As Wicked As They Come

by Emma Dean

  Every footstep was silent as she went for Ethan. Mika studied his sleeping form – he was so large he took up nearly the entire full-sized bed. One arm was behind his head and he looked peaceful. He also slept in nothing but his boxers, blanket wrapped around one leg. She couldn’t help but admire the muscles and tattoos for a moment.

  Then she placed her hand over his mouth and put a finger to her lips when his eyes flew open.

  To his credit, he didn’t yell at her or shove her off of him. Ethan nodded once and she took a step back, giving him space. It only took him a few seconds to get dressed. She tilted her head towards the window and gave him the sign to follow.

  Mika gripped the ledge and swung down, legs dangling. One deep breath and she let go, only to grab the ledge below on her way down. It took every bit of strength she possessed, but she caught herself, and did the same to the window below.

  When she hit the ground, she looked up to see Ethan climbing down a thick vine that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

  “You’ve been working out I see,” he said, vine sliding back down to disappear into the ground. “My hand eye coordination isn’t reliable when I’m still mostly asleep.”

  Mika watched him walk toward her, a glimmer of anger still in his eyes. Her heart pounded as she realized not for the first time that Ethan was massive when he wasn’t slouching or trying not to bring attention to himself.

  He didn’t ask her any questions this time and he didn’t try to get her to explain. Ethan just grabbed her, picking her up by the waist. He flexed and she practically flew into his arms. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

  “I would have texted, but I wanted you to sleep at least a little,” she said, a little breathless as she looked down at him.

  Resting had allowed her to regather some control and patience. Touching Ethan wasn’t grating on her nerves at the moment, and Mika wondered at how easy this was compared to earlier.

  “I’m not talking about sneaking into my room,” he practically growled. His easy-going mask was slipping and the intensity he always dampened was starting to leak.

  Mika liked it.

  She twirled her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. “Mm, I don’t know why you hide this part of you away.”

  He just glowered at her and waited, grip on her waist tightening.

  Mika sighed. “It’s why I kept everyone out for as long as I could. I didn’t trust myself. Like I said earlier, it had nothing to do with you.”

  Ethan studied her, as if she might lie – Mika tried not to be offended. “And now?”

  “Now I’m mostly in control, except when I’m not. Like earlier,” she confessed, moving her hands to stroke his close-cut beard. “It’s still difficult to be around people. Touch and emotion from others are…overwhelming sometimes. Especially when it takes all I have to manage my own, when I feel anything at all.”

  Slowly he loosened his hold on her so she slid down his body and Mika felt strands of her hair loosen from the bun and rise and float in response to the static electricity he was giving off. She kissed him softly, gasping when his lips shocked her.

  Even in her chaos, Ethan was strong and sturdy. He was a rock in her storm – immovable and permanent.

  “I will always be here for you,” Ethan said, voice quiet in the dark of the night. “No matter what you need, I’ll be there. Just…don’t shut me out again.”

  “I can’t promise that,” she told him honestly. “But I can promise it will never be forever.”

  Ethan sighed and hugged her tight, kissing the top of her head. “I suppose I can live with that. I missed you so much.”

  Mika’s fingers dug into his back and she pressed her face into his chest. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

  “I’m sure you’d be fine,” he said, a tiny hint of amusement in his voice. “You’re more than capable of accomplishing anything you set your mind to and then some. Speaking of, I assume you didn’t drag me out of bed just to have this conversation.”

  Mika pushed away from him, smiling slightly. “As much as I love you, no. I did not. I want to find Morgana’s grave tree before the Council and the Head Witch realize the me currently in my house is just a doppelganger.”

  Without a word or a sound, Corbin appeared behind Ethan, eyes glowing red in the dark. “Armad says the Head Witch hasn’t moved from her mansion in St. Louis.”

  “That’s something at least,” Mika said, watching the way Corbin moved to stand in the position that would allow him to protect her the most efficiently.

