Page 24 of The Fearless Witch

I shook off her grip, stepping toward the door. Isaac moved to follow us, but I held up a hand.

“Not you,” I said, and he bared his teeth at me. “Someone needs to watch over Lily until we’re back. If she dies, so will your sister, so it’s in your best interest to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

He sent Alice a pleading look, but she had already left the room. I caught Malakai’s eye, and he nodded, his magic engulfing him in a soft glow as he moved to sit beside the girl. Witch magic and Fae magic didn’t mix and they couldn’t counter each other, but he could at least try to buy her more time.

I caught up with Alice and took the lead, listening to her heart thunder while we walked. She said nothing even as we reached the basement and I opened the concealed doorway leading to the dungeon. Once the stench of blood hit us, she covered her nose and switched to breathing through her mouth.

The door to the last room was slightly ajar, with faint light coming from the crack, and when I pushed it open, my eyes immediately landed on Chester. Kneeling on the floor with his sleeves rolled and a rubber mantle covering him from neck to boots, he looked up with surprise.

“You’re back so soon? I didn’t have enough time to…” He got to his feet way too fast for a man his age, and as he swayed, he finally noticed I wasn’t alone. “Master?”

Concern made the lines on his face deepen while he watched Alice study the place with wide eyes. To her credit, she didn’t throw up or faint, which was probably because Chester had already gotten rid of most of the guts and body parts I had left behind. The blood was still covering everything, though.

“That’s enough. Leave.” I nodded toward the door. Chester gave me another questioning look, but then bowed his head and hurried out. Once the sound of his steps died down, I turned to face Alice. “Do you still want to do this? She might not be easy to convince.”

Alice’s expression grew dead serious as she squared her shoulders.

“Healing is not the only thing the sisters taught me,” she said without a hint of shame while her heartbeat steadied its rhythm. “I’ll save my mate or die trying. No matter what I have to do.”

A wave of respect washed over me while I watched her step toward the woman in the corner. I might not have liked her, but I completely understood that feeling. The witch shifted, raising her head to look at us through locks of dirty, limp hair.

The time spent down here had taken its toll on her. Her dirty, bruised body and wild eyes made her look positively feral. She had stopped talking altogether and every time I was around, she went almost catatonic. There was no way she’d be cooperating with me, not after the last time we had fun together. But Alice…

“Well then,” I said, crossing my arms and leaning my shoulder on the side of the door. “She is all yours.”

Alice stared at the witch with a blank expression before turning to me.

“I’ll need a few supplies,” she said. “And I’ll need you to wait outside.”

I studied her face again—for real this time—noting the sharp edges that appeared when she grew serious, the dangerous spark in her eyes that suggested horrors seen and endured, and I smiled. The little wolf might actually prove more interesting than her younger brother, and if luck was on our side today, she might be more useful, too.

Chapter 10

Celeste

“The line must always point north, like this. And make it sharper.” My mother reached across the space between us where I had drawn the pentagram for the twentieth time, guiding my finger to correct the drawing. Her large, callused palm enveloped my small one, moving with the confidence and care I so clearly lacked.

I watched the blood smear on the floor half a foot to the left of where I had placed it, the soft angles of my star turning sharp enough to cut. It wasn’t the first time she had corrected me, so the whole thing had at least nine points, some of them darker where the heavy liquid had dried. The runes inside each had to be redone several times too, so even though I knew them by heart, I could hardly distinguish them.

“Why does this need to be so complicated?” I grumbled when she released my hand. Wiping my fingers on the rag by my feet, I peeked at her to find her smiling.

“So that young, absentminded witches like you don’t accidentally summon a demon,” she said pointedly, pushing a strand of dark red hair behind her ear. She didn’t seem to mind the mess, not even as red stained her cheek.

She had always been like this—unafraid, unabashed, unapologetic. Death and blood were part of her even if the life that shone through her eyes was so brilliant, it made people in our village wonder if maybe she had found a way to prevent her own end. Her face didn’t show her age although she had to be well over a hundred.

“Celestia, are you listening?”

I flinched at the reprimand in her voice, focusing my attention back on her words.

“Yes, mother.”

She huffed a breath, eyeing me under her delicate brows before dipping her fingers into the bowl of pig’s blood and raising them above the empty center of the pentagram. A drop slid off her chipped fingernails, landing in the dead center, but her eyes remained on me.

“This is the most important part, so listen carefully,” she said, her voice turning serious as she waited for me to nod. “There are likely more demons in Hell than witches walking the earth. Each demon is unique in their power, in their role, in their goal—just like us. Some yield power, some cunning, some death. It’s of utmost importance what—or who—you summon.”

I frowned. “I thought you said never to summon a demon.”

My mother cocked her head, a soft sigh escaping her lips. “Ignorance has killed more witches than all our enemies combined. No daughter of mine will be felled by it.”

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