Page 54 of Monsters of Mayhem

“What is she?” I asked. “Is she fae?”

“No, she’s a witch,” Eunice said. “A witch with latent powers may not show her capabilities until she comes into contact with the supernatural world and being around her witch’s coven.”

“Am I part of your coven,” Laney asked quizzically, smiling at the other witches. “Am I part of the club?”

“We’ll have to trace your lineage,” Eunice said, “but there’s a good chance you have your own coven and your powers just got sparked by being around ours.”

“Come on,” Ryder growled. “She’s a firefly. That’s a useful skill and something we need right now, but it’s not what we’re trying to solve. We need to go and find Cade and find out if he needs our help. If the rift is broken inside this mountain, the entire volcano will blow and it’ll destroy the big island of Hawaii and kill everybody on it.”

“Should we start evacuating the humans?” I asked.

“We don’t want to start a mass riot,” Ratchet said. “We just want to solve the problem.”

“I’m a firefly, but it doesn’t matter right now. We have to stop the death of hundreds of thousands of people,” Laney looked over at me.

I pulled my elbow out of Ryder’s hand and turned and gave her a big hug. “I’m glad you’re supernatural,” I said. “I’m not surprised at all though.”

“It would’ve been more surprising if she wasn’t considering your relationship. Supernaturals bond together whether they know they are or not.”

“Can you end the idle chatter,” Ryder grumbled.

We stood at a massive stone door with strange carvings in it. “When that door opens, we’re going to be facing the demigod of volcanoes. The last thing he wants to hear is idle chatter from a firefly.

I wanted to kick Ryder in the shins. How dare he talk about my friend like that, like she was something of no importance? One look at his fierce face reminded me of the truth. He was a monster and as much as I loved him, he was focused on one thing and that was solving the problem of monsters being unleashed on Earth and destroying Hawaii.

Chapter 33

I pressed the opening rune against the door of Cade’s lair. This was a dangerous place to take the entire group, but it needed to be done. The witches would act as back up, so they had a little knowledge of what they were up against.

We needed the witches to create a force field of protection around all of us. Cade was a volatile demigod relegated to his own habitats and not allowed into the Demigod Corporation. Something he was always bitter about. Now we were watching if the monsters’ rift was opening here, then we would need everybody’s power to help seal it.

“Cade.” My greeting was forceful and simple. I was not in the mood for a long-drawn-out hello. “There is a break in the rift happening here. Do you have anything to do with it?”

It was a direct question and a dangerous moment, but we needed to know exactly what we were up against.

Cade sat there on his throne made of volcanic stone, his eyes flecked with fire as he grinned at everyone in the room. “Did you bring them for my lunch?”

“I didn’t think eating people was exactly your style,” I responded harshly. I knew he was a rebel, but this was a bit much.

“I didn’t realize working with a crowd was your style,” Cade said. “I thought you always flew solo.”

“Maybe I’m turning over a new leaf,” I growled.

“If you want to talk to me, you’re going to need to get rid of everybody,” Cade commented.

“Do you have anything to do with the rift being opened?” I asked, “because we are pretty sure my brother’s in charge of this and I want to know where he is.”

“You think your brother is opening the rift,” Cade asked with a vicious grin on his face. “Since when was Magnus smart? He’s the worst excuse for a demigod I’ve ever seen, he’s always been hugging his mother’s skirts.”

“That’s also my mother you’re talking about,” I said, chaos running through my veins.

“Get rid of the audience,” Cade insisted.

I stared him down for one moment but realized the witches would be better off out in the hallway protecting the door. “Ratchet take the witches outside with.”

“Leave the firefly here,” Cade said as Laney moved. “And your wife.”

He grinned slyly at Caroline.