent may be appetizing, but their taste is quite bitter.”

I thought about asking how he knew, but nah… I’d rather not know all his kinks. Not yet anyway.

I shook my head, chasing away that thought, and focused on the flames.

They flickered in response to the magic building in the core of my being, my own fire growing, heating me from the inside out.

I relaxed my eyes, allowing my vision to blur, the flames getting fuzzier until soft orange light encircled my view of the water in the mug.

“Hear me, Hecate, and heed my call. Aid me in my search for…well, for you.” I stared into the mug, allowing my senses to slip away. “I am your faithful disciple, and I need your aid. Show me where you are.”

I took another deep breath. Two. Three. My body relaxed until I felt as if I were floating in the ether. I focused on the goddess, willing her to reveal her location, finding nothing but emptiness in my trance.

“If not your location, please show me my parents.” I waited, focusing, sifting through the ether as if panning for gold. I might as well have been searching inside a vacuum.

With another deep breath, I returned my attention to my senses and the world around me. I blinked my vision into focus and rubbed my temples. “That’s weird. I found nothing. Not even a shred of a hint.”

“Hecate does not wish to be found.”

“Maybe not, but my parents sure as shit do. Let me try again.” I returned my palms to the table.

“Does scrying not tax your vim?” he asked.

“It does, but it’s better than being obliterated.”

He took the chair across from me and set the seer’s supplies on the table. “There is a saying from long before your time. ‘When in Rome…’”

“Do as the Romans do.” I crossed my arms.

“You know it?”

“Everyone does.”

“Perhaps these items are required for scrying in this realm.” He pushed the herb sachet and pendulum toward me.

I let out a slow breath and eyed the bone fragments lying next to the pendulum. He had a point. Dark magic and low vibrations penetrated every atom in this realm. The very air I breathed was thick and heavy with power. My light magic couldn’t penetrate the darkness here.

I scooped the bones into my hand and dropped them into the mug. “She could’ve at least given me directions.”

I opened the pouch and dumped the bitter herbs in with the bones. Discord made a disgusted face that I was certain matched mine, and I picked up the dental pendulum, swirling it over the water. “Does she usually recite an incantation when she scries?”

“Yes, but it’s dependent on what she’s looking for. Her words change every time.”

“I suppose I can make one up on the fly.” I stared into the mug. The bones had sunk the moment I dropped them in, but the sage and wormwood floated on the surface as if I were seasoning a broth. I suppose I sort of was.

“Hear me, Hecate, and heed my call. Reveal your location and save us all.” I zoned out again, allowing my consciousness to slip into the ether, but still, I only found emptiness.

“My mother and father are trapped in this realm. Give me sight to resolve my plight.” I waited and searched. My stomach clenched, and sharp pain shot to my temple, reminding me not to grit my teeth.

Another moment or two passed before I blew out a hard breath. “Nothing. Again. Wait…”

I looked at Discord, who sat patiently across from me, his hands resting atop the table. “The seer was half-demon, half-witch, right?” I asked, and he nodded.

“This is demon territory. Maybe I can’t see into the ether here because I’m all witch.”

He raised his brows. “That’s a strong possibility.”

I reached for his hand across the table and clutched it in mine. His skin was warm and soft, and he held me back as if his hands were made to hold me. “Can you share your energy with me? If I can channel some of your demonicness, maybe I can mix it with my witchiness and break through.”

“That could work.” He nodded in appreciation. “You are as clever as you are beautiful.”

My stupid cheeks heated at his words, so I angled my head down and stared into the mug. “Let me have it.”

My palm tingled where we touched. Then, heat spread through my hand and spiraled up my arm before flowing into my chest and filling me with more power than any witch should possess. I gasped, the sensation both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

His magic didn’t scare me. In fact, it felt…right. That was the frightening part because I could so get used to the feeling. My nerves fired on overdrive, connecting in ways they never had before, and my skin turned to gooseflesh, my senses heightening as his essence surged through me.

I recited another incantation and took a deep breath as Discord’s energy danced with mine, swirling and melding until I couldn’t tell where mine ended and his began.

We were one being in that moment, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t the first time in my life I’d felt completely whole. But I could ponder the unnatural rightness of channeling this demon later.

I slipped into the ether, and this time it wasn’t empty. I couldn’t see the goddess, but I felt her in my soul. Digging in deeper, I focused on the surroundings in my vision. “Fire, brimstone, a cave, and a crumbling temple.”

“Is Hecate there?” Discord’s voice sounded miles away.

“Yes. No. I can’t see her, but I feel her.” My brow furrowed as I concentrated on the goddess. “There’s a shroud.”

“Look for details,” he said. “There are hundreds of crumbling temples in this realm.”

I shifted my focus away from the being and turned to the temple in my mind. Three Corinthian columns stood at the front of the stone structure, their capitals adorned with acanthus leaves and skulls. Three steps led up to the entrance, an archway with the triple moon symbol carved above the door.

“It’s a temple for Hecate.” I described it to Discord. “She’s hiding out in her own temple.”

“The last place anyone would think to look.”

“They wouldn’t find her even if they did. She’s the goddess of magic. Her shroud is strong.”

“I know the location.” He started to tug from my grasp, but I held him tighter.

“I need to look for my parents while I’m under.” I left the temple in my mind and focused on my mother’s energy. It was there, teasing the outskirts of my vision, her high vibration contrasting with the low hum of the Underworld.

A commotion sounded outside, and Discord tightened his grip on my hand. “Wake up, Cinder. We must leave.”

“Not until I find my parents.” I squeezed my eyes shut, trying my damnedest to stay inside the trance.

“Now.” He swiped the mug and everything else from the table, yanking me back into the present.

“What the hell?” I stomped on a candle that was still lit. “I was so close.”

“So are they.” He moved the curtain aside, and I caught a glimpse of silver hair at the front of the property. Seraphine had found us.

“Well, shit.”