Page 71 of What The Hex (The Family Spells)
Guess that meant I was having a girl—if the prophecy was true, that is.
“My wish is for this matter to be resolved as quickly as possible,” Monster continued, but there was a tightness in his voice that I didn’t quite understand. He looked over at Argent and studied him carefully. “Help me do that, and it’ll benefit us all.”
“If the Fire Veil is closed permanently, we’ll have to rework a number of our spells,” I said aloud, thinking on that. “How is that the only option? Drop the Veil entirely or seal up the portals forever? That seems a little extreme.”
“Because the Witch Queen’s blood is the only thing that can do either,” Monster continued, his voice distant and dark, as if this was something he’d been thinking on for some time and didn’t like the idea of. He kept his gaze on mine while the kids burst into laughter from the direction of the living room. Caine and Spectre were good at that, making them all laugh together. Or, in the case of the twins, offering up happy wolf howls. “In order to open the Veil, the Witch Queen must be slaughtered and offered up as a sacrifice.”
My eyes widened and I felt Argent stiffen further.
“In order to close the Veil, all we need do is complete a spell with me on one side, and the Witch Queen on the other.” Monster looked away, just in time to see Hex move into the doorway.
He was uncomfortable, that much was obvious, but I didn’t blame him.
Monster was terrifying. I couldn’t decide if he was more terrifying because I knew him or if he’d be more of a worry to Hex, who’d never seen the guy before in his life. And … the two of them were brothers? I could not wrap my head around that. Wasn’t even sure if I believed it fully, to be honest.
Or maybe it was just the idea that this was going to be Hex’s home that was freaking him out? My being pregnant? A combination of all those things?
“I’d like to hear the prophecy,” Argent demanded, and Monster eyes went half-lidded, annoyed with what was very obviously a command on the fae’s part. “Word-for-word. I want to hear all of it. I want to know its origins. I want to know everything.”
Monster lifted his wrist to show the magic mark that still burned there. The other, the one he’d made with my coven, was gone. He was only standing here still because I hadn’t yet made him leave.
“As I agreed, I will do,” he growled out, rapidly losing his patience. “We must plan the spell for the spring equinox. I would suggest we rush to get it done in time for the winter solstice, but the five of you will not be ready to cast. As much as the last spell drained you, this will be much worse.”
“Don’t we have to wait for the baby to be born?” Hex offered up, pausing on the opposite side of the island as Argent raked his gaze up and down the half-demon and then sniffed derisively. I elbowed him in the side. It was a valid question, after all.
“The Witch Queen has been anointed,” Monster explained, leaning back against the counter and drinking his coffee as he stared into the fireplace across the room from him. I tried not to think about rainy days in Hael, spent in his house sipping tea together, all cuddled up on his chaise … No. No, I would not do this.
I would not fucking put myself through this shit again!
What the actual hex was wrong with me?!
“Seeing as we’re not aiming to kill her, she needn’t be born yet. The spring equinox will be fine.”
“That’s in March,” Argent clarified, “which is four months from now. Pray tell, demon, what do you plan on doing here for four months?”
“Besides putting together a spell of this magnitude?” Monster hissed out, flinging a hand in Hex’s direction. “I intend on preventing the cabal—and by extension, my father—from getting their hands on Hex Sorciere. On getting their hands on Graceley, in particular.” Monster directed his attention back to me, his ebony skin glimmering with silvery threads. My body leaned toward him like a flower toward the sun, and Argent wrapped an arm around my waist to draw me back.
As a witch, I was the most vulnerable to his pheromones. They worked on the others sure, just not as well. Thus, if he didn’t touch or get too close to them, they wouldn’t have the reaction I was having. That is, finding myself wet and wanting, my clit hard and throbbing, my nipples aching to be touched.
“Violet will have sensed that Graceley has been anointed,” Monster continued, and I remembered the demon girl’s look of surprise when she reached through the spell circle to touch my cheek. She knew then, just as Monster knew. Bitchin’ broomsticks, what a hot mess. “Everyone will know that she is carrying the Witch Queen. They will hesitate to kill her until after she gives birth; they will want to sacrifice the infant then.”
