Page 10 of Hellish Witch (Playing with Demons #3)

Chapter 9

J ust say it.

Say. It.

“I’m broken,” I blurted the words.

Zoella’s lilac brows lifted as she glanced at me over a shoulder, striding into my favourite room of the house. I followed her into the newly refurbed space, lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and stuffed with exotic houseplants until it was more jungle than library.

The floral scent of poisonous flowers soothed the raw edge of my nerves.

Haunting lilac and black hell-fire crackled in the fireplace, nestled deep between tall bookshelves. Creeping red vines draped its sides, reaching towards the flames rather than away.

A monster sprawled beneath.

He lifted his boxy head from meaty front paws, watching me enter his domain with fiery purple eyes. The hellhound’s head was twice the size of mine, his maw filled with more sharp teeth than I could count. Rich black fur reflected the firelight, interrupted by too many white lines scarring his flesh.

The intimidating sight was tempered by an adorable lilac sock pattern on one of his front paws, matching the shade of one ear and cresting his fluffy chest.

“Hey, Alpha.” I gave him an awkward wave.

It was so much more embarrassing to have this conversation in front of the proud hellhound, but Zoella never separated from her familiar for long.

She’d reunited with him in the human realm when she’d freed him from the same hunters who’d captured me. He’d followed Zoella here, to live in the Bloodwood with his pack of pups, and like his bonded witch, he’d been healing, getting stronger and healthier with every passing day.

Giving me a peek at his vicious fangs, he rumbled a sleepy growl like he was greeting me right back, and returned his muzzle to his paws before closing his eyes. His tail swept back, the end dipping right into the fire without a care.

In a way, I felt like Alpha and I shared a bond too, enough for me to understand his meaning in my own way. It was just another strange thing I’d been experiencing lately, like I could understand a creature’s intent more than I should.

I brushed off the crazy before it could add more anxiety to an already messed-up situation. Hellhounds were highly intelligent animals, and being familiar bonded to a mage meant he was more in tune with magic; that was all.

Zoella lifted a glass pot of coffee from the low table in offering, and I silently shook my head, my stomach in knots as I waited for her to say something about my blurted confession. I took a seat on the sofa opposite her, sinking into the worn leather. She topped a ceramic cup to the brim with the dark brew before returning the pot to the scratched table.

The queen plonked herself onto the other sofa beside the vast windows, her back to the fireplace, somehow not spilling a single drop of liquid joy.

Taking a delicate sip, she leaned back amongst the fuzzy cushions and crossed her legs, seeming to ponder her response until I wanted to flip the coffee table between us and run around screaming.

“And what makes you say that?” she asked.

I was grateful for the lack of judgement in her tone, even if her arced brows hinted at disbelief.

I fanged my lower lip, debating where to start. “In the hunter compound, where they held me captive…something happened.” I swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the memories surging up.

It had been terrifying, but things weren’t nearly as bad for me as they were for others there. One of the hunter’s scientists had even tried to protect me.

And at least I’d made it out alive.

I could practically feel the rage sparking off Zoella. It wouldn’t be long before I saw actual black-and-purple flames in her hands. She’d come a long way in controlling her magic, but it was still new to her.

She was handling it all with the grace of a warrior queen.

“What happened?” she asked, tone soft, but beneath it lingered enough lethal promise to put any demon to shame.

I forced down a nervous giggle. “I…reached a limit. Too battered and drained. I thought I was going to die down there. And… I couldn’t watch them hurt anyone else.” I swallowed thickly, refusing to give in to the dark memories of how I’d ended up in solitary confinement.

Two months had passed since Rex, Zoella, and the enforcers had freed me from the hunters’ not-so-tender care. The memories still hadn’t dulled.

My gaze dropped to my hands. Sometimes, I’d still catch them covered in cuts and bruises from the corner of my eye. But I barely had a single scar on the outside.

A perk of innate healing magic, I supposed.

“And then?” she prompted, voice gentle as she set her cup on the table between us.

“I broke,” I said, shutting down all emotions to hold my sanity together. “My magic bled. Corrupted. It lashed out, past their suppressor spells, and clawed open every hunter in the room.” The heavy scent of gore filled my nose, and I had to swallow back bile before continuing. “It was a massacre.”

My eyes found her lilac ones, and she nodded slowly, nowhere near as horrified by that as she should have been.

