Witch's Storm (The Bone Coven Chronicles Book 2)

by Jenna Wolfhart

  Laura, Ben, and I pushed into the room just as a werewolf howled in the distance. Glass shattered down the hall, and Anastasia appeared through a window with Nathan by her side. She took one look at the swarm of demons and let out a string of expletives that would cause a sailor to blush. But I couldn’t blame her. Unless we did something—and fast—we were screwed.

  “Where are your Nosferatu fangs?” I shouted as I pulled my dagger from my sheath. Laura’s back pressed into mine, and we bent our knees as one. Together, like this, we couldn’t be attacked from behind. It was a move Dorian had drilled into our heads from day one.

  “A glass jar in the kitchen,” Piper shouted as she motioned for her coven members to form a V formation with the Magister in the front, facing the demons with daggers raised. They all reached for the vials around their necks, grabbing the blood they carried with them in order to draw their runes. But their spells would be useless against these demons unless we had those fangs. They might be able to get some damage in, but it would only be a temporary solution since these creatures were immune to our banishment magic. And there was no other way to force them out of our world.

  “You have fangs in your kitchen?” Laura shouted over the storm of demons whirling through the room. “You guys are more fucked up than I thought.”

  “I’ll grab them,” Ben said, giving me a salute before disappearing down the hall.

  Everything slowed as the demons and the mages came to a tense standoff. Laura and I stood back to back near the door with Anastasia and Nathan on either side of us. The Blood Hunter Coven hunkered in the back corner of the loft, hands curled into tight fists around their daggers and their runes. In between our two groups were four demons, only one of which who was under Piper’s control.

  Or was it?

  As the tense standoff continued, Piper’s demon cackled and threw back its arms in a show of strength, its eyes full of fire as it stared at its master. My skin skittered from a storm of shivers. These creatures were full of rage, their anger directed toward the mage who wanted to force them to do her every bidding. They’d found a way to get revenge, taking out each and every mage in her coven. One by one, when they’d been alone and entirely unaware that something had been stalking them like prey.

  I was starting to realize that demons were far more clever than I’d thought.

  So, maybe I could reason with them.

  “Listen,” I said, my voice ringing out sure and strong, even though I was trembling in my boots. “You don’t need to do this, demons. No one else needs to die. The Blood Hunter Coven will agree not to bind any of your kind anymore as long as you agree to stop these kills.” I glanced at the hallway where Ben had disappeared, hoping he would return before my diplomatic discussion time ended. Demons had never been much for truces. I doubted that would change today. “How does that sound?”

  One of the demons cackled, a harsh and grating sound that made me want to shove my hands over my ears. It turned to meet my eyes, its large and veiny neck throbbing as its leathery tongue licked its lips. Narrowing my eyes, I stood my ground. These creatures needed to see a show of strength from us if they were going to agree to our commands.

  “What guarantee can you give us, witch?” it hissed. “Are you certain these blood mages will agree?”

  “No. We’ll agree to no such thing,” Piper shouted, effectively destroying any hope I had of ending this night without a fight. She narrowed her eyes as she pointed her long, twisting blade at the demons. “Those creatures are ours to control and control them we will.”

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Laura muttered under her breath.

  All around us, the demons roared, including the one bound by Piper and her coven. They rose high in the air, their massive veiny wings flapping so hard that waves of air rushed around us. My hair billowed behind me, and I gritted my teeth, steeling myself against the oncoming attack.

  But Piper merely flicked her wrist and smiled. “Attack our enemies, demon.”

  Her demon tipped back its head and screeched, its body twisting and turning and vibrating with dark shadows that rippled into the room. It was fighting against her orders, trying its best to break free, and as I stood there with my heart rocketing inside my chest, I was suddenly sure it could.

  As strong as the spell might be, this demon was stronger. Maybe it was because Piper’s magic was too weak, or maybe it was because the demon’s strength was enhanced by the arrival of its own kind. Whatever it was, it was enough. She couldn’t control it. Not now. With one last shout of rage, the demon broke free of Piper’s binding spell.

