Page 29 of What The Hex (The Family Spells)
You don’t know that, I thought, letting my gaze briefly drop to Spec’s. His lavender eyes narrowed, and I knew he was aware of my thoughts. But what did it matter? What choice did we have? Either Hex’s backstabbing grandmother would keep her grandson’s sacred name to herself or … she wouldn’t.
We only had one option.
“Give me your name,” I commanded as Argent stood nearby, his back to me, his eyes focused in the direction of the sanctum. Every once in a while, his attention drifted over to Monster, and I knew that he was thinking about me at age eighteen, panting and screaming as I was forcibly torn away from the man, feeling like my heart and soul both would shatter without him.
They almost did.
It was only Argent’s love that saved me then.
Hex lurched up, his left hand closing on my shoulder and sending shockwaves of need through me. Fuck, that feels good. He feels good. His hot mouth brushed up against my ear.
“Hexamus Priaposia ven Hael ala Maoi Wereis Annoitas,” he whispered, his breath warm, inviting. I’d have chuckled at his name because, like, seriously, it was spelling hilarious, but then … I also wanted his tongue to trace up the side of my neck, for him to taste me, and, mostly, for him to like what he was tasting.
Rally those ovaries, Graceley Spells! I chastised, imagining Bast’s voice in my head. Or … maybe that really was my familiar, Bastet, growling at me from half a city away. She was watching over the kids, along with my father and whatever was left of our coven after guard and demon hunting duties were fulfilled. I wasn’t too worried about them.
I was worried about my mother. And us. We needed to broom the fuck out of here—and quick.
Hex’s demon name swirled into me, more spell than words. Anyone else attempting to overhear our conversation wouldn’t be able to pick up on that; I made certain of that. I didn’t trust the wolves that Caine was speaking to; I certainly didn’t trust Monster.
A demon could summon another demon. While it was considered a form of metaphysical cannibalism, it happened. Monster, I could see him doing something like that, wresting control of my fourth and final soulmate away from me.
I carefully removed Hex’s hand from my shoulder and stood up, shaking my own hands out and closing my eyes. I wetted my lips as I turned from him to Monster. He was watching me, but I didn’t need his help for this. As a member of Coven Apothecary, we might not regularly summon demons, but we sure as hell knew how to.
“Quickly,” Monster urged, his sumptuous voice twining around me and giving me reactions that had Caine growling from over my left shoulder. My husband put his big, hot hands on my hips and breathed against the side of my ear.
“You’ve got this, wife,” he murmured as I looked down at Hex and held his name in my heart. I had to say it aloud, but I didn’t want anyone—even my husbands—to hear it. The less of us that knew his real name, the better it would be for all of us.
A demon’s name was a precious thing indeed, something worth torturing out of a foe; I wouldn’t put my family through that.
I reached up and snapped another charm—one of the remaining few—off the brim of my hat. For the next thirty seconds, nobody else would be able to hear what I was saying or even read my lips.
I raised my palms toward Hex, drew magic up through the forest floor, through my boots, into my blood, and then I called out his name. A summoning circle rose around him, similar to Lulu’s but an entirely different design. My design. One I’d sketched out and perfected long ago, for just such an occasion.
Yeah, totally prepared to summon demons but … first timer here.
The shackles on Hex’s wrists and ankles changed color, from gold to black. An invisible cord—besides the one that was already there because we were, uh, soulmates—stretched between us. I could feel it tugging on me in strange places, like my body had been laced down the front, needles and ribbons plowed into my skin.
“Hex,” I murmured as he blinked up at me, and then I remembered we still had about ten seconds left on the silence spell … It disappeared with an almost audible pop, and I forced myself to smile. While I couldn’t release Hex from his summons just yet, I could at least command him to take control of himself. “Your will is your own.”
He heaved a massive sigh of relief and stood up, his wings folded behind him, those pretty striped, white horns protruding from his orange and black hair. He was all demon tonight, right down to the spade-tipped tail twitching behind him.
