by Emma Dean
Whirling around, Matthew grabbed her arms hard enough to bruise. “What are you thinking?” he hissed. “You know how strong she is, how powerful.”
Mika raised an eyebrow. “And I’m not?”
He frowned, releasing her. “You weren’t named heir…I thought…”
Shrugging, she glanced at the portrait over the fireplace that still had her father and brother in it. Mika stalked over and glared up at her father. “After everything that happened…”
She wanted to tell Matthew everything. She wanted to bring him in – they had always been friends after all. But she wasn’t sure if it would go down well. They’d never talked about the more taboo magics except to discuss their purposes.
Those kinds of magics were mostly ignored in the witch world – as if they didn’t even exist.
Mika would ask Selene to talk to him, feel him out on the subjects before confessing.
Lifting up a hand she closed one eye and tilted her head, concentrating.
The face of her father burned off the portrait until it was just a black hole. She hesitated when she turned to her brother. Mika still wasn’t sure how much had been Jacob’s own choosing and how much had been their father’s influence.
“Do you think I’m strong enough?” Mika asked.
“I heard about your block through some rumors,” Matthew said carefully. “How’s that going?”
She burned off her brother’s face too. He was shunned after all.
“Better than you think, mate,” Corbin said as he strolled into the library with his hands in his pockets. “You agreed to support her.”
So, the nosy ass raven had been listening to every word.
Why was she surprised?
Mika glared at Corbin. “Why do you like stirring shit up?”
He grinned at her but moved toward Matthew. “After what she said to Audrey, Claire deserved to be taken down a few pegs.”
It was hard to be mad at him for that reasoning, but Mika crossed her arms over her chest anyway and glared.
Matthew watched as the raven circled him, looking the witch up and down. To his credit he didn’t look nervous or scared.
“Can he be trusted?” Corbin asked, moving to stand behind her.
Mika shivered slightly as he passed. How had he gotten the time off to be here? What job had he been working on?
“Can you?” Matthew asked calmly – as if he’d been asking about the weather and not challenging an assassin.
“I’m not here to kill her.” Corbin grinned. “Or you.”
“Jack?” Mika asked, curious.
“I can’t say,” Corbin said with a shrug. “But we have work to do, dove. How long are you going to mingle with these people?”
Mika checked the grandfather clock. Only a few more hours until midnight when she had to leave the mansion and set everything up to summon the goddess. “You never said which days you’d be by to train me,” she murmured.
Matthew’s eyes widened. “Of course, you would be the only one in the world to get a raven to train an outsider.” He laughed then, long and hard. When he’d finally gotten control of himself, he wiped the tears from his eyes. “Never mind. Fates help Claire, and I pray she yields in time.”
Mika shared a look with Corbin. “Do you think it’ll come to that?”
The raven’s eyes turned back to that vibrant green and he eyed the portrait that had been done when Mika turned eighteen, just before all the shit had gone down in the coven.
“Yield or die,” he murmured. “Which will you choose?”
He was worried. Mika almost reached out for him but instead she turned away, facing Matthew. “You promised to support me. Now that you know what it’s about, will you still?”
Matthew stepped forward and wrapped her up in a hug. “Of course. Even though I know you don’t want it. Which begs the question, why challenge her?”
Too smart for his own good.
“Maybe next time,” Corbin murmured, studying the witch closely. “If he handles tomorrow well.”
Mika gave the raven a sharp look and he smiled lazily at her. “Don’t think I don’t know who you’re thinking of calling to intimidate Takahashi and that pretty boy Council member.”
“Can he even show up?” Mika asked, releasing Matthew and ignoring the look on her ex’s face.
Corbin checked the clock again. “If he’s invited in.”
“Just like Morgana.”
The raven grinned. “Per my sources.”
Mika grinned back. “I guess I should call my cousin and ask for a favor.”
“Send whiskey,” Corbin called over his shoulder as he left the library. “And get us out of this awful dinner.”
