Page 8

Lilith

I am floating outside of my body, and I can see myself curled up in bed with Daemon. We are both sleeping peacefully. I go over to Callum first, and he looks just as peaceful, but Kael looks distraught. He is tossing and turning in bed, unable to settle himself. I wonder how long he’s been having these nightmares?

“I’m so sorry, Cassie,” Kael murmurs.

Cassie? Who’s Cassie?

I feel a presence behind me. I turn to find my will-o’-the-wisp friend. When I approach it, it doesn’t run away this time. Instead, it morphs into a woman. She has long blonde hair. She is pale and short like I am. She doesn’t look to be much older than I am. She looks like I should know who she is.

“Uhm…” I say. “Hi?”

“Lilith,” the woman smiles. She feels familiar to me, but I don’t know her.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“Ashara Deverell,” she says with a smile.

“You look familiar,” I say.

“I would hope so. It took me thirty-six hours to bring you into this world. You favor your father, even though I did all the work,” she says with a smirk.

“What happened to you?” I ask, frowning.

“I was discovered. Brion Morwen had just become mayor and caught me before I could get us out,” she explains.

“Did he kill you? I don’t understand,” my frown deepens along with my confusion.

“He drained my powers, raped me… a lot,” she says.

“You’d just had a baby, though. He assaulted you?” I ask.

“He assaulted you too, sweetie,” she says softly.

“No, he… That doesn’t matter,” I say. “I am mated to the Three Kings.”

“I know. I’m so happy you found them, but we are running out of time,” she says.

“Running out of time?”

“Yes. The prophecy, my dear. You are destined for greatness, Lilith.”

“Is that why you led me to that building?” I ask.

“Yes. Inside holds the secrets to the prophecy. You just have to search for them.”

“Why can’t you just tell me?” I frown.

“Because you have to do this with the three kings,” she says. “It’s all a part of the prophecy. The Three Kings and the High Witch have to weather the storm together to fulfill the prophecy.”

“What is a high witch?” I ask.

“You will become the most powerful witch that the world has seen in 300 years,” she tells me. “But you need to train. Your ability to heal yourself has been perfected because of the curse, but you need to know how to defend yourself and how to fight back.”

“So, I need to go to that building?” I ask.

“Yes. Go as soon as you wake up.”

“Will I see you again?” I ask.

“I don’t know, Lilith. I’ve fulfilled my part of the prophecy. My soul will be able to move on now,” she says softly. “I am so proud of the woman you have become. Your father and I are proud of you, Lilith Ann.”

“That’s my name? Lilith Ann Deverell?” I ask.

“Yes. You need to wake up now, Lilith. I love you, my sweet girl.”

“I love you too, Mom,” I say as sadness creeps in. She smiles softly at me as she fades away.

I open my eyes and look around the room. Everything looks exactly how it did in my dream just now. Daemon is still fast asleep, so I slowly slip out of bed and go to the closet for shoes.

I want to go to the library and get back before they wake. Kael will be angry I’m going into the woods without him, but I need to do this. I don’t know much, but I do know that if a witch has dreams like these, you’re supposed to listen and obey.

I quietly open the door and step out of the room. As soon as I get the door shut, I turn on my heels and rush down the stairs. I decided to go the route that I know and slip out onto the back patio before running toward the garden. I follow the same path that Mom took me earlier, when it eventually opens up, and I step into the woods. It’s cloudy tonight, so it’s nearly pitch-black outside.

“ Lumina ,” I speak aloud with my hands outstretched, palm side up. As a spherical ball of light starts to materialize in my hands. I roll it around as if forming it, and it glows brighter. Soon, the small ball of light in my hand is illuminating the area around me as I continue my walk along the path to the building.

When I get to the building, I don’t hesitate to open the door. Although the outside of the building looks dilapidated, the inside is immaculate. Whatever magic protects this building is preserving it as well. It looks much bigger inside than it does outside, and there are row after row of shelves filled with books. Sitting on a small podium, off to one side of the room, there is a black, leather-bound book. Immediately, I head in its direction, and when I get close to it, I see the word ‘Deverell’ etched into the cover.

