Storm Witch (Wolf Ridge Chaos Witch Book 1)

by Jayne Hawke

  A sadness filled me as I looked upon the photo of the corpse. She looked as though she had suffered greatly, and there was no one there to help her through that pain.

  I flipped to the next page, which detailed what Gideon had just told me. Looking through the folder, I saw ten more witches. Young, old, female, male, and all pantheons. There didn’t seem to be any connections besides they were all taken within twenty miles of Wolf Ridge. How was it that something so tragic had been happening in my town for months and I hadn’t had any idea? Surely the Morrigan should have nudged me or one of my coven mates into helping these witches.

  An anger formed within me, deep and hot. The Morrigan was supposed to guide her witches to act as enforcers, to watch over her witches. Yet she had sat back and done nothing. What else had she chosen to turn a blind eye to? How was I supposed to return to a goddess like that?

  Gideon placed his hand on mine and slowly wrapped his fingers around mine, bringing me back to reality. There was a warmth to him that brought comfort and helped chase away the anger and flicker of fear. Someone or something was out there hunting witches. We were supposed to be safe with our magic and our gods.

  I’d always felt invulnerable knowing the Morrigan was watching over me, guiding me. Now I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was alone in the world.

  Gideon put his arm around my shoulders and gently pulled me to him.

  “You have me and my coven,” he whispered.

  I gave him a brave smile and shrugged off the ridiculous emotions, choosing instead to focus on the job at hand. Gideon’s arm remained around my shoulders, offering safety and security as I looked through the rest of the photos looking for some form of clue.

  We were going to find whoever was doing this and make them beg for death.

  15

  I knew that I should back out of the contract. It was weird working with my future husband. The gods were interfering in my life, and I had never liked that part of being a witch. That had gotten me into a lot of trouble in my coven. Pushing back against the boundaries and the Morrigan wasn’t something the coven approved of. We were supposed to be good little witches who did as they were told and remained within our neat little boxes. I bristled under tight constraints and hierarchy.

  Looking into Gideon’s brilliant green eyes, I knew that I wouldn’t back off. He was so easy to be around. He was so right.

  “Why are you denying Set?”

  He leaned back against the couch, pulling his arm away from my shoulders as he twisted a little to really look at me. His eyes searched my face while I tried to come up with the appropriate response.

  “I’m trying a new thing,” I said with a shrug.

  He snorted.

  “Are you scared?” he taunted.

  I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “What do I have to be scared of? I’m the Morrigan witch of myth, remember.”

  He laughed, and I grinned at him, glad to have changed the topic.

  The more I thought about it, the further I drifted from the Morrigan, but Set was still an unknown entity. When I was a little girl it was easy, but now I knew so much more. I knew the vulnerability I would have with Set. I had to trust him with every fibre of my being. He was a chaos god. They were notorious and often thought of as being dark and dangerous with their witches. Still, he called to me.

  “Come.”

  Gideon stood and offered me his hand.

  I stood without taking it. I wasn’t ready to give him the affection he seemed too comfortable in giving me. He was hot as sin, but we were firmly in the work colleague stage of things.

  He led me across the rugs and past the triptych of paintings to a large cupboard made of wood so dark it almost looked black. When we got closer, I saw the delicate engravings across it. Markings depicting an old warrior with a shield and spear. It must have been Mars.

  My chest grew tight and my stomach fluttered as I realised he was showing me his altar. That was more intimate than being naked with someone. An altar was incredibly personal. I’d never shown anyone my Morrigan altar. The very idea of it made my chest tight.

  Yet he opened the doors of the cupboard and laid it all out bare for me to see. A slender bronze spear lay at the front of the deep space. I knew better than to give in to the temptation to reach out and touch it. This was Gideon’s sanctuary and private space where he spent time with his god. To intrude on that was inexpressibly rude and harmful.

  Behind the spear sat a pair of small bronze shields, a few seeds, which I hadn’t expected, and some stones with symbols I wasn’t clear on. Statuettes of four powerful wolves sat at the back of the cupboard, standing over the rest radiating power as they seemed to stare me down.

  I had no words. We weren’t taught how we were supposed to react to such a momentous moment.

  He reached out and gently stroked my hair.

  “It was difficult when I was where you were. I spent two months between gods. Mars was relentless in his push for my attention, but I needed to be sure. Slowly, I gathered the pieces of the altar you see here. Once it was all together, I felt a rightness and strength I had never felt before.”

  “The Morrigan never gave you that,” Set said in deep sultry tones.

  He was right.

  The Morrigan had given me a path that allowed me to find happiness, or a form of it, but I had never felt the peace Gideon so clearly drew from that altar. Everything about him was relaxed and calm. The thrum of his magic had settled into a quiet gentle rhythm.

  “Let me give you that,” Set whispered.

  “What’s the plan with the case?” I asked, turning away from the altar.

  Gideon closed up the cupboard and shrugged off his suit jacket.

  “First, I need to see that you’re as good as people said,” he said with a smirk.

  I put my hands on my hips.