  He was still peeved about her three weeks of isolation but being able to closely watch over her again seemed to be helping. “What’s the next step, dove?”

  No one asked if she wanted to fetch Lucien, and Malachi was still asleep up in Ethan’s room as his new dorm mate. She thought that was interesting.

  Mika decided to keep it to just the three of them for now.

  “How much control do you have over plants, and say…the sea?” Mika asked Ethan.

  His stormy grey eyes glittered at the possibilities her question hinted at. “Being a storm witch isn’t the same thing as being an elemental water witch, or a sea witch,” Ethan admitted, crossing his arms over his chest as he thought. “But I could probably coax a decent amount of the ocean back or create a pressurized air pocket that would allow us to walk along the ocean floor to wherever you needed to go. Although I think there are a few spells that anyone could do which would create the same effect.”

  Mika considered that, and then nodded once. “Follow me.”

  Corbin and Ethan did so without question, and for a split-second Mika wondered if Ethan was only comfortable sharing with Lucien, or if he and the raven could both be in her bed at the same time.

  She shook her head, dispelling some of the combinations her thoughts went to at that first consideration. They didn’t have time for that at the moment, and she needed to get this shit done before the fall semester officially started.

  “The next full moon is September 14th,” she told them, stepping into the forest that was quieter than normal, but the trees didn’t seem to bear her any ill will despite what she’d done earlier.

  “I will free the Morrigan from her prison then, with the spell Lucifer gave me.” A snap of her fingers and the spell appeared. Mika snatched it from the air and handed it to Ethan first. “Before that I want to search the castle under the ocean to make sure there’s nothing there that can give me some kind of edge. Once I reveal what I am to the Council, the Head Witch will be out for my blood and we need to be prepared.”

  Mika stopped, studying the dark forest. They were just easing out of the new moon, so it was nearly pitch black, but Mika’s night vision charm made everything light up in muted greys, blues, and blacks.

  “This is probably not going to be easy,” she admitted, looking to Ethan. “It’s going to disrupt your classes, and they may try to bring you in for questioning. A target will be on your back. I’m going to make everyone this offer once. If you don’t want to be a part of this, I will completely understand. You are not obligated to. But, from here on I need to know who I can trust – who I can rely on.”

  Ethan glanced at the raven and neither of them seemed surprised. “We all figured you’d give us an out at some point, and we’re not going anywhere. Me, Lucien, Corbin – even Malachi. We’re in it for the long haul.”

  Mika blinked as she processed that. Somehow, they’d known she would make this offer…she was almost disappointed she was becoming so predictable. Smiling up at Ethan she knew she’d chosen the right family.

  “Well, glad that’s out of the way then.”

  For the first time since she’d been back, Ethan grinned. “Yup. Now, what do you think it is we’ll find at Morgana’s grave site?”

  “I’m not sure.” Mika dug her thumbnail into her palm just hard enough to release a drop of blood. “But I’d like to see it myself to be sure. We supposedly share blood after all.”

/>   Lifting her hand, palm up, she concentrated on the drop of her blood until it floated a few inches above her palm. Mika murmured the incantation. “A spell to find the blood of my blood,” she murmured. “Any blood that’s been spilled on this island that’s related to me will light up like Corbin’s eyes. Well, so the spell says.”

  “There,” Corbin said, pointing to a spot through the trees. “I can see something.”

  Mika peered through the forest but couldn’t see it. She stepped forward and something made the back of her neck prickle. She froze. What was that and where was it coming from?

  Ever since she’d arrived back on the island, a presence had been following her. She couldn’t quite pinpoint it, and she couldn’t quite figure out what it might be. Mika glanced over her shoulder and saw nothing – not even a darker spot than the rest of the forest.

  Shuddering, she shook the nerves off and followed after Corbin.

  They walked briskly through the trees, her drop of blood pulsing as they grew closer until…

  Mika saw it then and her blood flared in response. She drew the blood back inside her, healing the cut as she did so, and then ran toward the spot on the ground that glowed red.

