Page 35 of To Crave Truly

“What’s happening to the witches?” Alec asked, his voice soft by my ear.

“I don’t know,” Flora muttered. “It’s like they’re just vanishing.”

“We already know that,” Cassian growled.

“No,” Flora shouted. “That’s not what I mean. The connection is gone. There’s just silence.”

“Connection?” Saskia asked, stepping closer to the witch.

“All witches are connected by their magic, almost like a link. Some feel it more than others, and it depends on the coven. The stronger the coven, the stronger the link,” Rae explained.

“Does that mean you can feel Selene?” I asked.

“No,” Flora replied. “We can’t tell if it’s a specific person, just that it’s someone with magic.”

Alec’s hand tightened around my waist. “So, what do you mean by ‘silence’?”

“Just that magic is disappearing. We can feel another witch until they die, their essence is tied to the magic. When a witch dies, the magic returns to the coven. These witches that are disappearing, are just gone. No witch. No magic. It’s like they, and the magic, never existed.”

“My King made it impossible to make magic just disappear,” Torsten said from the shadows, making everyone jump. Sometimes, he just disappeared into them without telling anyone, and then we’d all forget he was there and then boom. Sneak attack.

“Fucking Hell, Torsten,” Alec chided. “What have we told you about lurking?”

“Sorry,” Torsten said with a smirk. The guy didn’t look sorry at all. “I will go to Lucifer and see if he knows anything.”

“Okay,” I said as he stepped out of the shadows. “Be safe.”

“Always.” He kissed the top of my head then dissipated into the darkness, taking a sliver of my heart with him.

“What happens if a whole coven is destroyed?” I asked. “Where does the magic go then?”

Flora turned her wide eyes on me. “Back to the Witch Queen.”

“The sacrifice of a few…” Alec mumbled. Was Violette, the Witch Queen, really sacrificing her own witches for more power? I knew she was unhinged and dangerous, but surely, she couldn’t murder her own people?

Again, silence descended. What the hell was happening here? When Camael had attacked at the Yule Ball, the witches had been controlling mages, seemingly on his orders. Camael was a Warrior Angel, a guardian and protector of the Upper Realm. He worked for the Divine and he was a self-righteous prick, if you asked me. We’d assumed he was using witches to control mages as they had the power to destroy Lucifer’s creations and even Lucifer himself. We’d learnt that Lucifer couldn’t be killed by one of his creations, so neither a vampire, a witch, nor a demon could kill him. We just couldn’t figure out why the Divine was involved at all. Was it really to destroy Lucifer and me?

“How did you end up covered in blood?” Saskia asked Rae, pulling me from my thoughts.

“You were covered in blood?” I gasped. “When?”

“When I rescued Flora. There were a group of mages trying to kidnap her, but I wouldn’t let them take her. The blood wasn’t mine,” Rae said with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

I looked up at Alec and his honey-coloured eyes met mine. “Have you been back to the house?”

“Not yet,” he replied, “we weren’t sure where it was since both Flora and Rae have been unconscious since they arrived.”

“Well, let’s go then. They might have left a clue or something.” I grabbed his hand and started to pull him towards the door.

“Lori, wait. We don’t know if they’re still there. Or what we might find. I’ll send a team, but you’re not going.”

“What?” I hissed. “Alec, you can’t be serious.”

“He’s right,” Fenris said as he stepped forwards. He’d been so quiet that I had almost forgotten he was in the room. Not completely, though. There was still a sense of unease lingering in the air between the two of us and that feeling never seemed to be far away when he was around.

“You can’t keep me here,” I said, determination lacing my words.

“Don’t make me put you back in that cell, Lori.” Alec folded his arms across his broad chest.

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