If She's Wicked

by Amelia Hutchins

  I moved to my backpack, slipping it over my shoulder as I turned, staring at them. “Catch ya later, assholes,” I smirked as I flipped them off, skipping towards the door before I blew it off the hinges and slammed my magic into his men, pushing them against the wall. Outside, the storm I’d freed raged as I smiled at Lust, who watched me with a heady stare. His gaze lingered over the bust of the dress I wore before I awarded him a pointed look.

  “Fred, don’t make me hurt you. Where is my new army?” I asked, and I turned, staring at my sisters, who smiled as they stepped from the shadows.

  “About time, we were starting to think you’d never leave that dick,” Banba uttered with a snort.

  “She always has enjoyed those two. I don’t imagine she would mind sharing? I mean, both are kings, and who doesn’t want a magical growing cock?” Fódla laughed as she hooked her arm through mine and leaned against my shoulder. “That was the longest you’ve ever been silent. I fear I will miss it,” she pouted. “Did I play my part in Faery well enough, or do you think they noticed I was happy you were back?”

  “You played it perfect; not even Lucian noticed your acting skills. The druids?” I asked.

  “Dead, or soon to be from the poison they inhaled in the sewers, where the rat bastards ran. I still can’t believe they made him kill his own child. And they say we’re fucked up.”

  “Any word of my people in the catacombs?”

  “The Fae seem to have begun feeding them. One in particular more than any other. A drop-dead gorgeous warrior. Is he one of yours that you intend to claim too?”

  “No, Zahruk is naughty, and as much as I wouldn’t mind riding him, he deserves something more. I think two men is enough, don’t you?”

  “I want a harem,” she shrugged.

  “That’s just greedy,” I grumbled. I turned, eyeing Fred as he watched me.

  “Ladies,” Fred said as he snapped his finger in front of our faces. “Your army, my Queen,” he said as the demons started to emerge from the shadows. “What are your orders?”

  “I think it’s time to ferret out Hecate and bring her up to speed on the witches currently running amok here. If she disagrees on what I have planned, she can die with them. I’m going to set the world on fire, and I’m going to fucking dance in the ashes as it burns.”

  “Um, you did that already,” Fred frowned.

  “No, I’m just getting started.” I turned, staring at the man who watched me from the balcony of his bedroom. I blew him a raspberry before I turned back to Fred. “Let’s do this, we have nine months to find those witches and end this curse. While I don’t mind being pregnant as war spreads across the earth, it’s much more fun when I can join in.”

  “You intend to carry his child? Even knowing that you will give birth to the rider of the apocalypse?” Lust growled.

  “You think I shouldn’t?” I asked, staring at him as his mind grasped onto what it meant. “He would not be born evil, and it would be thousands of years before he’s ready to take his throne. This world will either be dead or long ended before my son would rise to bring war here.”

  “My nephew!” Banba squealed excitedly as I leveled her with a cool stare and a frown.

  “We’re at your command, no matter what you intend to do.” His eyes continued to search mine. “There’s a certain Fae warrior hiding in the shadows. Do you want him handled?”

  “No,” I stated as I watched the Fae moving out of the shadows. “He’s here for what I took from him, as I promised,” I uttered as I stepped closer to Zahruk. Lucian stepped from the shadows, his men closing in around him.

  “And so the Goddess is reborn,” Lucian growled, his smirk a mix of love and chaos at seeing me in my dress and gold armlets.

  “My blades, Erie,” Zahruk snapped, and my eyes turned to him as remorse filled me from the anger I felt rolling off of him.

  “I’m sorry, but I needed to borrow them,” I said as I lifted my hands, catching both as I flipped them to the sharp ends in my hands, and held them out to him handle-first. “The kiss was unexpected but pleasant. I am sorry for the guise I created to borrow them.”

  “And the rest of it, was that all an act as well?” Synthia demanded as she sifted in. “We went to bat for you, and you’re the fucking Goddess of War!”