“I’m glad they’re dead.” Purple flames licked her fingertips before she squeezed her hands into fists to extinguish them. “Nothing is wrong with your magic, Eve. It’s just different. You’re only twenty-one. Your powers are still developing.”

The conviction in her tone gave me hope. I didn’t believe that was true, but it sounded like a problem that could be fixed, at least.

“So… You can make it stop? I can barely heal, and it’s lashed out again since. Last night… I hurt some of our own,” I said, voice strangling tight.

The pain trio may be hateful bullies, but I’d almost killed them.

“It was an accident, Eve. It’s going to be okay, you hear?” Her hand gripped mine, an antique silver ring glinting on her finger. “Powers are always hard to control at our age, especially while we’re relatively untrained and don’t have a large coven to anchor us. But we can seek a specialist coven for advice.” She nodded as if to herself, brows creasing in thought. “The Sage Coven in England is famous for its skilled healers. They’ve probably had all kinds of fun offshoots and quirks of your affinity over the years. I bet they’ve seen something like this before, or they’ll at least know the best way to control your power as it grows.”

Fuck.

I hadn’t even thought about that. My magic was still growing, so whatever this was, it was only going to get stronger.

Everyone around me was going to die a bloody, painful death.

I flashed her a watery smile, blinking back the moisture I refused to let fall. “Great, so I don’t have to exile myself from the kingdom of exiles.”

She squeezed my palm tighter, the ache in my bones grounding me. “Never. Your brother and I would never cast you aside when you needed us most.” Her voice cracked at the end.

There was a reason she was a lone witch in hell, and I squeezed her hand back just as hard.

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “Plus, you’re half of the coven here. I can’t lose my only sister in magic.”

A genuine smile broke through at that. Zoella was kind, and so fiercely loyal when she finally let someone in. She’d been a tough nut to crack, but now I couldn’t imagine our kingdom without her.

The sound of a door banging open had us both swivelling in our seats.

“Oh, honey, I’m hoooome!” Rex called out in a sing-song voice a second before he slid through the doorway into the jungle library.

The Hybrid King looked as psychotically happy as always these days, with a huge fanged grin like a white slash through his dove-grey lips.

He’d let his fire-ombre hair grow out to his chin, the thick waves falling messily into his face before he brushed them back between his vertical pair of waved horns, knocking free a stray leaf that somehow clung to the lower pair curving around his ears.

The hulking grey demon clapped his palms together as he spotted me. “Ohhh, am I interrupting a super-secret coven meeting, hmm?”

His arrowhead tail flicked back and forth behind him with his teasing mirth.

“Yes. Actually, Uncle . Now be a dear and leave before we turn you into a toad.” I flicked my claws, adding a snooty sniff for good measure.

Alpha backed me up by deigning to lift his head and huff at the king.

Rex chuckled and sauntered over to plant a kiss on Zoella’s lips. They both grinned goofily at each other for a long moment.

“Geez, you two, can you keep it in your pants for like two seconds?” I scoffed, but just seeing them together brought me so much joy.

If anyone deserved to grin like unhinged maniacs all the time, it was them.

Rex straightened and pinned me with a mock glare. “Still no respect for your elders, I see.”

I stuck my tongue out. The only appropriate response.

He huffed back.

“Why are you covered in blood?” Zoella’s tone was as sharp as her gaze, narrowed on the dried flecks peppering Rex’s bare shoulders.

“Kingly duties.” The big oaf threw the back of his hand to his tall horns, sighing dramatically. “Someone got creative with justice. Vanita, Jessa, and Murag were left in bloody heaps up a tall tree in the Bloodwood last night. I had to send someone to fetch them down and drag the idiots to the clinic, since they refused to see a certain witchy healer.” He shot me a pointed look.

My eye twitched as I fought to smother my shock.

After a tense beat, he continued, “Apparently, they fed on unwilling pain last night and someone took offence to it. Seems they’ve only got themselves to blame.”

My heart beat rapidly. Guilt wriggled through my middle because I had the sneaking suspicion their punishment had something to do with me.

I’d always thought Rex was responsible for my nickname as the widow-witch, but either he was a great actor…or it wasn’t him.

I didn’t know what to do with that.

“Damn.” Zoella whistled. “Demon justice is brutal .”

“But necessary,” Rex mused, and his attention swung back to me, lips pursed. “So…is there anything you want to tell me?”