Matthew watched the raven leave and then he looked at Mika, intrigued. He didn’t ask her a thousand nosy questions though. No, Matthew was patient and smart. He knew he would get the information he wanted in time.
So, he smiled at Mika instead. “I’m glad we’re friends again.”
Mika smiled back, feeling the rest of the weight on her heart lift. “I’m glad we are too.”
13
Mika wasn’t able to change after the dinner party. The only reason she’d made it to the location on time at all was because of Eisheth and his little teleportation trick.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Eisheth asked, eyeing the Golden Gate Bridge above them.
“Seven ley lines intersect here,” Mika told him. “It’s why the gate was created, or so Victoria told me. The veil between planes is almost nonexistent on a full moon.”
“If it doesn’t work, we can always try the Black Moon on the 31st,” Corbin said as he shifted from raven to human, walking toward them like he hadn’t just effortlessly shifted. “It’s a new moon, but it’s rare enough to hold power.”
Ravens were so graceful.
Mika cleared her throat and looked away from Corbin’s cocky grin to the altar she’d set up in just the right spot. The tin that held the blood crystals was in front of her and her knife lay next to it, ready to go the minute before midnight.
Eisheth slipped his hands in his pockets and looked up again. His doubt was clear, but the demon didn’t question her again. “Brute force power could work. Though I don’t think the Morrigan ever came here.”
“No, she didn’t,” Mika agreed, eyeing her watch as the seconds ticked by. She knelt in the dirt, trying not to think about how much magic Ms. Jenkinson was going to have to use to get the gown perfectly clean again. “But I’m not trying to connect with her spiritually. I’m trying to put as little distance between us physically as I can.”
She could have used the seal to hell under Morgana, but Mika didn’t feel like dealing with whatever might be down in those tunnels or unlocking the door when she’d just gotten the Council off her ass.
“Five seconds,” Corbin murmured, kneeling beside her. He held out his hand and she made a quick slice. Blood welled to the surface and he waited patiently as she did the same to Eisheth.
Then Mika made a cut in each of her palms. Holding out one hand palm up, she used the other to draw the Morrigan’s symbol around the tin. Demon blood and raven blood mixed with hers, tying them to her temporarily.
Muttering the prayer she’d found in one of the many blood books, Mika drew the sigils within the Morrigan’s that would open a door.
“Now,” Corbin whispered.
She slammed her bloody hand down on the mark at the stroke of midnight.
There was no icy fountain to fall into this time, but it still felt like she was sinking. Mika gasped as cold air shocked her bare arms and she breathed in thick fog.
“My daughter,” a tired, throaty, feminine voice said. The words echoed in the fog and it started to dissipate as her blood flowed into the door she’d created.
And deep-down Mika realized the only reason it worked is because she shared blood with the Morrigan. Otherwise the door could have ripped her and Corbin to pieces.
The demon no doubt would
have survived.
“Morrigan, is that you?” Eisheth called out.
And suddenly the fog was gone. They were standing on a cliff over the ocean that looked a lot like Morgana’s island but was different. It felt older somehow – ancient and sentient.
They weren’t on earth that much was clear.
“Eisheth, my love. I thought you’d forgotten me.”
The raven goddess turned that fierce gaze on Corbin – her eyes an endless black that reflected the stars from the night sky, giving the impression she held the universe itself inside her.
Corbin dropped to his knees before the savage goddess who wore nothing but animal skin and war paint. The spear in one hand was sharp and bright while the large raven perching on her shoulder stared at Mika.
Eisheth grinned at the goddess and Mika got the distinct impression she was the reason Samael had been pissed at him. “I didn’t forget you,” he murmured, eyeing her from head to toe. “I thought you were dead until this one told me otherwise.”
The Morrigan scratched under her raven’s chin and contemplated the demon a moment. Mika held her breath, wondering if she would just smite Eisheth out of existence to be petty.
