Page 56 of Court of Heathens

“No, not to me. When they told us how this creature was made, I always felt sorry for it. I always felt it was not the monster, but the victim of the witches’ own greed. He was an outcast who was alone and confused. He just wanted the same thing they did—peace—butthey wouldn’t let him have it. He was different, and I guess I always liked that. It’s still my favourite story.”

“Sha.” He watches me. “Then that is what you will call me, after the monster that first stole your heart.”

“I knew you had an obsession with monsters, but you had that fetish as a child too? I would say it’s sick, but I’m quite proud—” My demon’s words cut off again as I sew his mouth shut without looking.

“I’ll get the scissors,” Phrixius says, making me laugh as I bury my head in Sha’s chest, letting him hold me protectively.

Sadly, he cannot protect me from what lives inside me.

None of them can. It’s up to me, and that fear follows me into my dreams.

CHAPTER 30

Idon’t know how long I sleep. One second, I’m unconscious, and the next, I’m jerked awake by a scream filled with horror and fear. Blinking in confusion, I turn my head. My demon is already on his feet, as is Phrixius, both of them standing near the entrance to my house.

Sha growls behind me, holding me tighter.

Struggling from his arms, I sit up in my bed as their eyes find me. “What is it?” I whisper. There’s a tightness in my chest I don’t like as awareness spreads through me. My skin feels wrong, as if I’m standing too close to a fire and about to get burned.

It’s power, I realise.

It’s pure power and stronger than anything I have ever felt, and it’s so dark, it’s choking me. Fear pounds in my head. It can’t be. It can’t?—

My zombie groans and lumbers to the bars, seeming to answer an invisible call. As I watch, its eyes change, turning completely black. I leap from the bed and head over.

“Sit down,” I order with panic.

“Freya,” my demon warns, tugging me closer to him so my back hits his front. “Don’t.”

“Sit!” I order, lashing out at the zombie with mymagic, but it ignores me, its head turning to the entrance, and despite the bars, it tries to leave.

“Necromancer,” I whisper in understanding. The necromancer is here, and he’s taken back control of what I stole.

Another scream fills the air, ripping into my shocked stupor, and then another.

Tearing from my demon’s arms, I grab my cape and pull it on as I stumble to the entrance, needing to see. If the necromancer is here, then that means my coven is in danger. Is he attacking? Are they dying while I waste precious seconds?

Both my demon and Phrixius catch my hands as I rush past, yanking me back. “It’s him. It’s the necromancer!” I snap.

“I know,” Phrixius says calmly, “which means he’s here for you. Stay here, where our protections will keep you safe.”

Pulling my hands away, I glare at them. “There is no guarantee they will work, and my coven does not have those same protections. I will not hide here while they suffer at his hands. I have seen what he is capable of, and I will not let them stand alone.” Ignoring their outraged expressions, I rush from my house, their shouts following me.

It doesn’t surprise me when all three appear at my side moments later. Without a second thought, I fling a blocking spell over them so no one else sees them. The coven might be under attack, but me being seen in the presence of a god and a creature won’t help things.

They stay by my side as I run through the empty streets. A bad feeling builds within me until I burst out of the last road to find the coven there. They are all gathered, ready to use their magic.

“What’s happening?” I ask as I push through the crowd to Agatha’s side. She’s pale but standing tall. She simply points, and I follow her gaze to the invisible barrier, my own eyes widening as my heart stops.

Standing at the edge of the barrier is a legion of zombies—the same legion I saw within that underground city. They stand like soldiers waiting for orders. Their undead bodies don’t even move an inch. There are so many of them, they continue into the darkness of the trees beyond.

“They haven’t attacked?” I whisper.

“Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Where there are zombies, a necromancer follows.” Agatha grits her teeth and glances at me. “I should have known when the mask was taken. I was a fool. I wanted to hope I was wrong, but I wasn’t.” She glances back at the coven and lowers her voice. “We do not stand a chance against a necromancer. Even with all our magic combined, we cannot defeat such evil. We will be dead by dawn.” She says it calmly, confidently, but there is terror in her eyes that I have never seen before.

Our steely elder fears nothing, she always knows the answer and the path, but as she looks back at the zombies, she is silent and afraid.

“What do we do?” I ask. “We can’t just stand here and wait.”

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