Page 18 of Mayhem and Ember

The moment I opened the door, Mayhem slammed his meaty shoulder against the circle, making it pulse. A glimmer of opal crawled across the invisible wall, the first sign of the magic weakening. I cocked my head, lifting a brow in warning, and he narrowed his eyes, a growl rumbling in his chest.

“What did I say about trying to break free?” I picked up my sword and tested its weight, spinning it from side to side. “We have to be able to trust you. To trust each other.”

He exhaled a humorless laugh. “I will never trust a witch.”

“You can trust I’ll lob your head clean off the second I sense your betrayal.”

He crossed his arms, making his biceps bulge. “You talk in circles, witch. I tire of your repetition.”

I opened my mouth for a comeback, but the beastie had a point. I could only threaten him so many times before I either acted on it or the threat became hollow. “First rule of existing in this realm: You have to be in human form, so go ahead and make that happen.”

He scowled. “I was summoned to this realm long before you existed. I know the rules of your world.”

“A lot has changed since then,” Chaos said.

“Humans fear witches as much as demons.” He rested his hands on his hips, drawing my gaze to his donkey-sized ding dong and reminding me just how long it had been since I’d… Well, you know.

I turned to put my sword on the table to stop myself from staring. “Most humans don’t know witches are real. Not ones like us with actual powers. The ones that do also know we are the people who keep Salem safe from your kind.”

“It’s your kind who summons mine. If they knew who the real threat was…”

I closed my eyes and pressed my lips into a thin line. I wasn’t the only one keeping this conversation on the merry-go-round. “Will you please transform into the least menacing version of yourself so we can go kick some fae ass?”

“We could use your insight,” Shade said. “Their scout nearly took out our best fighter.”

I snapped my head toward him, ready to berate him. I handled Roachman just fine, thank you very much.

“My insight in exchange for my freedom. I accept those terms.”

“Nope.” I raised my hands. “I drew your sigil. The debt you owe is to me, and I want you to break my sister’s curse.”

“As do I, brother,” Chaos said.

Mayhem cut his gaze between the three of us, his eyes calculating. “Agreed.”

He said the word, but something about his expression told me freeing him wouldn’t make our lives any easier. Curling his hands into fists, he strained, tightening his jaw as purple smoke billowed around him, filling the containment circle until the beast inside was no longer visible.

Something cracked—maybe his neck?—and the thick cloud swirled around him before vanishing as quickly as it had formed.

Miles gasped, Shade swallowed hard, and me…? My ovaries might have exploded at the sight.

He stood maybe an inch or two shorter than Chaos, which put him at around six-foot-three. He had black hair, wavy on top and short on the sides, with a matching goatee and piercing, deep-set, otherworldly blueish-lavender eyes.

I could have bounced a crystal off his pecs if not for the dark hair sprinkled across his flawless skin. A trail of it led downward, over defined abs cut into an eight-pack. Or was it ten? I didn’t have time to count because my gaze dipped lower, against my will, and locked on his package.

Good goddess. Why did I have a sudden craving for sausage?

Muscular thighs completed his statue-perfect appearance, and I finally tore my gaze away from his lower half to meet his eyes. He smirked, the expression both amused and menacing at the same time.

He spread his hands. “Not what you expected?”

Looks-wise, I wasn’t surprised in the least. He was hot as hellfire, like his brother; part of his arsenal to prey on the weak, as demons liked to do.

What I did not expect was the visceral reaction my body had at the sight of him. Parts of me clenched while other parts tingled; warmth spread through my abdomen, though a chill cascaded down my spine, all of it coming together in a wowzers I need some of that.

I so did not need any of that, but damn. I knew who I’d be dreaming about tonight.

“Got the clothes.” Ash slipped through the door and laughed. “And he’s got you all entranced.”

---