Page 30 of Hellfire to Come (Infernal Regions for the Unprepared #5)

“Hazel, what happened tonight?” Danika Byrne got down to business, stapling her fingers under her chin and leaning her forearms heavily on the desk. If looks could kill, Sissily would be reading my obituary right now.

Smile frozen on my face to flash my pearly whites, I widened my eyes at her. “What?” My lips didn’t move as I pushed the question through my teeth. My best friend groaned from the side.

“What in the goddess’s name is wrong with you?” I swore lightning flashed in Danika’s emerald eyes. “Are you hurt? Did the demon do anything to you?”

“We don’t discuss coven business in front of strangers, Dani—I mean, Ma’am. Grandmother,” I added that last bit lamely as an afterthought, and the thunderous expression twisting her features told me she didn’t miss it.

“River Blackman is an apprentice of our high priest, Hazel.” She looked down her nose at me like I was supposed to be psychic and guess who was who around here without introduction. “There are no strangers.”

Wait, what?

“You can have your shoes back.” With a groan, I turned to Sissily and started tugging the shoes off my feet. I shoved them in her face, and she recoiled as if I’d thrown snakes at her.

“I don’t want them.” She attempted to slap my hands away with a mortified look on her face, but I was very persistent when I needed to be.

“Well, you’re having them.” I jabbed them at her again. “Give me my boot.”

“What in the world is going on?” We all ignored the high priest when he mumbled at no one in particular, sounding perplexed.

“You are aware that you are nuts, right?” Sissily muttered under her breath, but she tugged her shoes on, and I yanked the one boot over my foot.

“Of course. I’m an asshole, Sissily, but I’m not stupid.” She blinked at my incredulous tone, but I was already turning toward the rest of the people in the room.

A muscle twitched under my grandmother’s eye.

“When the call came for the demon, everyone that answered was at least twenty minutes away. Everyone in this room knows they are sneaky and fast.” I figured I’d get it over with.

“I was closest to the demon, so I answered the call and made sure he didn’t escape.

Long story short, he is in our hands and the warehouse ransacked …

” Danika’s scowl was a creature all on its own.

“I’m sure you don’t want to hear my internal debate about sacrificing my new boots so he didn’t get away, Grandmother. ”

Grating on my nerves was the fact that River’s eyes were dancing with suppressed humor.

Laugh it up, asshole, because I’ll make you cry soon enough.

I wasn’t sure he read the message I shot his way through my narrowed gaze, but he couldn’t say he wasn’t warned.

Being a dud was a sure thing to get you bullied in a coven full of powerful witches, so instead of dealing with that, I became a master at cracking their noses with my fist. The blondie wouldn’t know what hit him.

“I do want to hear every detail there is. Starting with what possessed you to go there in the first place. Fighting a demon without magic is unacceptable.” If she noticed my flinch, she didn’t show it. “He could’ve killed the last of the Byrne line, you insolent girl.”

“How’s this for a recap, Danika?” I snarled.

The gasp from Shadowblood sounded scandalized when I slapped both hands on her desk and leaned forward so we were at eye level.

“I can kick any demon’s ass, including every idiot you have inside this coven, in six-inch heels, without breaking a sweat, and with my arms tied behind my back.

I showed up at the warehouse, cracked the demon’s head on the concrete like a melon, then I stabbed him with my new boot.

Which you owe me a new pair, plus an iPhone, just so you know.

Then the rest of you waltzed into posture with your magic and clean up the place.

That good enough of an explanation for you? ”

“How dare you speak like that?” High Priest Shadowblood stuttered, his neck elongating as he tucked his chin in. “You are not a savage, young lady.”

“Aren’t I, though?”

“Show respect to your grandmother,” he snapped.

“You got one thing right, pops.” My empty stare flicked his way, and he took an involuntary step back.

If they don’t string me from the roof tonight, I’m honestly never drinking again.

“ My grandmother, and I’m doing exactly what she taught me.

To quote her, ‘you treat people the way they treat you.’ So, I will talk to her however damn well I please.

In this case, I’m showing her the same respect she gave me.

” I believe Shadowblood was about to have an aneurism.

“Hazel,” Danika leaned back in her chair on a sigh, all fight draining out of her. “I wasn’t trying to insult you because you have no magic.”

For an old witch, barely any lines were visible on her beautiful face.

She might be a stick-up-the-ass nag, but no one could dispute the fact she still turned heads.

Midnight blue hair spilled around her face like a waterfall, bringing attention to her alabaster skin and piercing emerald eyes.

Tall for a woman, she was curvy where it counted, but most admirable of all was her presence.

When Danika Byrne walked into a room, you knew it even if your back was turned.

“No, you were complimenting me on a job well done.” With one last stare at Shadowblood, I pushed off the desk. “If we are done here, I need a shower. I can smell the Kishi demon on my skin.”

“I need you to promise me?—”

“I will not step foot anywhere where your precious witches with magic need to go.” My smile could cut glass when I looked at her over my shoulder. “I’ll just stand back and look pretty.”

“You are not replaceable, Miss Byrne—” Shadowblood started, but I cut him off.

“No, I’m to be kept as a broodmare, High Priest Shadowblood. I’m aware.” That got the reaction I expected from my grandmother.

“For the next week, you will be cleaning the library, Hazel,” Danika snapped and stood to her full height, which was a couple of inches higher than mine.

She did it on purpose so I had to look up at her.

Nice power play, Grandma. “And the ritual room, too, until I say that you are done. Am I clear?”

“Crystal.” I dared a glance at River, but with his hands clasped at the small of his back, he was frowning at his boots.

Welcome to the Gatekeeper’s Coven, blondie, this is how we treat family.

The guy hasn’t done anything to me, but just seeing him standing behind that desk with Danika and Shadowblood put him in my shit bucket, too.

“Let’s go,” I called out to my best friend, who was in the office for moral support more than anything else.

We almost made it out the door. Almost.

“Sissily, you’ll join Hazel in her tasks.” My grandmother was already back in her chair and had turned to say something to River Blackman, a blunt dismissal of us if ever I saw one.

We spilled out of the office without another word. “Why do I pay every time you get into trouble, little jerk?”

“Because you are the only one that can call me that and live, big jerk.” I threaded my arm through hers, leaning against her for support.

“True.” She sighed and placed her head on my shoulder. “On a good note, not even you can get in trouble inside a library.”

Lesson 2: never tempt fate.

That bitch bit.