Page 46 of A Study of Blood and Ichor

“I’m quite fond of that one. I particularly like the part when the demoness strings up the devious lord by his entrails from the oldest banyan tree in the Bone Forest.”

I looked up to meet Vain’s sinful smirk. A lecherous and dangerous glint passed over his dark gaze as he stared at me from the open doorway.

“I take it you haven’t found what you were looking for yet.”

I scowled at the mocking tone laced through his words and slammed the book of demonic folklore shut.

“Are you trying to distract me, or did you want something?”

Vain pumped his eyebrows and glided into the room, dropping himself into the seat across the desk from me. “I’ve been lonely this afternoon without your pretty face to look upon.”

My scowl deepened and Vain grinned wider.

“Yes,” he purred. “That’s the look I so dearly missed.” He drummed his fingers over the desk, flashing the mark at me.

Not going to happen, asshole.

“I’m trying another exorcism.”

Vain sketched a brow. “Right now?”

“Yes, now. Or did you forget the deal we made?”

My chair scraped loudly as I stood, and Vain tracked my every movement with intense precision. He set one ankle over his knee and propped his elbow on the arm of his chair, looking every bit like a king languishing upon his throne.

“Whenever you’re ready,” he taunted on a sigh.

I didn’t give myself the chance to hesitate under his calculating stare. I let the words of the incantation flow through me with intention, my determination fueling their purpose, all the while holding the demon’s blank stare. Word after word, line after line, even as the magic in them burned through me, Vain didn’t so much as flinch. Not once.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Vain said as I fought to catch my breath. “It’s not for your lack of trying.”

It was infuriating how much the exorcism had drained my well of magic when it hadn’t seemed to affect Vain even a little. I bit back my retort and took my seat behind the desk again, my fingers clawed around another book to bury myself in. Anything if it took my attention away from the demon and his wicked smirk.

“Come now, don’t be so hostile.”

I slammed the book shut almost as quickly as I’d opened it. “If you’re going to be insistent on constantly running your mouth, the least you could do is talk about something useful.”

“I’ll be whatever distraction you need me to be, darling.” Vain reclined further into his seat and cocked his head to one side.

Ignoring the insinuation in his tone, I glared at him through my brows. “Tell me more about the first witches and how they were created,” I said.

“I’ve already told you.”

“You gave me the abridged version before. I want the full story. No vague answers this time. The whole truth.”

The demon reached forward and plucked a stray blueberry off the tray of leftovers from breakfast and popped it into his mouth. “There are many versions of the legend,” he started, “but the one that is most widely known amongst our kind is the one I will tell you.”

I inched forward in my seat before I realized I’d done it.

“The first witches—before they called themselves that—were mere mortals tinkering with powers beyond their abilities. They had no magic when they sought to gain such power for themselves. They had too much pride, their greed and lust fueling them to breach the bounds of what shouldn’t have been possible. They summoned forces far beyond their understanding or control, ultimately leading them to open the first rift between our two worlds, and it was the archdemons who answered their call.”

“No,” I interjected. “It was your kind that created the first rifts and broke through.”

“You asked for the truth,” he said. “So, I am giving it to you.”

It was entirely possible the demon was lying. But when I remembered the horrified look on Lena’s face when I’d mentioned what Vain had told me back in the Hull…I worked my jaw so tight that Vain apparently noticed and raised a brow.

“Is it that difficult for you to believe?”

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