  It was huge, as if Morgana’s blood had seeped out of her for a long while before her body had been cremated and the ashes buried. Kneeling before the glowing red patch of ground, Mika saw the plaque illuminated by the blood of her blood.

  The rumors were true then. Morgana was her ancestor and she had been a blood witch.

  “Do you feel anything?” Mika asked as Ethan finally caught up.

  “Definitely need to train more,” Ethan muttered, hands on his knees. “Fuck, when did you get so fast?”

  “She’s done nothing but workout for the last three weeks,” Corbin muttered. “Learning new spells as well it seems.”

  “I haven’t found any lessons by Morgana in the Marshall blood crystals,” she told him. “But from everything I’ve read we should have one somewhere.”

  Planting her hands on the ground where the red glowed, Mika closed her eyes. She murmured the words in Old Gaelic, calling to the blood in the ground, the blood that had been drawn into the tree as it soaked up any and all water in the roots. Morgana’s life force was part of this island and all she had to do was coax it out.

  Then she poured a tiny bit of her own power into the ground, feeling the blood recognize her.

  When she opened her eyes, Morgana stood before her.

  “Sister, it’s good to see you.”

  Mika smiled up at the warrior witch, glowing slightly in the dark forest. “I have questions for you.”

  The blood-witch looked at Ethan, and then Corbin. Her eyebrows rose at the sight of the raven. “I am at your command, Witch Queen.”

  6

  Mika shivered when Morgana called her that. “I’m no queen,” she told the warrior.

  Morgana eyed Corbin like she didn’t believe Mika could have a raven at her side otherwise. “You are the last blood-witch sister. You are queen whether you wish it or not.”

  “And you know this how?”

  Ethan took a step closer to Mika as those ancient eyes studied her. The massive sword on Morgana’s back looked heavy, something a barbarian brute might have carried, but this witch carried it like it weighed little more than air.

  “My soul was never put to rest. My body never cremated. My bones rot on this island, scattered across the land and sea so I may never move on.”

  Horror filled Mika – so deep and unending she thought she might drown in it.

  This was a witch’s worst nightmare.

  But…

  “I can make you a new body,” Mika offered. “I could build you one from your blood, the earth, and the trees.”

  Morgana adjusted her armor and looked up at the night sky. Trillions of stars glittered, but no moon to be seen. “I’ll consider it, sister. But immortality was never an endeavor of mine. I refused that gift from the goddess as well.”

  “It wouldn’t be forever, just until your bones are found.” Mika didn’t know why she was offering, but it felt like she should. Stuck on this plane for eternity, nothing more than a whisper of what she’d been?

  “This is not why you dredged my soul from the depths,” Morgana said, waving her hand in dismissal. “When I was Witch Queen, blood-witches were slaughtered, and the warriors forgotten. Ask me what you want to know and tell me what it is you need from me.”

  “Mika,” Corbin said carefully. “This may not be a good idea. Forgotten spirits…they don’t always retain their sanity.”

  “Your raven is not wrong,” Morgana said, smiling slightly. “And who’s this?”

  Ethan bowed before the last Witch Queen. “I’m no one, your majesty.”

  “Don’t lie, I’ve seen what you can do with the plants and the atmosphere. You bring wrath from the skies.” Morgana turned her gaze back to Mika. “Excellent collection of allies so far, dear sister. Might I suggest you add a few more? I’m partial to the one who slaughtered the Hellfire Society, not to mention the one that called your raven that day you were taken from my island.”

  Mika glanced at Corbin, not sure what Morgana was talking about, or if the raven knew what Malachi had done.

  Corbin frowned. “I never did find out who called to warn me about Mika getting kidnapped.”

  The ghost witch gave Mika a secret smile. “I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough.”

  “So, you’ve been watching everything.” Mika eyed the ghost, wondering what else she knew. “And the Hellfire Society killed you.”