  “Sweetheart, I’m far better.”

  He laughed and began unbuttoning his shirt. I watched as he gave me a small show, slowly taking his time revealing more of his tanned skin. He was beautifully muscled beneath that shirt, long lean muscles that practically begged me to run my fingertips over them.

  His magic picked up and pounded around my feet right before a copper shield appeared on his left arm and a long spear as tall as he was appeared in his right hand.

  I huffed. Of course he had weapons.

  He pointed the spear at me and made a light thrusting motion that I easily stepped around.

  “Come on then,” he said as he stepped forward.

  All I had were my human-made knives, but I had to prove a point. I was far more than my magic. I was Skylar Hackett, woman of legends.

  16

  I unsheathed my knives and tried to figure out what Gideon’s weakness was. He advanced slowly with his spear held pointing at my ribs. There was a very sharp point on that spear. I had no doubt it’d hurt a lot to be stabbed with it. All the more reason to kick his ass.

  Circling around him, I watched the way he moved as he carefully placed his feet while never taking his eyes off me. His spear followed me, always pointing to my soft spots. There wasn’t a chance in hell my leather jacket would hold up against that. The shield wasn’t as big as I’d expect for a Roman warrior. It sat along his left arm, reaching from just below his collar bone to just above his hip. It was enough to protect the soft squishy bits and not much more.

  It wasn’t as though I’d come up against a spear wielder before, but I knew that I needed to get in close so the spear became bound up. Feinting to the right, I shot to the left and rushed in towards his hip. I needed to get behind his spear and attack his side where he couldn’t bash me with that damn shield.

  He was faster than I’d given him credit for. His shield struck me hard in the chest, driving me back. I side-stepped right as he thrust the spear at me. A grin was painting upon his pretty face. His eyes shone with glee and the roar of war drums thundered around us. He was enjoying himself.

  The light had faded fast, lea
ving only the desk light and the moon to guide our dance around the office. Shadows slipped around us while the pale silver served to highlight his brilliant green eyes and powerful build. He surged forward, driving his spear out in front of me, pushing me backwards quickly across the open space. I was going to slam up against a wall if I didn’t change my course quickly. Dancing to the left, I skirted away from the spear and tried to slip around that shield.

  I got in close enough that his spear couldn’t do much, or so I thought. He thunked me over the head with it. Hard enough to make me shake my head and lose my concentration for half a second. He laughed, a deep gleeful laugh full of true happiness.

  That was it. I needed to kick his ass.

  Shaking my head again, I began pushing forward. He knocked me back with his shield, but I kept testing and learning his limits, making him take steps back. The song of his music was filled with merriment as it wrapped around me. That same happiness radiated off him, and I found that I began to feel the same thrill as I lost myself to the challenge he presented.

  He knocked me back with his damn shield again and feigned losing my balance before I shot forward, getting in behind his spear. This time, I knew how fast he was. I pressed my knife against his kidney and grinned up at him. He laughed again and stepped back with a small nod.

  I’d proven my point.

  “You’re not too bad for a Mars witch,” I said with a grin.

  He laughed again, making me grin. That was a sound I could get used to hearing.

  Spreading his arms wide, his magic washed over us both and the shield and spear disappeared. A small knot formed in my stomach as I missed the days when I could do that with my Morrigan swords.

  “The time has come, Sky. Accept Set and embrace his magic. Allow yourself to become whole again.”

  “He hasn’t said the magic word yet,” I said with a wry smile.

  Gideon shook his head and reached over for his shirt.

  “Don’t put that back on on my account.”

  “Like what you see?”

  “I’m not sure, I’ll have to see it a little longer.”

  Delight filled his face.

  “I can see I am very lucky the gods decided I am worthy of you.”

  I laughed.

  “Don’t be ridiculous and old fashioned now, you were just starting to be fun.”

  Night had claimed the sky and full darkness had descended a couple of hours ago. Time had slipped by so easily while I’d been with Gideon.

  “I’ll drive you home. We can begin work proper on this case tomorrow.”

  I wasn’t ready to leave his presence, but I wasn’t going to stroke his ego and allow that to show.

  “I’ll have to see what else room service has to offer.”

  “I’m sure you’ll find something suitable,” he said with a smile.

  His magic receded, leaving me feeling bizarrely naked. I already missed him, and he was standing barely six feet away from me. What had the gods done to me?

  17

  A knocking at the door interrupted my ridiculous breakfast. I was halfway through the stack of pancakes and still had French toast and muffins to eat. The familiar war drum magic began to tickle at the edges of me, and I quickly pulled on my jeans and clean t-shirt before I casually sauntered over and opened the door.

  “Another solitary witch has shown up. We need to get there now.”

  “Couldn’t they have waited until I finished my French toast?”

  Gideon smiled and said nothing. I raced back into the room and pulled on my boots before I secured my knives. There’d be more toast.

  Once we were in his Viper and thus safe to talk freely I asked, “What do we know?”