“I suppose I have to forgive you. You did save as many of my daughters as you could.” The raven cawed in agreement and the sound ripped through the thin air.
Eisheth looked at Mika then and her stomach dropped. “Don’t you mean our daughters, my love?”
The Morrigan rolled her eyes and Mika felt like she could breathe again. “Yes, I suppose you are their father even if you share no blood with them.”
Mika glanced down at Corbin and nudged him, but he wouldn’t move, and he didn’t look up from the ground either.
“I see you found your raven,” the Morrigan said slyly. “Just one?”
“I don’t think he’s mine,” Mika managed, still reeling from the realization Eisheth had something to do with her existence. “He has free will.”
“Does he?” The Morrigan tilted her head sharply, just like Corbin would. “Then why does he kneel?”
“I am at your service, Goddess.”
The Morrigan blinked and then frowned. “You.”
Finally, Corbin looked up. He seemed just as confused as Mika felt.
“You and the other ravens are why I’m still alive despite being stuck in this barren landscape,” the Morrigan told him, understanding dawning on her face and easing some of the savagery. “Everyone else has forgotten me.”
Looking down at Corbin, Mika realized what the Morrigan was talking about. “Their belief fed you enough power to stay alive.”
“Yes,” she said, stalking forward. “Otherwise I would have starved.”
“Gods and goddesses draw power from the universe, like witches. They can eat and drink and survive that way,” Eisheth explained to Mika, but his eyes never left the Morrigan. “They can also draw power from believers and feed off of that.”
The Morrigan went down to one knee before Corbin and inspected him closely. Her raven launched from her shoulder and flew right at Mika. The massive claws dug into her shoulder and she didn’t dare say a word or try to shake it off despite how badly it stung.
“Look at me boy,” the Morrigan demanded.
Corbin did so without question or hesitation.
“We were the first to form,” the goddess said. “Which is why we can hold so much power. We are built for it. We can create others who can also hold power – decide how much they can. There were so many of us when the universe was new. Now it seems there are so few.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Eisheth said with that mischievous smile. “Thanks to a few web comics and books humans are pretty obsessed with the Greek deities. They’re still living it up.”
“And there are new ones?” the Morrigan asked, looking up at the demon.
Eisheth nodded, his smile dropping. “There are a few thanks to the power the humans have given them. Then there are the demigods sprouting up everywhere, and classes of witch we thought were lost…”
“So, Lucifer only delayed the inevitable,” the Morrigan mused, turning back to Corbin.
Mika had so many questions, but she was too fascinated by the events unfolding to say what she’d come to say.
“It seems so,” Eisheth agreed.
The raven on her shoulder dug its claws into her skin farther, drawing blood. Mika gritted her teeth and took it. This was payback for flipping it off.
But what she wasn’t expecting was for Corbin to whip around and glare at the raven, eyes glowing red and teeth bared.
“He’s definitely yours,” the Morrigan said with a snort. “And he’s protected you well. Why don’t you want him?”
Both Mika and Corbin froze as those words sunk in. He faced the goddess with an almost comical expression of shock. Mika snapped her mouth shut when she realized it was hanging open.
Eisheth choked on his laughter and Mika shot him a glare.
“It’s not about what I want,” Mika said slowly. “Not like that. I want him to choose to be mine because he wants to. Not because he feels forced to.”
The Morrigan lifted Corbin’s chin up with the point of her spear and inspected his tattoos. Then she released him and stood. “Well, raven. What do you want?”
Mika cleared her throat. “Can he stand now? And honestly, I really don’t think this is important. I have other questions I need to ask you.”
Like how could she win against Claire, and unearth the secrets buried by whoever had tried to strip blood witches from the face of the earth?
“He may stand,” the Morrigan said with a small smile. She took a step back, but the full force of her attention remained on Corbin. “But I want to hear what he desires. So, tell me, Corbin. I owe you and your people a debt that can never be repaid. If I can grant your wish, I will. But you must speak the truth.”