  “Yes, but not alone. No group of witches could have accomplished what they did alone.” Morgana crossed her arms over her chest and glared at nothing in particular. “From what I’ve been able to gather over the last few centuries, and that female Patricia while she was here, is that there is someone controlling the Society.”

  “Do you know who?” Mika asked. “I know that Cassandra is involved somehow.”

  The warrior snarled at the mention of Cassandra. “Yes, but she was not yet born when this island was overrun with traitors. Someone locked away the Morrigan to reduce our power as blood-witches. No mortal witch could do that, even a hundred mortal witches working together would be unable to lock away a goddess.”

  Mika exchanged a look with Ethan. There was still a piece missing to this mystery and they had to figure out what it was since it seemed Morgana had died before she could find out.

  “I haven’t found your lessons on my blood crystals,” Mika said, changing the subject.

  The ghost witch gestured at the plaque. “Mine were buried with me.” She studied Mika closer then and her eyes widened when she realized they had the same white-blonde hair. “So, one of my daughters survived.”

  Mika stared at her ancestor, wondering if this is what she would become. A warrior. A blood-witch. A Witch Queen.

  A ghost.

  “Hundreds of years later and the game is finally coming to an end,” Morgana murmured. “I thought when I died that would be the end, but we survived. The Morrigan’s children lived on.”

  “Barely.” Mika held out her hand and yanked on the cluster of blood she could sense – deep in the tree. The crystals burst out of the trunk, splinters flying, and landed in her hand gently as if they recognized her – but Mika knew it was just the blood she shared with Morgana that called to them.

  “I can only go as far as my bones have been scattered,” Morgana stated, eyeing the crystals with a strange look. “But I can assist as much as I am able. Simply command me and it will be done.”

  The crystals in her hands were a red so dark they were nearly black and Mika wondered what else she would find on there that she hadn’t read about in any book. “The last lesson on the crystals I inherited was dated 1603, when our clan arrived in America.”

  “I was not Matriarch of my clan,” Morgana told her. “I carried the grimoire of the queens, as well as our oldest crystal. It was meant to go to my eldest da
ughter, but she was slaughtered here as well. I’m not sure which one survived. But I’m glad she fled and never came back.”

  Grimoires of the queens.

  Corbin pressed into her side and Ethan’s body heat warmed her back.

  Mika was not alone.

  “I will let you know what it is I need when I figure it out,” Mika told her. “Thank you for these. And if you see something strange, let me or one of mine know.”

  The last Witch Queen went to one knee and bowed her head before Mika. “I will serve you as I served King Arthur.” When she stood she gave Mika a rueful smile. “I hope you will heed my advice where he did not. It was his downfall.”

  “I will try and do better,” Mika told her, a corner of her mouth lifting at the jab.

  The ghost of Morgana disappeared, as did the red glow from the ground. The sudden lack of light made her blink, eyes adjusting to the deeper darkness.

  “I can’t decide if a ghost on our side is a good thing or not,” Ethan said, breaking the tense silence. “But I suppose I’d rather have her with us than against us.”

  “Did you know she would manifest?” Corbin asked, peering at the spot where her blood had shown like a beacon.

  “I honestly didn’t,” Mika admitted. “I thought…I don’t know. Maybe I could tap into her blood and see what happened when she died? See who killed her.”

  “Could you still do that?” Ethan asked, wrapping one arm around her waist.

  She leaned back into him; the air chilly. Autumn was coming quickly. Answers helped her keep calm and she didn’t feel like she might just scratch through her skin where Ethan touched her.

  “I could, but it won’t be easy with her soul still attached to her blood and bones. Morgana would have to relive the memory as well. I don’t wish that experience on anyone.” Shuddering at the memory of the last death she’d lived, ribs cracked and spread and pinned to the tree like a dead butterfly.

  Mika sighed, feeling the weight of the crystals in her palm.

  Even though she was embarrassed about earlier and still grieving the trees, the release had helped her level out – helped keep her from exploding as Malachi had said. She just needed to make sure to keep up with it and vent regularly, so she didn’t destroy the entire forest next time.