Page 97 of Soul of a Witch

She looked at me over her shoulder, her eyes bright with excitement. “There’s something special in those notes, Callum, I just know it. Sybil found something important, and if I can translate her code…”

“You can. I have no doubt your clever mind can solve any puzzle it’s given.”

A blush rose on her face, and I brushed my fingers over her cheek just to feel the heat of her skin. My need for her grew more every day. It was a constant, insatiable desire to be close to her, touch her, listen to her speak.

Nothing else could satisfy me. Her body was a siren’s song and I was its slave.

Everly rose excitedly from her seat, quickly gathering her maps. “Let’s go down there now!” “You can explore, I’ll start looking through her notes —”

She stopped when my head tipped curiously to the side, listening for the voice I’d heard calling me.

“It’s Darragh,” I said with a heavy sigh. “I’ll go see what he wants.”

Teleporting to the exterior of the greenhouse, I found Darragh lounging lazily between the boughs of his tree.

“There’s intruders in the forest,” he said before I could ask what he wanted. “A mortal woman and a demon.” He opened one amber eye, giving me a thorny smile. “I have them walking in circles, and the flowers will put the woman to sleep soon. Shall I make them leave?”

A mortal and demon. My mind immediately went to Juniper, the woman who’d chased Everly. She’d told me to leave her alone, but…

“What do they want?”

“Oh, I certainly don’t know,” Darragh said with a dramatic yawn. “But the woman carries weapons.”

Rage blanketed my vision. Then I had been right all along. This woman meant harm to my witch; she’d even brought a demon along to help her. No matter. They would both be destroyed, and Everly wouldn’t have to fear them anymore.

“I’ll take care of them,” I said and returned to the library before the Woodsprie could reply.

Everly was waiting for me, clearly eager to get down to the tunnels. Her face fell when I said, “Darragh found intruders in the woods. But don’t be afraid, they won’t reach the house. I’ll be back soon.”

“Intruders? Who?” She gulped, her eyes widening with fear. “Are they humans?”

“You don’t need to concern yourself with it,” I said. “Find something to read in the meantime. When I return, we’ll go down to the laboratory.”

But that didn’t satisfy her.

“Callum,” she said slowly, softly. “Who is in the woods?”

But I didn’t answer her. I vanished, reappearing in the yard and stalking out into the trees. It didn’t take me long to catch the intruders’ scent, and I shrouded myself in shadow as I pursued them. Everly would be angry, but her heart was gentle.

She didn’t yet understand that violence was often the only answer.

The woman and her demon were walking in circles, confused and misled by Darragh’s tricks. The air was thick with the scent of toxic flora, and as I stalked closer, the demon sensed my presence, warning the woman not to brandish her weapons.

But it was too late for that.

Creeping closer, I sniffed the air, inhaling the demon’s scent. I didn’t know him; he was younger than me but strong, not far off from ascending to an archdemon himself. I didn’t like killing my own kind. Perhaps with his woman dead, he would choose to simply be on his way.

But if I needed to destroy him too, I would. Murderous intent surrounded the woman, anger fueled her.

They shouldn’t have come here. They shouldn’t have come after my witch.

Wrapped in darkness, crouched low as the rain poured around me, I waited. They didn’t even notice I was there until they were within just a few inches of me.

When he spotted me, the demon managed to get out a single word.

“Fuck.”

Leaping from my perch, it took one swipe of my arm to send him flying back into a tree with an audible crack of wood. The woman scrambled to take out her gun, but I knocked her to the ground and the weapon was flung from her grasp. Bloodlust overtook me as the demon got up, charging for me with claws out, fangs snapping.

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