Page 41 of Accidentally Summoned an Incubus

“That sounds perfect,” I said. It was as if my mate had siphoned his strength into me, because the moment I let him lead me through the ancient oak door, the nausea and nervousness was gone. I was no longer afraid to relive the memory. In fact, I was ready to see the witch I’d been just four nights ago. I was ready to confront her and see just how much I’d forgiven myself since then.

I was surprised to find that not a single member of my coven, aside from my family and Priscilla, was present. My eyes scanned the empty room, and I realized that my assessment wasn’t quite true. There were two others present. Caitlyn, my old school friend, sat on the front pew. She turned to face me, offering me a supportive thumbs up. Beside her sat Declan, the incubus who owned the tea shop. His smile was soft and supportive before he turned his attentionback to the front of the room.

Something loosened in my chest when I realized my memory wouldn’t be projected to the entire coven. I was finally comfortable enough to register the decor of the room. The town hall had always been a source of strength for me, filled with happy memories of feasts and celebrations.

Bundles of herbs hung from the ceilings, their earthy scent heady in the air. At the front sat a dais covered in seasonal offerings, pumpkins and turnips predominant around the dominating stone statue of Hecate. Garlands of berries and autumnal leaves littered the floor and snaked their way around the throne positioned in front of Hecate, her gaze looking over the congregation. Sitting atop the throne was the cloaked figure of my grandmother, the billowing black material covering the entirety of her features, the hood pointed and curled backwards. She held her serpentine cane in one hand, the other outstretched, a crooked finger pointing ominously to the large crystal from her spell room. Instead of its usual clarity, lilac smoke swirled excitedly within.

Flanking my grandmother was my family. Thankfully, the magic of the town hall hadn’t allowed Priscilla to take a spot on the dais with my loved ones. Instead, she sat a few pews behind Caitlyn and Declan, her arms crossed, her murderous gaze flicking between Jake and Billy.

Billy stood beside my brother, jaw clenched and chest unmoving, as if she were trying not to breathe. Jake just wore a look of confusion, his eyes occasionally glancing toward Billy, who stiffened under his gaze.

Lochran guided me onto the dais, finally stopping in front of my grandmother.

“I can stay by your side if you want,” he said, his fingers squeezing mine.

I shook my head. Lochran’s strength had got me this far, but this was something I needed to face on my own.

He placed a final, gentle kiss on my forehead before making his way toward the rest of my family, tactfully shimmying between Billy and Jake. I only just caught Billy throwing Lochran a thankful glance before my attention was solely on my grandmother.

Her caneclacked on the stone floor, echoing menacingly off the granite walls. As she stood, she used her free hand to pull down her hood. A crown of bones and berries sat atop her neatly permed hair. Her eyes and forehead were smeared with charcoal, as were her lips. Painted in blistering white upon her forehead was the symbol of the triple moon.

“Witches, demons and, uh, wolf shifter.” Grandma cast a glance at Billy. “We have congregated today to pass judgment on Alexis Cole, who hexed a mortal. As is our custom”—the journal appeared in Grandma’s hand—“Alexis has provided a full account of the circumstances surrounding the hexing. I have examined the contents of the journal, and provided the truth has been written, I am satisfied that the accused is, categorically, not at fault. Our usual custom is to use the crystal to project the memories as accounted in the accused’s journal to the entire coven, who would then decide if the accused was wrong to have used their magic on a mortal. However, due to the nature of this case, I have decided that the memories need only be witnessed by myself and three members of the coven to provide an unbiasedjudgment.” Grandma turned to face my family. “This will be difficult to bear witness to. We understand if you need to leave.”

My father’s hand tightened in my mother’s. Jake’s jaw clenched as my grandfather placed a supportive hand on his shoulder. Both Lochran and Billy stiffened, but nodded in unison. My entire family would stay to support me. Tears pricked in the corners of my eyes, and I took a deep, steadying breath in a bid not to break down at all the love and support centered on me.

“In that case, I think we need only look at the final memory to come to our verdict,” Grandma said, her voice wavering slightly in apprehension. “Alexis, please step forward.”

I did as my grandmother asked. My eyes flicked to Lochran. His face was bright with a supportive smile, but his hands were white-knuckled fists at his side.

The moment I came within striking distance, Grandma’s serpentine cane shot out, stopping inches from my face. The ruby eyes bored into me, the reflection of the witchlight making them seem alive. Grandma’s haunting chants filled the room, reverberating through my body, but I couldn’t seem to stop watching the ruby eyes as the snake swayed from side to side. Slowly, my vision blurred until nothing but the carved snake’s head was in focus. Something slithered beneath my skull, poking and prodding until fresh tears welled in my eyes and my knees weakened.

I barely registered when Grandma’s chant had stopped, and she took a step forward to catch me. Lochran was quicker. His arms wrapped gently around me as he pulled me to my feet. As my vision refocused, I managed to catch just the barest glimpseof a smile on my grandmother’s face before it settled once more into the neutral stare of our coven leader.

Grandma allowed Lochran to check me over before he ushered me to his side. My family swarmed us, each placing a hand on my shoulder as we waited for Grandma to continue. She walked toward the crystal ball and began her chanting once more, the words ethereal and indistinguishable.

She brought the cane down on the crystal ball, which shattered outwards into a million wisps of glittering purple smoke. The opaque tendrils of memory reached every corner of the room, engulfing everything in its wake. When the haze finally cleared, I was back in Chad’s gray office.

While I could feel Lochran’s body pressed into me and my family’s hands anchoring me, I was alone in the memory.

The door opened, and I could see my memory-self try desperately to shimmy past Chad without touching him. Chad gestured that I should take a seat, his eyes fixed on my ass as I sighed.

At the time, I had felt anger and revulsion, so I was surprised to see that my face in the memory was wide-eyed, almost skittish.

My breath caught as Chad spread his legs out, sitting on the desk.

“Alexis. Lex. Lexi, Lexi, Lexi. Listen. I know what you’re doing.” His voice was sickly and condescending.

“Eh?” memory-me had mused.

“Of course. I mean, I’m your boss and we...” His hand reached out to move a strand of hair, but I managed to bob. A flash of anger that I didn’t remember seeing before flitteredover his face as he hovered a hand over his sculpted hair.

“Look, Lexi. I know you’ve been playing hard to get for the past month. And I’m into it, I really am. But let’s stop playing games,hm?”

“I can assure you, Chad, I’m not playing games.” I hadn’t realized just how flighty my tone had been.

Chad looked down at memory-me, and when I didn’t respond, a feral change came over him. His nostrils flared, his lips pulling back to expose blisteringly white teeth as his eyes narrowed in on me. “Alexis. If you want to have any chance of making it within this company, I suggest you stay on my good side. In fact”—he unbuckled his belt—“there is a senior position coming up”—he unzipped his trousers—“that I think you would be perfect for.”

His boxers dropped. Semi-flaccid cock pointed at memory-me, he said, “Well, it’s not going to suck itself.”

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