Page 5 of What The Hex (The Family Spells)
With Grace.
Graceley freaking Spells.
A woman I wanted nothing to do with … and desperately craved at the same time.
Holy flipping witch hats.
“You’re quite the little idiot, aren’t you?” the Crone cackled, her voice like snapping twigs in a dark forest. Look behind your shoulder and see nothing. Turn back around and feel talons dig into your back.
I shivered.
I also tried really hard not to look at her. Every little witch knows that when the Crone walks by, you look down in deference. And also because meeting her eyes might turn you to stone, or curse you, or …
“Hex Sorciere,” the Mother said, her voice a booming command. The fate of a coven rose and fell on its Crone, but the Mother was the sane one, the one in charge. The Maiden was usually just a virginal powerhouse for the Mother and Crone to exploit until she came of age. Heh. And I bet you thought politics in your country were weird, huh? “You’ve been called before the Three.”
“And summoned by me,” Lulu said, and I felt something strange break inside of me. Looking into my grandmother’s brown eyes, the eyes of the woman who raised me, I felt betrayal like I never had before. This woman was not only my blood, not only my High Priestess, but she’d raised me.
She’d cleaned my scraped knees, kissed my forehead every night before bed, held me close when I cried over the boogeyman under my bed (I legit had a boogeyman for almost a year before I got strong enough to cast the spell to get him out, more on that later).
The only other person in the world who knew my demonic name, and she’d used it against me. I lifted my hands up and stared at the gold shackles on my wrists. When I moved my eyes up to meet hers, I saw a sorry resolve in them. She didn’t like what she’d done, but she’d do it again if she had to.
“How could you do this to me?” I asked, and even though I wanted to spit venom, I was surprised that I managed to keep my tone even. I blinked in surprise at my grandmother and shook my shackles for emphasis. “Of all people …” I started, but Lulu was already turning away, giving the room up to the Three. She could no more defy them than I could. Honestly, she might stand a slightly better chance in a fight, but if we started shit, we’d both die here tonight.
I could feel it.
“Hex Sorciere,” the Mother repeated, and I lifted my eyes to look at her. She had spring green eyes, so similar to Grace’s that I found my throat tightening and my palms sweating. Why did I run out on her? What the hex was I thinking?! Having sex with Grace and then leaving … big mistake. And then I had to go and rat myself out to Violet?
Not sure if that made me slightly less of a dirty, cheating, idiot bastard … or more of one.
“Your interference with Graceley Spells and Coven Apothecary has come to an end. A demon summoned against his will cannot, in magical theory, break any oaths as he isn’t in control of his own person. You will wait out the death of Coven Apothecary’s Mother and fulfill your promise to Cabal Ungeist by completing your marriage to Violet Enfer.”
My mouth dropped open, and I felt cold chills prickle across my skin. It was hot as shit in that room and all of a sudden, I was as cold as ice. My teeth began to chatter as I took a step forward and found myself bound in a spell circle. The gold pentagram beneath me glowed, warning me not to press the boundaries of my confinement.
“Why the fuck would you want that?” I asked, feeling my heart pound. If Grace’s mother died, she’d never forgive me. And oh fuck, I wasn’t even sure why I cared about that, or why I was such a selfish bastard. If Grace’s mother died, she’d be devastated. If she died, her kids would lose their grandmother, and Coven Apothecary would lose their leader. “Starting a coven war?” My mind drifted back to what that asshole demon had said about my coven and the cabal.
“No demon is happy being trapped in Hael. We want to be free to explore the wide, wide world above. Cabal Ungeist, Coven Wyrmwood. Don’t tell me you’re so dense you haven’t figured it out?”
That wouldn’t be good for anyone, right?
There was a reason demons weren’t allowed to walk free.
Even if I was half one, the last thing I wanted were my father’s people waging war against witches.
“That’s none of your concern,” the Crone cackled, her voice cutting straight through my chest until it felt like cold needles were piercing my heart. I made the mistake of shifting my gaze her way and felt my stomach turn over. Her eyes were white, her smile black, and her lips thin and slick with saliva. A spider crawled out from inside her mouth and skittered across her face.
