The Witch's Demon (Delsin Chronicles Book 1)

by Bella Benz

  That was when he knew that this was a rare occurrence – the woman had been expelled from a coven, but they had not taken her life or given her anything that would help her to begin elsewhere. Witches weren’t exactly restrained without reason. If a witch committed certain types of transgressions, she was killed or hexed so that she would be miserable for the rest of her days. There was no hint of this kind of spell in the air. Nor was the witch outside being expelled for anything that was simply a matter of disagreement. This often led to witches parting on… not exactly friendly terms, but certainly without all of the malice of the other kind of expulsion. The smell filling the space let him know this was a unique dissolution.

  Instead of staying in the coven’s home, Delsin decided he was more interested in the witch outside struggling to stand up. The witches had made sure they didn’t miss a second of her pain and anguish, making the door see-through on their side. A shiver went down his spine, though, and Delsin wanted to put as much space between him and the witches as possible. One or two of them began to say something about a presence, and he was not interested in waiting around to see if they could sense his spirit. They shouldn’t have been able to sense him without certain measures in place, so he was momentarily distracted as he returned to the other side of the door. He turned to look back at them, trying to determine if he should use any of his own magic.

  So far, there was a lot that was wrong about this particular time web, and the warlock was beginning to wonder if he wasn’t as unobtrusive as he should have been.

  Perhaps I will be able to understand more by finding out who she is. This must be a witch from my past. I just can’t place her. His eyes followed her as she pressed her body against the door and stood up slowly. Soon it became incredibly clear why she was having so much trouble.

  He looked a little closer at her, and the warlock wished that there was something he could do to help her as he saw exactly how horrible her situation was. Her hair was wet, clinging to her face. Someone had cut it, a ritual that witches used to symbolize that they were expelling one of their own. But it was her stomach that really caused his heart to go out to the woman. Her belly was swollen, indicating that she was well into a pregnancy, and he nearly immediately knew this was several months since the last memory. That explained why only her hair had been hacked off and not other parts of her body. Why the witches had banished her, but not killed or hexed her. The coven witches had not wanted to kill someone carrying a demon child because it would almost certainly result in their own demise.

  That didn’t mean that she wasn’t hurt, though – the witches had just ensured that she hadn’t been killed. Expelling her from their home was nearly as certain a death sentence, but there was a chance that as a witch she would survive. If she were clever. If she could not do it herself, the demon would need to protect her, sparing them from his wrath at least until the child was born. Once the birthing process began, the demon would cease to care about what the coven had done because he would have gotten the spawn he sought. This woman would no longer be of any importance to him. At worst, the coven would not be able to call on him for any of their own work in the future, having forced him to materialize to protect her, but they seemed all right with losing a potential ally.

  Delsin looked more closely at the woman, trying to determine why she had been thrown out so close to the end of her pregnancy.

  Having returned to her feet, the pregnant witch was weakly banging her fists against the solid oak door, but there was barely any noise. As he looked closer, Delsin could see the features of her face clearly for the first time – no paint or darkness to obscure her features. Her voice was clear as she shouted, “If you cast me out, you shall feel his wrath! I shall see to it!”

  Delsin clicked his tongue at such an ineffective threat. The woman had no idea what she had gotten into during the ritual, and the warlock was beginning to fear that he would have to witness her death when the baby arrived. Clearly Lilith had meant for him to be following this witch’s memories, but he had no idea who she was. There was only a hint of familiarity about her, and he was too concerned with the situation to try to place where he had seen her. If the witch did not put up any kind of defense against her baby’s birth soon, she would not survive the process. Not without the help of a coven. Yet she was wasting her time on trying to get back in. It was stunning just how little this witch seemed to understand about the world around her.

  Any pity or disgust he felt about what the woman had done was quickly overshadowed by something else. He could clearly hear a crackling sound, and Delsin didn’t need to see it to know that the witches on the other side were laughing at the woman’s plight, their entertainment heightening as she seemed unable to process that they would not take her back. Moving a little closer, he listened to her hoarse words as the witch pleaded for help, apologizing for having gone through with the ritual against their wishes. Evidently the coven leader had meant to go through the process herself, but no demons would come now – not as long as another spawn was to be born soon. It would likely kill any witch carrying a demon, a risk that demons would not take. This woman had ruined whatever plans the coven had, so they had expelled her as soon as it was safe to do so.

  Perhaps she had felt they would overlook it. Her whispered pleas made it clear that she had turned them down in allowing them to use the child. Repeatedly apologizing, the witch said that she couldn’t do that to her child.

  Delsin frowned, trying to comprehend exactly what the witch had planned to do with the child. Demons were only in the realm to either serve their mothers or to feed off of civilizations. There wasn’t much middle ground in his experience. If this witch wasn’t willing to let the coven make use of the child, exactly what had she been hoping to get from the pregnancy herself? What kind of rebellious act was it to get impregnated by a demon if she didn’t plan to take over the coven? The woman’s unfettered emotions made no sense.

