Page 68 of The Fearless Witch

“Good,” she purred, running the fingers of her other hand over my cheek. “Then let’s hear it. Your answer.”

This was it. My final chance, just like she had said. But no matter how I thought about it, no matter what the consequences could be for me, the answer was always going to be the same.

“I…” I started and her grip on my throat loosened, allowing me to speak more easily. “...will not…” Her eyes narrowed, and I tensed, preparing myself for her inevitable rage. I had no idea if I could beat her, if I could even hurt her badly enough to make her run away, but my best chance was prolonging the fight until the sun came up. Because Elder or not, she’d burn just as surely as I would.

“As entertaining as this exchange is, can you two hurry up?” a voice spoke from somewhere close and we both turned to look at its owner. I hadn’t sensed anyone moving toward us and judging by the sneer on Maria’s face, neither had she.

Leaning on one of the trees with his arms crossed, and a bored look on his face, Beleth watched us with an expression that said he’d rather be anywhere else but there.

“Who are…” Maria started, and I used her distraction to shove her back. The muscles and ligaments on my neck tore under her nails, but it wasn’t enough to sever my head.

I took a step in Beleth’s direction. I wasn’t sure which one I wanted to attack more, but at least I knew who I didn’t want dead yet. That goddamn demon still had Celeste, and if he was here, he must have gotten my… messages.

The problem was, Maria wasn’t someone who reacted well to interruptions.

“What is this? You feed on demons too?” she spat.

“Fuck you, bitch, nobody sucks me unless I say so,” Beleth snorted as he pushed himself off the tree. He moved to stand beside me, his eyes trained entirely on her as if he wasn’t even worried about me attacking him. On any other day, I would have loved to prove him wrong and tear apart his vessel, but today… today we stood on the same side. At least for now.

“You filthy monster,” Maria seethed. The veins under her skin bulged, her nails growing longer and her fangs shone brighter as she stared at Beleth with all the disgust in the world. “This is none of your business!”

“Listen, I don’t want to be here either, but I need this asshole,” he replied, nodding his head toward me. “So if you can fuck off, that would be great. One brat with a bitchy attitude to deal with is enough.”

Hope rose in my chest when I looked at him. That distraction cost me because Maria used it to draw near us. She would have reached me and then it would have been over if it wasn’t for a tendril of shadows that shot from Beleth’s body, smashing into her chest and throwing her back. She crashed against one of the trees, breaking it almost in two, and fell deftly on her hands and feet. With the hair falling around her misleadingly young face and her body weirdly distorted in a crouch, she looked less human than I had ever seen her before.

“I said fuck off!” Beleth hissed. “I have a question to ask, and if I don’t like the answer, you can have him. So sit your dead ass down or I’ll take you on a one-way trip to Hell.”

Maria bared her sharp teeth but stayed where she was. When Beleth turned to me, my whole body tensed in anticipation. He grimaced, like he was fighting with the words, but then took a deep breath and said, “Do you want to come with me to Hell, fight a bunch of demons alongside me and Red, and possibly die at the hands of a Prince of Hell?”

Whatever I expected to come out of his mouth, it definitely wasn’t that, but the resolved look in his eyes made me realize he was one hundred percent serious. The fact that he actually framed it as a question baffled me more than anything else.

“Is Celeste alive?”

“Yes,” Beleth drawled, rolling his eyes.

“And she is safe?”

“More or less.”

“And she wants me to do this?”

Beleth glared at me. “Obviously. I don’t particularly care if you die torn by this ugly bitch or down in Hell where you vampires belong, but Red thinks you can keep her alive while she’s helping me, so here I am.” He threw his arms in the air, frustration rushing out of him in waves. “Hurry up and decide before I change my mind about this stupid idea.”

Something in my chest fluttered, and it wasn’t fear this time. She was alive, and she was… doing something dangerous again. But she asked for me, of all people, to protect her.

It was barely a choice.

“Yes,” I said, and Beleth reached to grab my shoulder. When I dodged his arm, he gave me an annoyed look. “What about her?” I nodded toward Maria, whose face got so twisted in rage that there was nothing human left in it. If I went with him, there was no way to tell how much damage she could do. She might slaughter the shifters who hadn’t evacuated yet, or get to my home and kill the Martens and the others. She couldn’t get inside without Chester’s invitation, but I was sure she would find a way to force them out.

“Well, that’s not my problem.” Beleth shrugged.

“You are making a terrible mistake,” Maria snarled as she rose to her feet, fixing her clothes and sleeking her hair. “I gave you a chance and—”

Something flew through the air and slammed into Maria, pinning her against the nearest tree before wrapping around her. I thought it was a snake at first, but the skin looked too cracked and hard to belong to a living being. When Malakai appeared from the same direction, I realized it was a root.

“I’ll make sure she doesn’t hurt anyone on your land,” he said with a tight smile, barely looking at her like it wasn’t a big deal that he had just taken down an Elder. Even Beleth seemed surprised. “Bring Celeste safely back, will you? And try not to die.” His eyes shot to Beleth, and he raised an eyebrow. “You too, Bel.”

Beleth murmured something under his breath and grabbed my shoulder. The last thing I heard before his shadows swallowed us was Maria’s rageful scream and my name on her lips.

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