  And suddenly, the creatures descended upon the cluster of mages. Horror-filled screams filled the room, and I felt Laura stiffen behind me, her back still tight against mine. With a roar, Nathan loped forward and joined the fight, his claws slashing against a demon’s dark and lizard-like skin. Anastasia’s fangs protruded from her mouth as she jumped to his side. Everything was a blur, full of slashing and growling and screaming and sobbing.

  “What do we do?” I whispered to Laura, fear choking my gut. “We’re not wolves or vampires, and my bone magic sucks serious ass.”

  “Use your shadow power, Zoe,” she said in a low voice. “I know the demons might be immune to being banished, but you can hold them off long enough for Ben to get back with the fangs.”

  One of the mages fell, his head cracking against the hard floor. Blood poured from the wound as his gaze went vacant and clear. Emotions battled for dominance inside me. Fear, anger, sadness, and rage. These demons would keep going until every single mage here was dead. And even though these mages had joined Piper’s coven, with her vile plan to destroy every Daywalker alive, they were innocent themselves. They hadn’t done anything wrong. Not yet.

  They didn’t deserve to die, especially not like this.

  With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and tightened my fingers around my dagger. My magic roared to life, filling up my very soul. It whispered suggestions, the darkest of things, but I didn’t even let my mind consider those thoughts.

  Bending my knees, I threw out my hand to cast my magic at the nearest demon. Swirls of black flew from my fingers like smoky tendrils of pain. They wrapped around the demon, pulling tight and choking its body like an attacking snake. Last time I’d cast this spell, the demons had fractured into a million tiny black pieces, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

  But that didn’t happen now. This demon was immune to that kind of power, immune to being forced back home. But that wouldn’t stop me from shooting a heavy dose of damage upon it. The demon screamed as it got trapped within the shadows, and I turned my attention on the next.

  Throwing out another hand, I aimed my magic on a demon who had pounced on Piper. She’d fallen to the ground, her eyes wild and her teeth chattering from the cold that had descended upon her. My shadows surrounded the demon, curling around every one of its limbs. Gritting my teeth, I kept one demon in my grip while surrounding the next, the very depths of my power shooting out into the room like a storm of darkness and shadows.

  From the corner of my eye, something shifted down the hallway. It was Ben, rushing back from the kitchen with the jar of Nosferatu fangs. His feet slowed when he saw me, his eyes transforming into saucers. Gaze flicking from my face to the shadow magic tumbling from my hands, he shook his head. My power began hissing thoughts into my mind. The bone mage doesn’t trust you. He’s going to kill you for what you are. You need to destroy him before he has a chance to get to you first.

  Squeezing my eyes tight, I shook the voices from my head, refusing to give into their demons. I was the one in control here. I refused to let the whispers take over. Even though Ben would go straight to the council and tell them what I was, I wouldn’t do a damn thing except keep my spell aimed on the demons.

  Laura left my side to join Ben, my back going cold without her there to keep me steady. She grabbed his shoulders and whispered something too low for me to hear. Swallowing hard, he finally s
napped his gaze away from me, and he passed Laura some fangs from the jar.

  Together, they joined the fray, daggers in one hand and fangs in the other. My heart throbbed hard in my chest, fear and anger pounding through me at the sight of my friend surrounded by creatures of the night. Tears leaked from my eyes. All I could do was watch, the demons thrashing hard against my shadowy wards. It was taking all my power to hold them in place while Ben and Laura sunk the fangs into their leathery skin.

  The creatures roared when the venom made contact, and the ground beneath our feet began to shake. Power rippled off their bodies and rocketed through the room. With a deep breath, I held my magic steady around them as their forms flickered and faded, shadows swirling where their skin used to be.

  “Now!” Laura shouted from where she stood amidst the carnage. “Banish them both, Zoe!”

  Gritting my teeth, I raised my hands even higher and threw another round of my darkness at the creatures. This time, the shadows took hold, clinching tighter and tighter around their fading forms until there was nothing left except a cloud of harmless smoke.