It’s my family Book of Shadows. Mom must have left it here before she was caught. I send my little ball of light up to illuminate the rest of the room so I can look at the book. When I touch the book, something inside of me feels relieved. It is almost like my soul is happy that I reunited with the book. Which, admittedly, is an odd way to feel, considering I was a newborn the last time I ever would’ve been around it, if at all.

Thinking about what Mom said, I suppose I was assaulted by Morwen. If he did, then so did Zypher and the rest of the men he brought around. If that’s the case, then all maidens are being assaulted. It’s not necessarily something I had a choice over. When I was a kid, I was told that we had a choice, but whenever it came time for me to be placed somewhere at eighteen, no one asked my opinion about whether or not I wanted to get power-fucked by a wolf shifter a half dozen times a day or more. No one asked me whether or not I was a willing participant when I was made to take every man in the pack, multiple times a night, every month. Another pack visited, and no one asked me if almost 80 men could fuck me.

I was fed flavorless food for five years. I wasn’t allowed to leave or to talk to anyone that he did not want me talking to. Morwen bent me over his desk, like it was part of his job then intentionally tried to hurt me. A fox shifter would’ve been injured by that. All of this should bother me more than it does. But why doesn’t it? Mom looked at me with such sorrow in her eyes when she said that I had been assaulted too.

Not that I agree with it, but I understand why the guys had to do what they did with the other maidens. If the guys died, there would be no one to take over, and there’s a good likelihood that another country or another group within this country would. Gods know what would happen then. All these rules regarding the fox shifters and the maidens revolve around the curse. Maybe that can change now. Maybe witches can be reintegrated into society and allowed to live freely.

I hear the door open behind me, and I know it’s the guys. I have no doubt that they are mad at me. “Lilith,” Kael growls at me.

“Deverell,” I say, flipping through the book to skim over the various spells.

“What?” Daemon asks.

“That’s my last name. Deverell. My full name is Lilith Ann Deverell,” I explain. “My mom told me.”

“I thought she was dead,” Callum says quizzically. The men come to stand beside me to see what I’m looking at.

“She is. Morwen found her and had her drained,” I say bitterly. The more that I think about it, I realize she never answered that question.

“We’re going to need a little bit more context,” he says. “Why are you out here?”

“I had a dream. At least, I think it was a dream. It was like an astral projection, where I was having an out-of-body experience and I could see the entire room and what was going on, but then I saw the wisp again, and it changed into a woman. She looked just like me and was about my age.”

“And that was your mother?” Kael asks.

“Mhmm. Her name is Ashara Deverell,” I nod. I proceed to go through everything that she told me, word for word. I tell them about the prophecy and how we are supposed to figure it out together. They seem to accept my reasoning for running away in the middle of the night. I make sure to leave out her bringing up me being assaulted. I’m not sure how that will go over.

Kael looks up at my ball of light and looks back at me. “What the fuck is that?”

“Of everything I just said, that is what you are latching onto?” I ask. “It’s just a ball of light. It’s dark as fuck out here.”

“What is this book?” Daemon asks.

“It is my family Book of Shadows, I think. It has my last name on the front of it,” I say as I point to a page. “This is a protection spell. It’s the same spell that I used to hide my magia belongings.”

“So, you are connected to our families somehow?” Callum asks.

“I think I’m the answer to this curse,” I state. “Mom said something about how I was running out of time. She also called me a high witch. I don’t know what that is, though. She said that it was something about being the most powerful witch in 300 years or something but, then again, I was sleeping, and she’s not here. I could just be insane.”

“From what Dad told me before he died, about the curse, the last High Witch was alive when the group of dark witches cursed our families,” Daemon says.

“If I was getting headaches and… well, basically everything that was happening to those other girls, does that mean I was cursed and didn’t know it?”

“Our curse didn’t hit us until we took the throne. We knew about it, but we were safe until then,” Kael says.

“300 years. That’s what… twelve generations?” I ask. “That’s a long time to hold a grudge.”

“That’s how family curses work,” Kael says as he pulls me closer to hug me.

“I’m sorry. I know you told me not to come out here alone,” I whisper.

“It’s okay,” he says. “I was just worried when I woke up and you weren’t there.”

“Who’s Cassie?” I ask. He pulls away, and they all give me an odd look.

“How do you know that name?” Kael asks.

