Page 37 of Hellish Witch (Playing with Demons #3)

Chapter 36

T he coven elder paused, searching my flat gaze with shrewd eyes.

After a tense moment, he gestured at one of the empty picnic benches beyond the outdoor kitchen. “I think it’s best we sit for this, daughter.”

I watched Killian stalk in the direction my sperm donor indicated. Mages hurried out of his way, but nobody seemed that fazed by a gore-covered demon stalking through their midst. My eyes locked onto the faint tremor running the length of his tail. The bastard was in more pain that he’d let on.

And I was responsible.

Yet unable to fix it.

I blew out a harsh breath. “If I can change his mind, can you heal him?”

Orion glanced between Killian and me with a thoughtful expression, nodding. “I can patch him up, but I’ve not healed a winged demon in years. It might be best for him to see one of our more specialist healers.”

Killian turned halfway to the bench, a stubborn clench to his hard jaw. His hearing was good enough that he’d have caught the whole murmured conversation, even with the background chatter from the coven members running around their forest resort.

“Please, Kill,” I said. “I’ve seen you bleed enough in the past few days to last a lifetime.”

He grunted, raising his voice so the coven elder beside me could hear too. “Fine.”

“Alvie, take our guest to Jacaranda. She should be in the clinic still.” Orion waved a hand towards one of the nearby buildings. “Hunters attacked a group on their way back from the coast this morning.”

“Of course, Elder.” Ice hardened the sunny mage’s expression. “You’ll be okay, Eve?” He asked, thawing a fraction as he looked at me.

Killian’s fists clenched hard enough to drip blood to the packed earth. The demon radiated threat but stayed quiet, eyes dropping to the three remaining blades still strapped to my thighs. He knew me well enough to know I could handle myself against one healer, even a coven elder.

“Yes, thank you.” I shot Alvie a forced smile.

The mage raked me with a lingering once-over before stomping off along one of the many tracks that branched from the central path, Killian on his heels like a predator stalking prey.

I watched his white feathers disappear into the nearest building before he reappeared in a ground-level window, staring out at me with his usual watchful eye. He even reached forward and shoved the glass pane open wide so he’d likely be able to hear me too.

I’d never admit it, but his stalkerish ways were more comforting than was sane.

Orion took a seat on the bench he’d gestured at before, and I grudgingly sat opposite him, barely resisting the urge to palm a poisoned knife under the table.

“Look, I know I’m not exactly Father of the Year, but I think you should be careful with that demon. I know he might be… attractive .” He coughed, cheeks reddening. “But as a healer, you need to protect your heart more than most.”

“What are you talking about?” I shook my horns. “Actually, it doesn’t matter. I’m not here for relationship advice. I’m just here to fix my broken magic.”

Thunder struck his expression. “You already gave it away?”

I frowned even harder. “Gave what away?”

If he said my virginity, I was going to throat punch him. Claws first.

He sighed, and his initial irritation drained to a distraught look. “I have failed you. In so very many ways.”

The reminder stoked my fury, but I bit my tongue, waiting for an explanation.

“You are a healer, yes? Like almost every mage in our family line.”

I nodded slowly, waiting for him to continue.

He took a moment, seeming to gather himself. “Healers can lose their magic…by giving it away. If you heal someone already falling into death’s embrace, you’ll give too much of your power. It might never replenish. All your magic will leave you. Is that…what happened to you, child?”

I shook my head, a niggle of fear worming its way in. What would life be like if I could never heal someone again? Just a few weeks without the ability was a nightmare.

The thing that made me valuable gone forever in a single act?

Terrifying.

“No.” I swallowed thickly. “My magic has turned…dark. Instead of healing, it hurts people.”

The admission had guilt squirming through me. I wasn’t particularly squeamish. Being raised in violence had a way of stripping that from you pretty quickly. To survive as a hybrid in Hell, you couldn’t be afraid of getting your claws bloody.

It was that I should be helping people, and I wanted to, but I was only hurting them instead.

Something akin to relief slackened the elder’s features. A few minor details seemed familiar, like the slope of his nose and the curl to his short hair.

It was strange, looking for myself in him.

“That which can be given can also be taken away.” He chuckled with a relieved shake of his head. “It’s perfectly fine, Eve. In fact, it’s a sign of your power. It’s the strongest expression of the healer affinity, to reverse the body’s natural healing process.” His merlot eyes gleamed with what I might have called pride. “When your magic lashes out with darkness , as you put it, it’s your power unhealing old wounds. Some say it even siphons energy from the act. It’s incredibly rare.”

His words stunned me into silence.

Was my magic not just whole but somehow powerful?

Valuable?

I searched his beaming face for any hint of a lie. I’d never heard of such a thing, but then again, I’d been raised by demons, not mages. My chance to grow up as a happy, sheltered mage like Alvie was taken from me when the succubus who’d spawned me couldn’t even be bothered to inform my father.

My fang found my lower lip as I tried to think it all through. “But why would it keep lashing out when I didn’t want it to? And it’s been stopping me from healing others,” I said, struggling to believe that my magic wasn’t as broken as my mind.