  My hands fell to my sides as breath expelled from my lungs. I was exhausted, and my power felt weak from such an intense and damaging spell. I’d never cast this much of it before, and I could have crawled in bed and slept for days.

  But we still had three demons left.

  Together, we took on the remaining demons, Anastasia and Nathan adding to the damage while the coven members cowered in the corner. It took every ounce of energy I had, but I somehow managed to banish every demon back into its realm. My power hummed in my veins, aching and weak but euphoric. Tempting. Whispering. Why stop here? There’s a werewolf and a vampire. And evil, evil blood mages. Destroy them all and take this victory for yourself.

  “Shut up,” I mumbled out loud as my hands fell to my sides, heavy and aching from the electric power that had poured from my soul.

  Ben frowned, his eyes hardening now that there were no more obstacles in our way. He knew what I was now. And there was no doubt in my mind he’d tell the council as soon as he could. I didn’t know what that would mean for me. I could be exiled from Boston. Or worse. And I didn’t know what I’d do if I could no longer call my house my home. My entire life and everyone I loved was here.

  Including Dorian.

  My heart squeezed in my chest as Piper slowly shifted out of the corner, her body visibly trembling. At the sight of her, I narrowed my eyes, the darkness within me still fuelling my rage. Now that the demons were gone, there was nothing to stop me from taking her blood and demanding Dorian’s return.

  I’d just saved her fucking ass, and she owed me.

  “Give me your vial,” I said, pointing at the necklace that hung around her neck. “I need your blood to reverse your spell on Dorian. He’s no longer yours now.”

  “No.” Piper closed her hand around her vial and shook her head. “I won’t return him. Next time we do this spell, we’ll do it stronger. Better. Binding the demons through Dorian’s vampire form means we’ll have better control.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Laura snapped. “Give Zoe the vial now. Or we’ll forcefully take it from you.”

  Anastasia’s eyes flashed as she stood from where she’d been knocked to the floor. She stared at Piper, her expression going as sharp as a knife. “So, the demons are gone, yes? All four are no more?”

  Unease fluttered through my gut at the look on her face. “That’s right. They’re gone.”

  “Anastasia,” Laura said, her voice full of warning. She took a step forward, her hand outstretched toward her vampire friend.

  “This is for killing my sisters and brothers.” Anastasia snarled and sunk her fangs into Piper’s neck. The blood mage’s screams shot through the room, a gurgling sound as her neck flowed with blood.

  “No!” I yelled, rushing toward the vampire. But she merely threw out a hand and knocked me down as she drank Piper dry. As I fell onto the floor, Piper extracted her fangs and tossed the mage aside. Blood dripped down her chin, but she didn’t even bother to brush it away. She smiled as Piper crumbled to the floor with eyes vacant and a throat raw and bloody.

  “How could you?” I hissed up at Anastasia. “We agreed not to kill anyone.”

  “You agreed. I did not. She destroyed some of mine, so she had to die as penance for her crime.” Leaning down, Anastasia snatched the blood vial off Piper’s neck and tossed it my way. “And now you can save your Unbound lover. You’ll thank me later.”

  And with that, she strode out of the loft, leaving the rest of us to pick up the pieces of the battle’s mess.

  Epilogue

  “What’s all this about?” Nathan asked from the door to Dorian’s apartment. I’d called him over while I waited for the reverse spell to take hold. Nathan had kicked some serious ass during the fight, but he had turned from euphoric and buzzing to melancholic again right when it ended. He was clearly struggling, even if he’d come to grips with who and what he was now.

  “Hold out your hand,” I said with a smile. “I have something for you.”

  He lifted his eyebrows and opened his palm. In I dropped the ring and a sheet of paper with directions to the pack in Seaport. Nathan stared down at the glittering diamonds, the lines on his face erasing in less than the space of a moment.

  “You found the ring,” he said. “Oh my god, Zoe. This means Juno doesn’t have to stay away from me anymore. But what’s this paper about?”

