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Witches did not marry, as mortal men were short-lived in comparison. Mortal men were needed for producing witchlings, as witches only bore daughters who would inherit their powers.
Love was almost never a factor in witch pairings, as long as the man had good looks and a strong disposition.
Wolves were seen as guides and guardians by witches, often heralding change or transformation. I felt neither transformed nor changed, but the experience had put me on edge.
If Mama was normally a warm, autumn evening, right now she was an icy winter morning.
“There are reasons I keep you away from your grandmother and the Coven,” she said, sitting across from me at the small kitchen table. “The brutality of Coven law is one of them.”
I ran a hand gently over its head, closing my eyes and praying that the Goddess give the child peace as it passed into the next life. I felt warmth beneath my fingers as I said the words, a strange, bright magic pouring out of me unbidden and into the cold skin of the child.
Only the Goddess possessed the powers of life, and I knew of no spell nor charm that could raise the dead. But I had felt magic pour out of me, and I somehow knew that it was my magic that had brought the babe back.
“You have demon magic. Your grandmother cannot know about it, but she will have felt it. I can only buy you a little time.”
“You are blessed and cursed with life and death,”
“You need to go on foot. The stone can’t carry the horse. Go east. Find the Demon King and tell him you invoke the protection of the Horned God. I’ll come find you as soon as I can.”
She hastily unclasped the black stone necklace from her own neck and placed it around mine. “Follow the stone,” she said. “It will guide you.” Mama wrapped me in her arms and whispered an incantation I couldn’t understand. Before I could ask her, I was swept into shadow.
“Well hello again, wolf,”
“And I suppose you are offering to guide me?” I asked, still feeling defensive, but also realizing I had literally no idea where I was going or what I was doing. The man’s frown lifted into a smirk. “For a price, Red.”
“There’s no way you’re a huntsman named ‘Hunt’,” I said, jogging a little to catch him. “That would be too cruel.” He laughed. “No,” he agreed. “But it’s what you can call me, Red.”
“Witches venerate the Triple Goddess. Maiden, Mother, and Crone. She is the threefold deity, Mother of all.”
“No one has ever found me as interesting as you seem to.” “Clearly, no one has been paying enough attention,” Hunt replied in a husky voice, making my stomach give a funny little lurch. The way he spoke about me was somehow both infuriating and sensual. It bothered me. “Good night,”
“I’d keep your secrets, Red,” he said, raising his hand to my face. He cupped my chin gently in his fingers, lifting my eyes to meet his. The gesture was unexpected and somehow intimate. “Why?” I asked quietly. “You don’t even know me.”
“Listen, Red,” he said, taking a deep breath. Whatever he was going to say didn’t come, as an unearthly scream rent the air, shattering the peace we had been standing in. That dark thing inside of me fully awoke, alert to the danger. “Fuck,” Hunt snarled, pulling his bow from his back and nocking an arrow. “Get behind me.”
“Because of this,” Hunt said, gripping me firmly around the waist as he bent and pressed his lips to mine, the crowd cheering loudly around us.
I sucked in a breath, trying to stay perfectly still. “I wasn’t annoyed that you picked me because I didn’t want to kiss you.” “You weren’t?” I breathed. I felt his lips turned up in a slight smile, still unbearably close to mine. “I was annoyed,” he said, “because I didn’t want the first time I kissed you to be in front of an audience.”
“If you are still interested, and if we find ourselves someplace that I can do the job properly, then make no mistake, Elara, I will gladly take you to bed.”
“She’s the Crone,” I shouted, interrupting his tirade. “My grandmother is the Crone of the Witchlands Coven.”
“Carnon,” he said suddenly, catching me by surprise. “What?” I asked, not understanding the foreign word. He smiled faintly. “It’s my name,” he said. “My true name. Carnon.”
Carnon chuckled darkly. “I’m usually significantly more coherent,” he said, still holding me tightly to him. “Something about you makes me lose all capacity for rational thought.” “Because I make you so angry?” I pressed, leaning into him a little.
“Because you make me want things I shouldn’t be wanting, Red,” he growled, sending a shiver up my spine.
“I’m still interested,” I said, feeling my heart race a little with the confession. His arm tightened around my waist again, and I heard his breath catch a bit as he leaned close to my ear. “Then we’d better find a place to stop.”
“You are an unexpected surprise, Red,” he whispered. “And I’m not sure I deserve you.”
“I would do practically anything for you at this point, Red,” he said, brushing a thumb over my nipple again. “Just…promise me you’ll remember that.”
“You are a constant surprise and delight,” he murmured, pressing kisses to my neck and shoulder as I begin to drift off, the feel of his arm around my waist a warm band of comfort. “And I hope you forgive me for what comes next.”
“Let them hear, Red,” he said, tilting my face up to his again. “I want the whole city to hear you scream my name. To know you’re mine.” My stomach flipped, and warmth pooled low as he brushed a kiss over my lips. This man would be the death of me.
“I promise, Elara, I’ll tell you,” he rumbled, pulling back after a moment. “But let me have one more night.”
He was beautiful and terrifying at the same time, and I scrambled back, scooting to the end of the bed as I stared at the naked, bound form of the Demon King.
“Then it’s a shame for you,” he replied in a deep rumble, “that I want everything to do with you.”
His fork tongue flicked over the edge of the glass, sending a flood of heat to my core. What in the name of the Goddess was wrong with me?
“I thought that was obvious, Red,” he said, brushing my cheek with his thumb. He devoured me with his eyes, possessively almost, and anger and frustration and confusion coalesced into a writhing creature inside me. The bright and shadowy magic perked up with interest as he smirked. “I was hunting for you.”
But for once in my gods-damned life, I hadn’t been the Demon King or the sword of justice or the protector of my people. I hadn’t been loved or feared or envied. With her, I had just been Carnon, and I had wanted that for one more fucking night.
Gods, she was so beautiful and strong and full of the fire I craved. And she was mine. I had been looking for her for too long to let her go now, and I needed her. I wanted her. Even if I had to grovel for the next century, I would win her back and earn her love. And she didn’t really have much of a choice. She had already promised to be mine. Always.