  “I know, and for that, I will join you in your war. I repay my debts. I needed time to gain my strength, and for allowing you to think I was some lost, wounded female, I’m sorry. I did, however, steal Lucifer’s army, set a plague loose on the druids who control the Mages, and healed the hole that is tearing Faery apart. Have you not noticed that it is completely closed?”

  “You lied to me, to us,” she growled as she tapped the toe of her shoe on the ground.

  “No, I just didn’t tell you who I was because I wasn’t fully healed yet. It wasn’t to hurt you; it was to protect me until I’d gained my full powers back. I needed to know everything that was happening. I also wanted to help you, because you are of Danu’s blood, and you’re created stronger than the race she left behind. There’s a cave inside Faery, and it holds the answer to saving your world and mine. War is coming to your land one way or another; I can either sway the battle heavily at your side or stand down. That is your choice.”

  “What would be the cost?” Lucian asked, his keen stare watching every movement I made. He didn’t trust me, but then he was older than even I was. I’d given him good reason not to trust me, but then he’d given me many more. We had a love-hate relationship, and yet we’d go to war to protect each other. It was a complicated history.

  “I wouldn’t ask a cost, nor expect one. You helped me when I needed it the most. I am still Erie, but I am also the Mórrígan. I won’t apologize again. If you want me, I will be there when the need arises.”

  “Just like that?” she asked, her violet eyes studying me.

  “Just like that, Synthia. I owed your mother a debt when she died; taking over the people she left behind wasn’t asked of me. I chose to do it because I craved the war that was coming for them. I’m not a nice person, but I do pay my debts. Lucian, I need to speak to Death, he took something from me, and I want it back. See that he knows I am looking for him and that I will set the world on fire to find him. Congratulations on Lucifer and your upcoming victory. He is exposed, his army is now mine, and he is waiting for you in the veil beyond man’s touch. Don’t keep him waiting. Synthia, the Mages are gathered inside Faery; they’re preparing to march to your stronghold. I suggest you not allow them to reach it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a world to bring to its knees for hurting my men.” I turned, blowing a kiss to the beast that watched me from his balcony with his men at his side.

  I’d discovered a lot about myself as I’d fought to come back this time—things such as the fact that I wasn’t the hero in this story. I was the antihero, and I was okay with playing it. I was his villain, the one who had brought him to his knees more than once. I was war, dipped in chaos and sprinkled with glitter to look pretty as I waged it. I was okay with who I was because I’d fought hard to come back from what he’d inadvertently put me through. My mind was unhinged, still piecing together the past, but I had the stepping stones to the story of our twisted as shit love tale, and that was all that mattered to me. So what if it took my own suicide to fully wake that which had slumbered inside of me? I was back, and I was about to bring hell down on those who had thought to kick me when I was down.

  I’d loved them both for as long as I could remember, and while I wasn’t sure what our future held, I knew that until I eliminated everything that stood between us, I’d hold them at arm’s length. I was created for war, not love. Somewhere between losing my love and finding them, I’d felt that sliver of hope blossoming and then lost it twice more. We had a turbulent relationship, of that I was certain, but it was how we’d worked. We weren’t from this world, or this time. We were ageless, from a ti
me where blood and strength chose who lived or died. I was going to bring our enemies to their knees, and I would secure our future as I’d tried to do twice before, only to fail. This time, it wasn’t an option. The difference was, growing in this body, I’d learned love, I’d learned wrong from right, and while I still blurred the lines, I’d go to hell and back to save them both, because they were mine. Or, if it didn’t work out, I’d give them everything I had left to give, and leave this world one last time. But if I was going down, I would take every asshole that had hurt them—or me—out as I left it.

  ~The End, For Now~

  About the Author

  Amelia lives in the great Pacific Northwest with her family. When not writing, she can be found on her author page, hanging out with fans, or dreaming up new twisting plots. She’s an avid reader of everything paranormal romance.