I froze, trying not to squirm on the sofa as Rex pinned me with his big-brother stare. The one that had always made me confess when I was younger.

I notched my chin.

Had the pain trio tattled on me for what I’d done to them at the party? Had Rex found out about the demon I’d accidentally torn apart?

Did he already know about my corrupted magic?

Either way, I’d decided to find the coven Zoella had mentioned. I couldn’t stay here as a loaded gun being tossed between innocent people.

I didn’t want to drag the happy couple on another rescue-the-demoness-in-distress mission though.

It was time I faced my problems like an adult.

By running away.

“Nope.” I popped the p , giving Rex my best bratty grin.

Zoella rolled her eyes at me. “Eve’s magic has been developing in a more…aggressive way, and we’re going to the Sage Coven for help. They’re healer affinity focused. And from what I’ve heard from your enforcers, particularly demon friendly.” She shot her mate a loaded look.

I frowned. Was she implying what I thought she was?

Rex’s eyes slid to mine, a flash of hurt in them. “If you’ve been having problems, why haven’t you come to us sooner?”

I swallowed thickly. “I…didn’t know what was going on. It’s only happened a few times…and I thought it might just stop now that I’m home safe.”

A deeper pain pinched his features. “You are safe, Eve. And if heading back to the human realm to beat information out of some crusty old wizards will help, then we’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

“You mean politely ask the nice healers ,” Zoella muttered under her breath.

Rex’s lips twitched in mischief, lifting some of the heaviness in his expression, but he continued like his mate hadn’t huffed at his natural inclination for violence. “It will give us enough daylight to get through the worst of the Bloodwood, and I can put Briar and Grell in charge while we’re gone. Maybe I’ll ask a few of the guys to come with us, though Kill isn’t in my good books since he offed that merchant last week without even telling me why.” He trailed off before pinning me with a flat stare.

I knew that look.

I couldn’t even process the fact that Killian had taken the fall for my murdery little accident .

“Speaking of our feathered friend… Why is he waiting outside for you like some lovesick pup?” Rex quirked a brow at me, suspicion gathering in his red eyes like storm clouds.

“Um.” I bit my lower lip, thoughts scrambling for something to say. “He walked me over this morning.”

Somehow, he arched his brow even higher. “It’s the arse crack of dawn. Has he been following you? Was he at your house? Did he stay there last night?” His voice rose slightly with each question, hitting that incredulous warning octave that had me fighting a wince.

Zoella’s gaze bounced between us, glee tugging at her lips. She was seconds from bursting into giddy applause.

Rex held up a hand as I opened my mouth to explain. “You know what? I’ll go ask him. I knew I should have put a stop to his bloody hobby.”

I had no idea what bloody hobby he meant, but if a pit of hell-fire could open up and swallow me, that would be a mercy.

I ducked my head as he sauntered out of the room, a casual pace that belied the sharpness he was ready to wield.

Zoella’s wide eyes met mine.

We leaped for the window at the same time.

Pressing our faces to the glass, we watched Rex stalk up to Killian, who lounged outside the house, thick arms folded and huge wings tucked.

He eyed Rex’s approach, a grim sort of acceptance on his stunning face.

“Why were you at my baby sister’s house this morning?” Rex’s lightly muffled voice reached us through the thin pane. He put his hands in his trouser pockets, all casual like.

I hissed at him through the closed window. We weren’t actually blood relatives, but we’d always had a sort of brother-sister relationship and I loved him like family.

I usually called him my boring old uncle, but baby sister was laying it on a bit thick.

Zoella practically vibrated beside me, valiantly trying to hold back a laugh.

Killian stood his ground. “She got hurt at a party last night, and I carried her home, put her to bed”—Rex snarled at the word, but Killian didn’t pause—“and then slept on the couch to make sure she was okay.”

Rex nodded, almost a thoughtful, wise king for a second.

Then he blurred, and his fist smashed into Kilian’s face. The incubus’s head whipped aside.

He spat blood before straightening.

My jaw dropped, but irritation blazed in the next beat.

“Oh my goddesses.” Zoella finally let her laughter out with a snort. “Men.”

The insane dolts stared at each other, then wide grins replaced hard expressions. Killian had a mouthful of bloodied fangs and a split lip he was only worsening with his unhinged mirth.

Nothing was said, and yet something had passed between them regardless.

I shook my horns with a dramatic sigh. “Yup.”