Page 61 of Court of Heathens

“Demon,” she hisses, but there’s a tremor of fear in her tone. “Is Freya okay?”

I stalk towards her, and she backs into the door as I chuckle. “She is resting. Make it known that if any come after her, we will kill each and every one of them,” I tell her. “You knew her truth all along. If you let them hurt her, physically or emotionally by trying to get her to leave, then I will expose you and kill you all. I will laugh in the flames as your whole coven and its lineage dies. I have lived amongst you for as long as she has, but I owe no loyalty to anyone but her.” I slam my fist into the wall next to her before conjuring an image of her entire village burning. “Make no mistake, I have been well behaved so far, but if anyone even looks at her wrong, I might decide not to be.”

“You truly are evil,” she sneers.

“I am.” I smirk. “Never forget that or that there is only one person in this entire universe I care about, and it is that little witch. I will do anything to keep her safe.” I let her see the true depth of what I am capable of when it comes to Freya.

What I said is true. I have been behaving until now, but that canquickly change. This might have started with a deal, but Freya is my world. She is my reason for living. She is my everything. She is mine, and I will never let anyone hurt her.

She can hate me for eternity for slaughtering her people, but she cannot leave me, especially not in death.

“Is it just because of the deal?” she retorts, lifting her chin in defiance. “Do not tell me, demon, you have come to care for her.” I do not speak, and she laughs bitterly. “What do you think she will do when she learns the truth?”

I slam her into the wall in warning, my magic binding her to it. Flames that do not burn crawl across her body. She pants in fear, her eyes wide as she tries to fight me, but she is no match. “Don’t threaten me, witch.”

“We want the same thing,” she hisses. “To keep her safe.”

“No, we do not. You would put the coven, your people, before her safety. Me? I will not. Nothing comes before her, and that is where we are different. Remember that.” Releasing the flames, I step back into the darkness until I am just a voice as I wrap the shadows around me.

“This coven’s lives now lie in your hands. Make sure to keep her safe or you will all die.” I go back to my girl, crawling into bed and lying on her.

I need to feel her breathing.

The witch’s words haunt me. When she learns the truth, what will Freya do?

Will she try to leave me? Banish me? Break the deal?

I clutch her closer.

No, I won’t let that happen.

Freya is mine and has been since the day she was born, and she will continue to be until the day she dies.

CHAPTER 32

Iknow I am asleep, yet I cannot seem to fight the darkness wrapping around me. My emotions feel muted. I can’t remember what happened, and I know I should be worried, but I am empty, wrapped within this fog that seems to squeeze me tighter and tighter.

Suddenly, it parts, and the necromancer is before me with the mask still covering his face. We stare each other down through the smoke. I should be fearful, but I can’t feel anything. He slowly lifts his hand, holding it out to me.

“Join me, Freya,” he purrs.

“Never,” I snap, fighting to escape him and the seductiveness in his voice calling to that part of me.

“Aren’t you tired of fighting who you are, Freya?” he murmurs. “Of what lives inside of you? Accept it and come home with me, where you belong, with your people.” His hand is still held towards me, like a lifeline in the dark.

“You are evil,” I hiss.

He laughs, the sound grating on my brain as he drops his hand. “Evil? You use that word so carelessly. Evil . . . You have no idea.” The smoke around us parts, and the numbness I felt is stripped away.

We are inside a house. It’s small but cosy, with a little wooden tablewith one leg shorter than the others. There are three place mats with cutlery before them. A multicoloured, handwoven rug is under our feet, and candles blaze around us. It’s filled with warmth and happiness and so much love, I can feel it pulsing through the walls.

“I want you to understand,” he says as he turns to me.

“I do not need to understand,” I retort. “You have killed people?—”

“As have most,” he adds. “You call me evil, Freya, but do you understand the truth of that?”

A baby’s cry splits the air, and we turn to see a woman smiling down at a baby bundled in her arms as she sits in a rocking chair. Her thumb rubs over the baby’s ruddy cheeks, her smile so bright and beautiful it hurts. “There, there, Daddy will be here soon. I know you miss him, hmm? I do as well,” she whispers before kissing the little head. “But he’s protecting us. Do you know why? Because he loves us so much,” she says as he starts to suck her finger.

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