Page 65 of The Cursed

He would only keep proving that to her with every breath he took, driving her deeper into my arms. A woman like Willow would suffocate in a marriage that was just as much about control as it was about doing what was expected of her.

She needed to defy expectations, to thrive with the man who appreciated her tendency to stab first and ask questions later and hide her vulnerabilities with carefully barbed words.

"Who said anything about killing you?" I asked, tipping my head to the side. I had no intention of ending Iban's life, not when his life would offer so much more suffering. "I want the names of the witches who participated in spelling that knife."

"And if I don't give them?" Iban asked, standing taller.

I barked a laugh, blinking and embracing the swell of starlight that consumed the room. We plummeted into pitch darkness aside from the twinkling lights that gathered on his skin, tiny pinpricks of burning fire that scalded him where they settled.

He patted at his bare arms, frantically attempting to brush them off and wincing back from the burn that moved to his hands.

"You will," I said simply as Leviathan tipped over a vase on the desk. Water poured over the wood, allowing me to gather it into a ball that I brought to Iban's face with only a thought. He paled as the water covered his nose, consuming his mouth.

His chest did not move as he fought to hold his breath, determined not to allow me to drown him. I held his gaze, patiently waiting for the moment he realized he could not fight me. Men like Iban were so self-serving; there would be no denying his instinct.

He grumbled, the sound coming through the water as bubbles. Only when he finally inhaled and choked on the water did I release it, allowing the rest to fall to the floor in a puddle at his feet. "Did you have something to tell me?"

He sputtered for breath, sucking back a deep lungful of air. "Are you going to kill Della and Nova? Because that is who you'll have to punish if you want to rid the Coven of all those who opposed you," Iban said, spitting out the remaining water.

"No, because unlike you, I believe the two of them only acted because they thought it was what Willow wanted. They were willing to stand beside her if it was her choice, and they would stand beside her as she worked to unite the Coven with me. The others just wanted to get rid of me, and you and I both know it," I said, grabbing him around the throat.

I squeezed the sensitive flesh I'd damaged with the water, offering a final warning. I'd burn pieces of him next, watch the skin melt from his legs until he gave me what I wanted.

He dropped his gaze, his voice a hoarse whisper as he spoke the first name.

The rest followed shortly after.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” I said when he’d finished, leaning in so that the words were a whisper between us. “I already knew who spelled that dagger. I canfeeltheir magic, even if I don’t know their names.”

“Then why?” he asked, his grumble being one of defeat and confusion.

“I wanted to watch you break and know you were willing to give them up to save yourself from some pain,” I said, standing and adjusting my clothes. “I wanted you to know that even in this, you put yourself first.”

* * *

Istrode into the Tribunal room, leaving Iban in the room with Beelzebub and Leviathan. Making my way past the witches gathered, I leaned down and gently kissed Willow. "I'll see you in bed," I said, watching as she raised her brows in disbelief.

"You can't expect me to just walk away," she said, arguing when I'd known she would. As much as I wished she would respect my wish to see her safely tucked away where she couldn't witness my brutality, I understood why she needed to witness it.

Her actions had contributed to their deaths. The least she could do was bear witness.

"Very well," I said, turning to face the crowd. Satanus stood at the doorway, blocking the exit from any who might have tried to escape. "Blair Beltran, Uriah Peabody, Kass Madlock, and Teagan Realta, step into the circle."

The four stepped in, looking around as they realized two witches were missing from their scheme and would not be suffering the same punishment. Under any normal circumstances, Della and Nova would have endured the same fate.

The Realta witch turned her glare to Willow. "Wait a minute, you little fucking—"

I clenched my hand into a fist, pulling on the power I'd instilled within them through their bloodline. They sputtered, clutching at their chests as the magic clawed its way up their throats. The Realta witch suffocated on her own magic, falling to her knees as her hateful words caught in her throat.

Another of the Realta witches stepped forward, moving to intercede in her family members' pain. Willow held up a hand, cutting through the room with a burst of air that rippled like a tornado. It moved between the woman and the Realta who suffered, creating a barrier the cosmic witch couldn't breach.

My wife got to her feet, her shoulders relaxing with her sigh as she leveled the one who would have interceded with a glare. The other witch banged against the wall of wind, her fists scraping with the force of the air. She pulled back as Willow held her ground, staring at the witch who now led the Coven with wide eyes.

They'd seen her use her necromancy and earth magic, but this was the first moment Willow revealed the extent of justhowlike the previous Covenant she had become.

Loyal to none, the magic of all the houses flowed through her veins. She was the perfect witch to lead them, with no ties to family to make her behave in a way that wasn't fair.

"They wronged Lucifer, and they wronged me when they sent me to kill him," Willow said, her voice coming out loud and clear. I yanked my hand back, tearing the magic free from those witches who had been so willing for her to die.

---