Page 73 of Pirate Witch
My hands ball into fists, but I’m forced to release them as I accept the black robe Danika hands me. It’s heavy, with a deep hood that will completely hide my face if I pull it up. With the amount of incense filling the air, even shifter and vampire senses won’t be able to pick me out from any other. Maybe the mating bond will give them an edge.
Why am I nervous? They aren’t going to pick the wrong witch. That never happens.
Right?
The huge temple door swings open a crack and I’m pulled inside before it slams shut again. When I look up, I come face to face with a sea of Lunar witches. Some of them are grinning, others—chiefly those from my old coven—seem nervous. Almost like they’re as worried about my reaction as I am of theirs.
“The Goddess’s Shadow has returned!” Danika yells across the room, raising my hand like I’m some kind of champion. “She comes to defend us in our hour of need, despite the wrongs we’ve wrought upon her.” Her gaze turns fiery as she stares down several people in the crowd. “To make amends, we will do what we should have done months ago. Starting with a blessing ceremony to welcome a new witch into immortality with her harem.”
There are several whoops at her words, and even a few apologetic smiles. Danika releases me and pushes me into the crowd with a grin. I’m enveloped in hugs and pats, the tactile Lunars greeting me. Some apologise, others just hug tight and let their embraces do the talking for them.
It all stops when the knock sounds at the door.
Someone yanks my hood over my head before I can blink. The rest of the room follows suit, disguising themselves. Hushing noises fill the air and the chatter ends as the door swings open.
“Welcome to the Temple of the Moon,” Danika says, her voice carrying across the open space. “You have been called here by the Goddess, because you are destined to join the harem of a witch. You may not speak or communicate with one another. Let the Goddess guide you to your witch’s side. When you have found her, we will bless your joining.”
The ritual words are lulling, their cadence filling the space and making the water of the sacred pool beside me ripple.
Cloaks rustle as my men make their way through the room. I can’t see them, but I can hear them. My heart thuds a little louder as they seem to get farther away, and a stone settles in my gut as images of them choosing someone else fill my mind.
Heat brushes against my back. A pair of arms bands around my middle, lifting me up and turning me until I’m pressed against a very familiar chest.
Rysen tugs back my hood, allowing me to see all six of them surrounding me, grinning.
“Found you, princess,” Cas whispers, winking.
Giggles echo all around me as the rest of the coven drops their hoods and half push, half usher us towards the sacred pool where Danika is already standing. I wriggle against Ry’s grasp until he puts me down, then take my friend’s hand and allow her to pull me into the blessed water. It caresses my calves with cool, lapping waves from some intangible breeze.
It’s taboo for anyone but a Lunar to step in the sacred pool, and my men must have been warned because they line up on the edge rather than follow me in. The high priestess raises her hands up to the sky, and an answering pulse of moonlight beams down on the temple, making the water glow faintly.
When Danika lowers her arms, she stoops and collects some of the water in her hands, raising it to my lips.
“Drink, and know the Goddess’s blessing,” she says.
It’s oddly intimate to drink from another person’s hands, but I don’t balk at the instruction. The moonlight covering us makes this feelrightin a way I can’t really understand, and the water tastes sweet, like sugared almonds, edged with a floral note that could be jasmine. I take a long sip, spilling most of it, then bow to Danika.
Without waiting for Danika’s instructions, I follow her example, crouching to fill my palms with water before heading toward my men, still standing on the edge of the pool.
I raise my cupped hands to Ry first, offering him the same blessing. He lowers his head, keeping eye contact as I tip the liquid into his mouth. Once he’s swallowed, I reach up and press my still-wet lips to his, sweeping my tongue out to stroke his fang until he lets out an almost inaudible groan.
“May the Goddess bless your union,” the gathered witches whisper.
Reluctantly, I end the kiss and move along to Klaus, repeating the ritual with my siren, who nips at my lower lip and smiles against my mouth. Nos is next, and for a second I panic that he won’t know what to do, but my blind mate winks, and my worries disappear.
Nos probably saw this weeks ago. Sneaky seer.
I repeat the same process with him, and then with Cas, who tries to sneak a second kiss. Kier follows Cas, and my fae stares into my eyes solemnly, making the whole blessing feel like a vow.
Soon there’s only one male left.
Val’s eyes are dark and inscrutable as I fill my palms with water for the sixth and final time and raise them to his mouth.
He has surprisingly full lips. Something I notice for the first time as he parts them. But he doesn’t lower his head like the others. No, Val makes me come to him. I rise up to my tiptoes as I tip the water down his throat.
There’s a pause, where my hands fall to my sides and I look at him questioningly. Val doesn’t disappoint, finally ducking his face to take my mouth with his. Unlike the others, who seemed to sense my nerves and take pity on me, offering sweet kisses, Val shows no mercy. His lips brand mine with a dark kind of promise, leaving no doubt left in my mind.
The captain wants me.