Mika looked to Eisheth, imploring him to stop this, but the nosy-ass demon was enjoying himself way too much. He even went around Corbin to stand beside the Morrigan so he could have a better view.
“No one’s ever asked what I wanted,” Corbin said slowly. “I don’t know how to answer.”
The Morrigan paced before him, tasting his words. “Hm, true. I suppose I should be more specific. Do you want this witch?” A sharp black nail pointed right at Mika and her heart started pounding.
This time the claws in her shoulder eased and the raven’s wings brushed against her hair reassuringly, like a parent might. Did this raven also have a human form?
“In what way?” Corbin asked carefully.
Mika blushed, wishing she could break her connection with the Morrigan, but she’d opened the door and the goddess had taken control. Until she was done, or lost power, they were stuck here.
“Do you want to serve her, love her, protect her, and stay by her side?”
“This is unnecessary,” Mika interrupted, feeling panicked and annoyed all at once. This was too much. She’d barely spoken with Corbin about any of this. He’d kissed her once weeks ago and then disappeared again into his shadowy life.
“We don’t live in that world anymore,” Mika tried to explain. “Knights don’t pledge themselves to princesses. I’m just a witch who needs help from the female who gave me this gift. I need answers, not a raven.”
“Sweet child, we will always live in that kind of world. The more power you have the more others will try to take it.”
That’s not what Mika meant. “Maybe,” she agreed. “But this is too much. Corbin has other obligations. I can take care of myself, and I’m not alone. I have friends.”
The Morrigan walked around Corbin toward Mika with an unreadable look on her face. The remaining fog that clung to the ground parted as she approached, and Mika braced herself for the goddess’s wrath.
But instead she placed a freezing cold hand to Mika’s cheek. “You are a warrior. Of course, you can take care of yourself, Daughter. But having someone to watch your back, someone who can hide in the shadows
, who can see the threat before even you, who disappears into the night so they can listen to your enemies – to take care of those enemies so you don’t have to. That is why we’ve always had a raven.”
Mika still didn’t like it and the Morrigan could tell. She released her with a chuckle and held out her hand. “You are truly one of mine, stubborn until the very last. Just remember it can also be a weakness.”
The raven leapt from her shoulder and instead of landing on the Morrigan’s arm like Mika thought it would, the raven shifted and instead it was a human hand that took the Morrigan’s.
“This is Helle,” the Morrigan explained. “I love her more than I’ve loved anyone.” She looked to Eisheth then with a teasing grin. “Even you.”
The demon shrugged and smiled indulgently. “Our relationship has always been complicated.”
“And I chose to be hers,” Helle said, lacing her fingers through the Morrigan’s. The way the raven stared at the goddess…
Mika glanced at Corbin and saw him staring at her with the same level of intensity he always had – the same intensity Helle looked at the Morrigan with.
“How is she still alive?” Mika asked, looking away from Corbin before she had to acknowledge something she wasn’t ready to yet.
“I gifted her immortality.” The Morrigan kissed Helle’s cheek and then turned back to Corbin and Mika. “And I gifted her people with the same lifespan and youth that witches possessed. Ravens end up with witches more than any other shifter.”
Mika looked into Corbin’s blazing red eyes and wondered again, what had happened to change everything? Why was so much in their world different now? “Ravens don’t mix with the rest of the paranormal world.”
The Morrigan frowned. “I need to get out of this place and fix what has been broken.”
“How do we get you out, love?” Eisheth asked. “Lucifer locked you away?”
She shook her head. “No, but one of his.”
Mika’s heart lurched. “Who?”
The raven sighed. “I don’t know. We were asleep when the castle fell. I should have paid more attention, but there were so many warriors to keep us safe.” She stroked one of the black-as-night feathers braided into the Morrigan’s hair and then shifted back into a raven.