“You were saying sorry to her,” I say. “Before Mom appeared, you were having a nightmare and said her name.”

“She was one of our maidens,” he says softly, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. “The symptoms of the curse hit her while we were having sex, and I didn’t notice right away. We had a habit of making sure we weren’t around when the girls died because we felt guilty, and we were being selfish. When Cassie died in my arms, it changed everything for us. We started focusing on their pleasure and making sure we were taking care of them after. We would stay by their side just in case something happened. When the symptoms would hit, we would take care of them the best we could and try to make sure they knew they weren’t alone.”

“That’s why you guys did all that,” I say. “You were taking care of me in case I died.”

“Yeah,” he says softly.

“How do we know for sure that the curse is broken?” I ask.

“We could see how long we can go without sex,” Callum says with a shrug.

“I don’t like that idea,” I frown, and they all grin at me.

“Why’s that?” Kael asks with a smirk.

“You know what… That’s a great idea. No sex for anyone,” I say with a smile. “Good idea, Callum. How long does it take for symptoms to really set in for you all? A week? Two weeks?”

“My sweet witch,” Kael says with a smile and cups my cheek. “You’ve gotten used to being fucked multiple times a day. We regularly push the limit in avoidance. You’ll break far before we will.”

“Fine,” I smile. “If I win, you have to let me practice magic on you all.”

“And if we win, we get to fuck you shifted,” he says with a conniving grin.

“You think I’m scared of a little kitty cat, Kael?” I ask. When he growls, I giggle in response.

“Oh, this is going to be interesting,” Daemon says.

“I’d love to work with elemental magic. Don’t cats hate water?” I ask Daemon, and he chuckles.

“Have you ever had sex with anyone when they were shifted?” Daemon asks with a smile.

“I have not, and we are certainly not starting with you,” I say, shaking my head and stepping back from him. Kael and Callum chuckle when Daemon grabs me and pulls me closer to him.

“Oh, you’ll take it every way I give it to you, no matter my form,” Daemon says, brushing his lips against mine. My breath hitches, and heat pools between my thighs at his promise of force. I won’t deny that I am morbidly curious about what it would be like to get fucked by a dragon.

“I haven’t even seen you shift, Daemon. You’re insane if you think I’ll be down to get dragon-fucked the first time I see you in that form,” I say.

“Are you nervous?” he asks, smirking suggestively.

“You do know witches can die, right?” I ask.

“You’re so dramatic,” he laughs and kisses me. “Can we come back in the morning, or are you going to run away again to read?”

“I’ll just bring the book with me,” I say with a smile. “I do want to come back and see what all is here. I’ve only gotten as far as the Book of Shadows.”

“Callum and I need to do something tomorrow, but Kael will be here.”

“Morwen?” I ask with a frown. I can’t get what Mom said out of my mind. Zypher is one thing because I expected that from him, and I accepted it. Am I just so used to the abuse that I passed it, and the guy on the train, off as normal and acceptable?

“Yeah. Why?” he asks.

“Nothing. I just don’t really like him,” I say. I turn away from him and grab the book. I need to sort my thoughts so I can decide how I feel. The guy on the train is lingering in my mind also. How many times has he done that?

“Lilith,” he says.

“Yes?” I ask.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

“Nothing. I am getting kind of tired, actually,” I say. “Want to head back?”

“Don’t lie to me, Lilith,” he says seriously, and I sigh.

“Fine. I think he may have raped me. Mom was the one who pointed out that I was assaulted, and now I’m just questioning a lot,” I say. “Can we go back?”

“What did he do?” Kael asks.

“Yesterday evening, Zypher told me that Morwen wanted to see me. Some guy was an asshole to me, so I made a smart-ass comment. When Morwen got me into his office, he was angry and just bent me over and fucked me. At one point, he tried to hurt me, but it takes a lot to actually hurt me, luckily.”

“How did he try to hurt you?” Callum asks with anger in his voice.

“He, uhm… Abruptly changed… locations… Without warning,” I say slowly.

“What?” Kael growls.

“The moment you were removed from Zypher’s home, you were off limits. Zypher wasn’t allowed to let anyone else touch you. That is one of the stipulations to having a maiden. You treat them well, you don’t abuse them, and you don’t let anyone else touch them,” Daemon says.

