Page 110 of Bad Demon

RELIC

The ground shookunder my feet while the beast rolled under my skin.

Fern was in pain.

And something fucking huge was coming toward the cottage.

The door opened, and Agatheena walked out. When she stepped aside, my heart slammed against the back of my ribs. Fern’s vibrant red hair flew around her face as she made her way down the steps. Her arms were at her sides, and blood slid down her forearms, pooling in her palms and dripping on the path as she moved toward me. Her red eyes were unfocused, and her entire body trembled.

“Fern!” I roared, but there was nothing, no recognition. I roared her name again, and as soon as the sound left my mouth, my body was thrown back and slammed against a tree.

The crone. Her hand was raised and aimed at me, her magic coiling around me and forcing my mouth shut.

The trees near me shook as Fern walked through Agatheena’s ward and out the other side. She was so close, but still, it was as if she didn’t see me. I struggled as hard as I could, but there was no breaking free from the crone’s magic.

Fern’s head tilted back, and I looked beyond her as a massive serpent slid out from between two shuddering trees and toward my mate.

I strained against my invisible binds.

The serpent hissed, its black eyes focused on my female as it stopped in front of her. Fern nodded as if she understood it. The snake’s forked tongue darted out, tasting the blood sliding from the slices down her arms, and it hissed again.

“Yes, Mother,” Fern said. “I promise to worship you for the rest of my days.”

The huge serpent’s eyes flashed to white, glowing bright, and Fern cried out as her body lifted from the ground, bowing and jerking midair. I fought harder to get to her.

Fern jerked one more time, and then she dropped, landing on the ground in a heap. Unmoving.

The serpent swung around and slithered back into the forest, and as she did, the crone finally released me. Cursing, I sprinted to Fern, dropping to the ground and pulling her into my arms.

“Fern,” I roared.

“Stop the dramatics, hound. If you want to be helpful, heal those cuts on her arms.”

I turned to the crone, now standing at the end of her path and watching from behind the safety of her ward. “What have you done?”

“What I’ve done, what the mother has done, is give her the magic that was denied by her coven and by the monster who hurt her. She is finally whole.”

I looked back down at Fern, and she blinked several times.

“Fern? Fuck, talk to me.”

“I’m okay.” She sat up, and I held her to me. “I’m okay, Relic,” she said again, and looked up at me. “I’m sorry if that scared you, but it had to happen.”

The scent of her blood was driving me crazy, and I grabbed one of her forearms and did what the crone said, licking each of the slices to start her healing.

“You scared the shit out of me.” Another scent hit me then. Witch. Even after I knew she was witch as well, her demon blood had dominated everything else, and I hadn’t been able to detect it. I did now.

Her phone vibrated on the ground beside her, where it had fallen out. Sutton’s name was on the screen. The witch had texted several times while we were caught up in each other, asking Fern to come over.

Fern picked up the phone, and as soon as she did, her entire body froze, and her eyes rolled back.

I shook her. “Fern?”

“She sees something,” Agatheena said. “Leave her.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I snarled.

“A vision,” the witch said.

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