Page 14 of What The Hex (The Family Spells)
“No, it’s not,” I said, running my fingers through my red hair and looking right at Monster with my lips pursed. It was hard though, not to gaze at him with my mouth hanging open. The aphrodisiac was still surging hot in my veins, and even though Caine’s smell helped block Monster’s: I was still a witch. I could sense his heat in the air, his longing for me. It wasn’t helping the poison run its course any faster. “So why this time, why on top of a war you don’t seem to be particularly interested in?”
“Oh, straight for the throat,” Monster purred, smirking in that infuriating way of his, like he knew fucking everything there was to know about everything. “No pleasantries first, no tea?”
“I have four fucking kids, a familiar, and a reluctant soulmate I need to worry about,” I said as Spec let go of my feet and I sat up, planting them on the floor and feeling the energy of the house through the furred rugs and stone beneath.
A demon’s house was nothing like a witch’s house, but all places carried their own energy. Unsurprisingly, I felt the carnal scorch of lust and want burning my bare feet, interspersed with sprinkles of relaxation and sleep.
Monster didn’t do much here but sleep and fuck.
Good. At least that lowered the chances of him bringing us here just to murder us. This wasn’t his killing ground, if he had one. And honestly, I was just assuming he did.
“What I’m trying to say is,” I continued, standing up as Monster moved the kettle to a rustic, old table and started preparing tea. Demon tea, though, was nothing like tea back home. I wasn’t drinking any of it. “Hurry the hex up, Monster. We have a deal.”
“You made a deal?” Argent asked, and I could sense both fear and frustration in his voice. I didn’t blame him—he’d seen me at my worst, wrapped up in Monster’s nightmarish web.
He’d saved me from it, and I’d be forever grateful. But hanging out in a web with the spider who’d spun it? Not the best idea. I understood why he was upset.
“Not every demon wants this war, just like not every witch knows about it.” Monster added red powder to the hot water, like green tea matcha, only this was made from the dried blood of one of those awful trees. Thing was, I’d used to be addicted to this stuff. It tasted like strawberries and magic, and Monster used to make it for me every time it stormed.
My throat clenched up, but I knew that for every good memory I had of him, there was that final nightmare.
“What fuckin’ war?” Caine snarled, and I could feel his wolf bristling, ready to come and take charge of the situation in the only way he knew how: with his teeth.
“Cabal Ungeist and Coven Wyrmwood have been planning this for centuries,” Monster said, ignoring Caine’s question and moving so close to me that my body rebelled against my brain, my nipples pebbling, my heart thundering. I wanted to throw myself into his arms, let him overwhelm me with those dangerously wild sensations I’d spent months detoxifying from after we’d broken up.
“How so? Why?” I took the cup he offered, even though I didn’t want to, and Spectre made this awful, growling sound low in his throat. All my men growled, don’t think they could help it, but the only one of my husbands who could sound like death’s wings unfurled was Spectre.
“They want to walk freely,” Monster said as his fingers brushed mine and I just barely avoided getting anymore of the aphrodisiac on my skin.
“Demons?” Argent inserted, but he didn’t even really need to ask; he knew. We all did. I mean, it made sense. Well, for the demons it made sense. Who wouldn’t want to escape this place? But considering it was the witches who’d bound them down to Hael in the first place, I had a hard time understanding Coven Wyrmwood’s involvement.
“Why now?” I asked, sniffing the demon tea—tearse in their language—and then carefully lifting it to my lips. I didn’t smell anything off about it, but I probably shouldn’t drink it.
Unfortunately, my brain was still losing the battle against my loins.
I took a sip, and an evil smile curled the edges of Monster’s full lips.
“I mean, if they’ve been planning for so damn long, why now? Seems a tad abrupt to go from subterfuge to all-out war.”
“Because the Witch Queen has been anointed; it’s what they’ve been waiting for all along. A cabal and coven united are powerful, but they cannot take down an Eluna Enair.” Eluna Enair, Witch Queen in the demon tongue. Puh-lease. Monster looked me up and down and then cocked his head to one side, letting a cold smile stretch across his generous mouth. “You started this, Graceley Spells.”