“Then the guy on the train really fucked up,” I say, and Daemon sighs.

“What guy?”

“He’s a security guard. I woke up with his hand down my shirt and him jerking off. When he saw that I was awake, he…” I start to say, but stop talking.

“Say it,” Kael orders.

“He throat-fucked me. I did my best to hurry him up so he’d leave me alone, but I guess that just makes it look like I was willing,” I say.

“What train line?” Daemon asks before Kael can speak.

“A3,” I say. “I was in the last car with the fox shifters.”

“We need to stop this bullshit where everyone is segregated,” Callum says.

“With all due respect, Callum,” I say. “This happens because you three have allowed it. The fox shifters are treated like garbage and have been for my entire life. We are given shit jobs. We are separated from everyone like we are untouchable. We aren’t allowed to shift. You created these monsters, so you can’t be surprised now that I am your mate and I’m telling you something I saw happen daily as a child.”

“We?” he says.

“Yes, we,” I snap at him. “I may not be a fox, but these people raised me. They may be conniving by nature, but it stems from trying to survive. They are kind people who do not deserve this treatment. Why are only the foxes, maidens? Why not wolves, bears, panthers, dragons, lions, or even the Hellhounds? Just because the foxes can take more sexual abuse without dying means we should be subjected to it?”

“Lilith, we didn’t put those laws into place,” he says. “They’ve been that way for a long time.”

“Well, you could have changed it,” I say.

“And we will. It’s clear that a lot is connected to what the witches did, so we need to find the source and the reasoning. If we can figure out why they did what they did, we can figure out how it is affecting things now. I won’t say it’s not our fault, because it is. We will make that known when we make these changes. I am still surprised that people like Zypher and Morwen think that they can go about their lives without consequences,” Callum says calmly.

“What will you all do to them?” I ask.

“Zypher will lose his privileges, at the bare minimum,” Daemon says. “Morwen will depend on what he says tomorrow.”

“Oh Gods,” I sigh. “I didn’t tell you just to cause problems, Daemon.”

“Did you consent?” he asks me.

“No, but…”

“No buts. You didn’t say yes. He used his position to hurt you. The guard on the train will die.”

“What?” I ask. “Daemon…”

“Understand this now, Lilith. No one touches you but us. Ever! We may not have known you yet, but you are still our mate. I will be damned if I let him continue to breathe after hurting you. If Morwen does anything but go to his knees and beg for forgiveness, I will kill him myself, and you will watch, just so you know exactly what happens when someone touches what doesn’t belong to them.”

“You’re not seriously going to make me watch you kill him,” I say.

“I am,” he says. “In fact, as long as Kael and Callum agree, it’s about time the citizens of Grimitara learn who their new queen will be.”

“As long as we keep her being a witch between us for now, I agree completely,” Callum says.

“It’s far too dangerous for anyone to know that she is a witch. We need to find out more about the prophecy first,” Kael says.

“Take a step back for a second,” I say. “Tell everyone that I am your mate, but only remove him from his position. Let everyone handle the news of a fox shifter being queen while you make the changes that need to be made. He won’t have any power by then, so he will be less likely to do shit like that again. Just have him watched and wait for him to fuck up. If you waltz in there, name me queen, and kill three people, you will lose a lot of support.”

“Okay. We will bring you with us in the morning to meet with Zypher and Morwen. I want them to know exactly why it’s happening,” Daemon says. “But the guard still dies.”

“I can accept that,” I say.

“The second that Morwen fucks up, which I know he will, he dies too,” Kael says as a promise.

“He’ll fuck up. It’s just a matter of when,” I say. “How do you think everyone will take me as queen?”

“This country has not had a true queen since the beginning of the curse,” Daemon says. “They are so desperate for a queen that I think they will happily accept you.”

“It will also help us to make these changes when they see that we trust you,” Callum says.

“That makes sense,” I say. “So, can we pack away the possessive testosterone tendencies for a moment? We have a lot more to worry about, and we can’t cause an uproar in the name of… well, me.”

“For now,” Daemon says with a frown. I can tell he doesn’t like this resolution but is obliging my request to not murder for me.

“Can we go back to bed now?” I ask.

“Yeah,” he says, softening his tone. “Let’s go home.”