Page 39 of Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones

He gave my cheek a careless pat. “Good girl.”

A soft whimper huffed past my lips at his words, and I had a sudden urge to kneel. Fire sparked in his ruby red eyes, and I swear there was a little flare of silver… almost like a ring of it around his irises, but it was gone in a flash. I went to ask, but before I could, he turned his back on me and walked away. Fucking arsebadger.

The others stared at me with curiosity, and it made my skin crawl.

“So,” I said, dragging out the syllable. “You going to tell me why we’re here?”

Korbin gave a soft laugh as he held his hand out to Rook. He took it and placed it on his shoulder, guiding Korbin towards me.

“We’re here to catch a damned soul. According to the file, the soul has been promised to Hades in a deal and she’s refusing to part with it.”

Rook grinned. “She gave the Royal Guard a run for their money and she’s spiralling.”

“Spiralling?”

Hawk stepped out of the shadows like a creature from a nightmare. I shouldn’t find it sexy but here I was, watching him as I pressed my thighs together. There was something predatory about him that made me want to run. “It means that she is getting darker. Her actions are becoming increasingly violent, and we need to capture her before she darkens her soul even more.”

“And how do we do that?” I asked, fiddling with the weapons belt around my waist. They’d decked me out with all sorts of things: potions, knives, hell blades, enchantments. I knew what they all were and what they did, I just never thought I’d have the magic to use them. Hopefully I wouldn’t need to, and this would be an easy soul extraction, but there was a sinking feeling in my stomach, as if something wicked was on its way towards us.

“Once we locate the soul, we need to capture it.” Rook pointed to the small golden vial on my weapons belt. “That acts like a scythe. We aren’t Reapers, so we need a way of transporting a soul once we find it. These little animarca will attract the soul and will hold them safely while we transport them back to the Underworld.”

I took the little vial from my belt to take a closer look at it. It was like an old-fashioned glass perfume bottle with gold filigree all over the glass and had a gold stopper in the top. I could feel the magic fizzling through my fingertips as I held it in my hand. “Okay, but how do we find her?”

“The file says she’s a witch who lives in the Quarter, here in Midnight.” Korbin closed his eyes for a moment and cocked his head as if he were listening for something.

I knew that, when the Veil between worlds fell, the world changed. The supernaturals took over and integrated with humans, in some cases it worked really well, like here in Midnight which used to be London and the surrounding counties. Vampires were wealthy and egotistical so of course they had to have the Capital. I’d lived up North in Maleficavae, the witch territory and it was filled with lakes and hills and all the places that were important to witchcraft and our sisters. I’d loved my home, even though I’d never really been part of the Coven. The wild hills and expansive lakes were always where I’d found solace.

“And how many witches live down here?” I peered over the edge of the building, watching a few people stroll about in the late evening without even realising we were there.

“Plenty, but we’ll know when we find her.” Nox bounced on his feet, unable to stay still as we waited for our target.

I looked towards Korbin. “What’s her name?”

“Nissa Crowley,” he replied.

My stomach sank. “I know her. She’s in the Raathmore coven.”

Nissa had been a nasty piece of work, always manipulating the people around her to do her bidding. She’d been incredibly mean to me, hitting me when no one was watching, insulting me, spitting in my face. She was from a pure line, and she had always thought my mother should have killed me when I was born. Nissa had been of the firm belief that Nulls had no place in a coven.

“What is it?” Rook asked softly.

“Nothing,” I said through gritted teeth. I wasn’t sure I could put my hatred for her into words, and I didn’t want to risk the fact the guys might leave me behind if they knew how much I wanted to kill Nissa fucking Crowley.

“Did she hurt you?” Rook asked, his green eyes dark with something that looked a lot like anger.

What would they do if I told them the truth? That she used to whip me or humiliate me in front of her friends. I’d tried telling my grandmother once, but all that had got me was a slap across my face and a punishment for not having enough backbone to deal with it myself.

Hawk put his finger under my chin and turned my gaze to meet his. I gasped at all the rage I saw swirling in their depths. “Did she really do all that, draguta?”

Tears burned the edges of my eyes as I realised Hawk had seen the images of my shame. I’d forgotten he could read my mind.

“Do what?” Nox growled, his black butterfly blade twirling wicked fast between his fingers. “If she lay a hand on you, by the Gods, I will cut it off.”

“Tell them,” Hawk whispered softly. “There will be no shame for you here.”

By the time I’d finished telling them what Nissa had done, they were seething. Even Casimir seemed affected by my past, his features hardening and his jaw clenching.

Nox turned to Korbin. “Please tell me I can torture this witch a little before we collect her soul.”

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