He shrugged. “My best guess? It’s instinctive. A defence mechanism. Magic tends to manifest at times of high stress. Judging by the state of your… friend, you’ve been in quite the pickle recently.”

Why did everyone think we were friends except the demon himself?

I shot Killian a glare through the windows of the clinic. A stern woman with bright-white hair held glowing hands over Killian’s wing, concentrating on her work. The demon only had eyes for me though.

Orion cleared his throat. “Is that when you’ve felt your magic acting out? An animal backed into a corner will lash out to protect itself.”

All the puzzle pieces were slotting together.

It made perfect sense when he put it that way.

When my darkness had first manifested, I’d been locked in a cell, battered and bruised and forced to watch one of my cellmates die on some sick scientist’s operating table.

I’d hardly been able to heal anyone since then. My time in the hunter’s clutches had damaged me to a point where I’d felt broken, and my magic had responded accordingly. As if the danger were still present.

The only times it had felt calm was when Killian had fed me, giving me protection and power and a sense of safety I’d never get enough of.

“I can see that you’re thinking this through. It’s a lot, all this too”—he gestured a soft-looking hand between us—“must be difficult to take in.”

I bobbed my horns, thoughts still reeling.

A sympathetic frown rumpled his brow. “Eve, if I’d have known Lilabell was pregnant…” He shook his head, blowing out a breath like someone stepped on his chest. “I hope you believe me when I say I would have travelled through Hell and back to get you. I’d love the opportunity to get to know you now, though, if you’ll let me.”

I didn’t quite know what to say to that. The old mage seemed sincere, but I’d never been one to trust easily. Life had taught me not to.

“You don’t have to say anything right now.” He held up his hands in surrender, showing neatly blunted human nails. A small sigh escaped his lips as he gazed up at the sky. “I know it’s too much too soon, but the goddesses clearly had a plan because tonight is the coven’s annual initiation ceremony for new mages.”

I’d heard of a coven initiation before. Zoella had told me about hers, only half-completed, before she’d managed to remove her anchor mark, setting her free from the coven who’d been responsible for her pain.

Penetrating eyes met mine, so round and human. So similar to my own.

“There’s a place for you here,” he continued. “Your demon side won’t be looked down upon. Especially not when you’re clearly such a powerful mage. If you choose to join us, and I sincerely hope you do, I can teach you about your magic and how to channel both healing and harming sides. Just binding yourself to us tonight will anchor your power to us and help you start to control it.”

My skin prickled like spiders crept along my arms.

A part of me knew coming here wouldn’t be an easy fix to all my problems. Whatever was broken would take time to heal. But could I really move to the human realm and join a coven of strangers? How long until I gained control of the darkness?

If I stayed, how much would I learn about myself too? About my magic and the things I’d never known were even possible?

How many people would I hurt if I went back now?

“I… I’ll think about it,” I said, my voice slipping out in a hoarse whisper.

“That’s all I could hope for.” An encouraging smile curved my father’s lips up. “We can provide you with a safe place to unlock your true potential, Eve. To be a part of our magical family, as you always should have been.”

“Coven Elder Warren!” a high-pitched voice rang out. “It’s time!”

Orion turned to a middle-aged woman dressed in a tailored shift dress, nudging a young man busy tapping his shiny watch towards the seats under the tented roof.

Orion stood from the bench and called back with a good-natured huff, “Be there shortly, Elder Reese.”

Turning his smile on me, he continued, “I’ve asked for rooms to be prepared for you in our finest guest chalet for afterwards, but if you would follow me, everyone is gathering now to start the ceremony.”

Great. So if I wanted to fix myself, I had to join my father’s coven. And it had to be now.

I felt exactly like a feral animal backed into yet another corner.

The darkness in my chest stretched out, flexing its claws.

A weight crushed my lungs, heavy enough that I could barely suck in air. On the outside, I managed a tight smile for the coven elder.

“Jacaranda is probably about done with her patient, so I’m sure Alvie will bring your friend to join us shortly. He’ll also show you both to your quarters afterwards so you can freshen up and rest, whether you decide to initiate or not. It seems our resident greenhouse has already taken quite the shine to you, though, pun intended.”

“ Greenhouse ?” A rogue snort escaped me, the absurdity enough to loosen the tightness in my chest, even as I clenched my shaky hands in my lap to hide them.

“Did he not tell you about his powers?” His face scrunched up in a quizzical frown. “Alvie’s power is sunlight. He’s an asset for our vegetable patch.”

“Errr, yeah.” I rubbed the base of a horn.

Alvie had been nice to me, and his warm welcome and excitement at having me here felt genuine, but it seemed he might have been overselling his position as chief protector of the coven. I supposed everyone wanted to feel useful.

Maybe I’d fit in here after all.

I’d shied away from my mage heritage for so long, but was it time to embrace that part of me?

Nobody had sneered at me for being a mutt yet, or tried to snap my bones until they could feed on my agony.

A good start.

“Come, daughter.” The coven elder held out his hand to help me stand, and with a steadying breath, I reached out and took it. “Join your true family.”