  “There isn’t much left, I have two of my people keeping the humans at bay. We’ve given the classic gas leak story, which will keep them happy for an hour or so.” He swung the steering wheel hard right and took us down a narrow road.

  “It gets us around rush hour traffic.”

  “Why didn’t you just use your security people?”

  “Is it so wrong that I’d like to get to know my future wife?”

  It was a reasonable expectation and thing to ask. I should have been more eager to get to know him, and I was certainly eager to explore his exquisite body. I still hated the feeling of being caged in by the gods, though. The desire to push back and reject him purely because the gods had taken away my decision was strong.

  Gideon looked at me with that beautiful warm smile that lit up his eyes, and I melted. It would be cruel to drive him away out of spite towards the gods.

  “So, how little is left?”

  “From what my guys have said, it’s very charred, which suggests powerful fire magic.”

  I froze. My mind flashed with the image of that rictus grin and the sensation of the cool tentacle wrapped around my ankle. That poor witch had left nothing but charred remains. Surely it couldn’t be the same magic?

  “Sky?”

  “I might have a weak lead. I’ll need to feel the magic at the site, though.”

  Feeling the magic would be quite a task. It had never been my forte. Gideon was an exception due to his ridiculous power, but the average witch was nigh on impossible. Once a witch died, their magic returned to their god, leaving only the faintest residue behind. A death-focused witch would be able to find and feel the signature, but I had never been that way inclined.

  “What lead?”

  “I was attacked by a possessed witch with very dark magic a couple of nights ago. She left charred remains behind.”

  Gideon bristled. His war drums pounded against me, threatening to give me a migraine.

  “Can you rein that in?”

  He frowned at me before understanding dawned.

  His magic pulled back and he looked away, shame colouring his cheeks.

  “I’m afraid my protective instincts are particularly strong around you.”

  “Do I need to remind you that I’m a strong independent woman? And I did kick your ass last night...”

  “Hardly.”

  “My knife was against your ribs.”

  “Who says I didn’t want you close?”

  I rolled my eyes at him.

  He grinned unrepentantly at me. It was difficult to keep the smile off my face.

  “Do all of your security people know what you are?”

  I noticed that we were getting close to my apartment. The nicer end of town was fading away, leaving scarred buildings and forgotten businesses.

  “Yes. I only hire supernaturals. Fae, shifters, a few solitary witches. And of course, my coven helps me run the business.”

  “You trust fae?”

  He shrugged.

  “We have binding contracts that help keep them in line. Mostly, they’re just looking to find a place in the world away from their past. Those fae that come here are either looking to claim part of the earth plane as their own or carve out a new life. The former get sent back to where they came from; the latter are given a job.”

  I’d always been taught not to trust a fae any further than you could throw them. It was one thing to give them a job as a bar tender and another entirely in security. The fae were dangerous, intelligent, manipulative, and only out for themselves. They’d stab you in the back at the first opportunity.

  “They’re no different than anyone else, when you get down to it. They just want a comfortable life with a bit of security. Offer them that, and you’d be surprised at how loyal they are.”

  I tried to be open minded. The fae were trouble for witches, as they were prone to interfering in witch businesses, so our opinions were naturally going to be coloured. I didn’t want to be closed minded or locked away in my own bubble.

  “We’re here.”

  I looked out the window and saw we were only two blocks away from where the witch had attacked me. My stomach twisted, and I reflexively went for my knife. It was a little too close to my home for comfort.

  18

  Thr
ee powerfully built security people stood at end entrance to the road. Dressed in black with big boots and flashes of blood red and copper on their lapels, they greeted Gideon with a small nod. The woman gave a human who was trying to take the shortcut through there a polite smile and recited a story about a gas leak. The human gestured at me as I walked past in my scruffy jeans.

  “She’s not from the gas company, why is she walking there?”

  “Ma’am, she’s a consultant that was dragged in from her vacation,” the security woman said smoothly.

  The charred remains looked far too similar to those that I’d seen a couple of nights ago. Crouching down near the head, I saw the rictus grin and felt the faint hint of the same dark magic. It must have been powerful for me to pick it up.

  My stomach roiled. That meant someone was playing with incredibly dangerous magic. It was one thing when it was one foolish witch, another when there were two.

  “How did she die?”

  “We believe she was consumed by the magic.”

  Gideon slowly circled around the blackened area, looking at it with narrowed eyes as he drank in every detail. I didn’t want that burned into my mind. It would be there, though. There was no escaping the way her hands were outstretched as though begging for help, or the wideness of her eyes as she understood what was happening to her.

  Leaning in closer, I noticed there was some scaling over her right upper arm and along the collarbone. They looked suspiciously like the scales on the Apophis witches when they took on their weird half-snake form. This magic didn’t feel like the Apophis magic, though. He was pure, unrelenting dark chaos. This was something else. Something stickier and more primordial.

  Set remained silent. Of course. He didn’t want to offer any real help. He preferred to make snarky quips and nudges when they were convenient to him. That was a downside about working with the gods. Everything was done on their terms. I didn’t see why timely responses and a little clarity were too much to ask for.