  “Follow these directions, and you’ll end up in the territory of the nearest werewolf pack. They took in a wolf who got turned because of Juno’s ex-boyfriend. They’ll take you in as well and teach you more about your wolf nature than anyone here in the city can. You’ll have room to run. A pack to share all of this with. But, just so you know, before I knew what this ring meant to you, I promised it to them. I figured they’d appreciate receiving it from you rather than from me.”

  Nathan’s face went through a kaleidoscope of emotions. Relief and hope battled with sorrow. “Take it to the pack? But what about Juno?”

  “I don’t know, Nathan,” I had to admit. “That’s something you’ll have to work out with them. Hell, to tell you the truth, I don’t trust them with the ring. But I trust you. I’m counting on you to make sure they don’t want it for some terrible reason we haven’t found out yet.”

  With a grim set to his lips, he nodded. “Alright. I’ll do my best.”

  “Oh, and Nathan,” I said as he turned to go. “Thank you. For everything. I know you don’t approve of Dorian, but you helped me find him anyway. If you hadn’t been there, I don’t know what I would have done.”

  “You would have gotten him back regardless, Zoe. Now, go to him. I can hear him rustling around back there. He’s awake.”

  “Dorian,” I whispered when I pushed aside the curtain to join him in his bedroom. For the first time since I’d known him, he was actually spread out on the bed, the covers draped softly across his chest. I swallowed hard as I stared at him, hot desire shooting through my core.

  I’d thought he was dead. I’d thought I’d never see him again.

  And now here he was, tired and weary but so very much alive.

  All I wanted was to touch every single part of him, to feel his skin, to feel the tremor where his heart should be.

  His gaze locked on my eyes, hooking me deep in my soul. Our bond pulled tight, and my feet began moving toward him. Step by step until my knees knocked against the bed. His hand snaked out and grabbed my wrist. Despite the coolness of his skin, his touch sent a delicious fire through my belly, warming up every inch of me, chasing away the fear and the pain of the past twenty-four hours.

  “Zoe,” he said, voice rough. “You’re here. You found me.”

  Swallowing hard, I nodded. “With a little help.”

  “I dreamed of you,” he said, his gaze piercing as he raked his eyes across my body. “You looked strong and powerful, and you drove the demons away.”

  Bef
ore I could respond, he yanked me onto his chest. His arms wrapped around my back and held me against his body. My heart went wild, flickering faster than firelight. Every sense came alive, Dorian’s presence filling me up and drowning out the world outside. Because while he’d dreamed, so had I. And this was what they were made of.

  Smiling, he traced his finger along my lip and growled. “I’ve wanted you in my bed for so fucking long, Zoe Bennett. And I had to get kidnapped by a demon to finally get you here.”

  A light laugh escaped my throat. “You have no idea just how much I’ve wanted the same thing.”

  “And here I thought you hated me.”

  “Are you serious?” Shaking my head, I stared at him. He was perfect, in everything he did and said. Even if he pissed me off at times, every moment with him was better than without. We were a team. Friends. And now I hoped we were going to be much, much more than that. Hell, I even liked it when we bickered. Because being in his presence made me feel alive in ways nothing else ever had.

  “Partly serious,” he said, tracing his finger down my neck until it hit the collar of my shirt. “The emotions that flow through our bond tell one story, but then you seem angry at me on the outside.”

  “That’s only because you push me to be a better version of myself, and I’ve been trying to shove it away, trying to hold back from everything I am and everything I want.” I shifted higher onto his body, feeling the hard planes of his stomach underneath me. “But I don’t want to run from that anymore. Not my magic, not my past, and especially not you.”

  His lips caught mine just as my phone buzzed in my pocket. With a grunt, I dug into my jeans and fumbled to turn it off. Right now, everything else could wait. But just as soon as I hit the button, Dorian’s phone began to ring.

  Sighing, he shook his head and pulled back, frustration rolling across his angular face. “If they’re calling both of us, it must be important.”