  He took a few steps toward her, wishing that there was some way to help her. “Come away. There’s nothing here for you.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

  The witch leaned her shoulder against the door, apparently starting to understand that she would never be allowed back inside. Now that she was less frantic, Delsin got a better look at her, and again his heart went out to her. The poor woman’s body was barely covered by her torn clothing, and under it her body looked like a patchwork of cuts and bruises – the torture had clearly been prolonged to ensure she didn’t die. Some of her bones were broken, which nearly guaranteed her death without the assistance of the demon. Delsin’s eyes travelled around him, but he did not see the creature anywhere. Frowning, he looked back at her, wondering how long she had. Covens were always established far from any kind of settlement to ensure that they were not attacked by hunters, warlocks, and other people who did not approve of what they did. That meant that this poor wounded woman would need help getting to a place where she could find protection. She certainly looked pathetic – a boon if she could reach safety.

  The problem was that there would be wolves – at the very least – to contend with in the forest. She reeked of blood, making it easy for any creature in the surrounding area to pick up her scent. As soon as she started to move away from the safety of the coven, she would be easy prey.

  Delsin drew his hand over his mouth. In his own time, the warlock would hand her over to the judges to establish her fate. He had never let such a woman go free. But none of the women had been so clearly broken and desperate as this one. These women planned to use their child to gain power, and they were perfectly willing to promise it to others to save their own skins. Over the last two decades, he had come to think of witches who carried demon spawn as little more than narcissistic megalomaniacs who always sought to improve their position. This woman was nothing like what he had seen in the past. Delsin had never pitied a witch who mated with a demon.

  Her eyes were closed as she seemed to be trying to build up her s
trength to finally walk away from the coven. When she finally opened them, she looked up at the cloudless sky. A sad smile spread over her face. “A cruel mockery of my position, huh? I suppose even you are angry with me.”

  Delsin’s eyes looked up to the same spot, though he knew nothing was there. The woman was talking to whatever deity or deities the coven followed. They were generally a very cruel lot, so she would not find any help now that she had been expelled.

  Delsin rubbed a hand along the back of his neck, his discomfort strong as he wasn’t sure how to counter the sorrow he felt looking at the woman. She took a deep breath. “As long as the child lives, I am all right with my life being forfeit.”

  He cocked his head at this, but she pushed away from the door, her legs shaking under her. Without thinking, Delsin moved toward her, stretching out a hand. She seemed to catch herself, and the poor woman began to walk away. Part of his brain was yelling at him that he wasn’t there, that he wasn’t helping her, but Delsin could not stop his natural reaction. He slipped a hand around her waist and willed her to walk forward. Almost as if in response to him, she started to move a little faster, her strides getting longer as she moved away from the home where she had lived for more than a decade.

  “Thank you,” she murmured.

  Delsin looked around him, but he could not see who she was talking to. It was possible that the demon was there, propping her up so that the baby would be born somewhere safer than the wild. There was nothing saying that a demon would be visible to him in his current state.

  Then why did you see him before? Delsin quickly pushed the thought out of his mind and focused on moving forward. He knew that she could not see him, but the warlock imagined that his strong emotions were getting through to her, giving the woman a bit of strength to keep going. Or maybe it was just her apparent love for the child. Nothing about this time in the web seemed to make any sense. He had expected her to call the demon to help her, but he had never heard her utter anything that seemed like a call upon the father – not when she was at the door, nor since she had left the building. But once she was expelled from the home, the demon should have been there, sensing a threat to his spawn.

  The warlock studied her, wondering if she had even found out the name of her child’s father. Either she had not, or she had refused to use his name, though he could not think of a reason why she would hold back. Had she called out for the demon, it was possible that the witches could have tried to bind him, negating her protection. However, that was incredibly unlikely. It was far too dangerous to take on an angry demon from its home dimension – they had completely destroyed entire cities with little effort. Give a demon a reason to fight, and the witches would have stood little chance.

  But why was she refusing to call him now? He could almost feel her weight on him the further they walked, and as often as not, he forgot that this was just a memory. They slowly made their way through the forest, which was surprisingly devoid of any kind of threat. Delsin listened for sounds of something coming, signs that there was a significant threat just waiting to make a move. But there was nothing. The birds sang as usual, and he could hear the faint rustling sounds of other smaller animals going about their usual activities.

  Perhaps it is because we are moving during the day. His mind began trying to understand the situation, reaching for explanations that might make the current predicament make sense. Witches, particularly pregnant ones, were a major draw for nefarious woodland creatures. Here was one making her way through the forest without any help, too weak to fight off anything that would come after her. Delsin kept his head on a swivel, looking for anything that might attack, his thoughts completely consumed by the strangeness of the situation.

  She continued for hours like this. The witch’s legs moved a little faster now, almost as if she no longer felt the pain. The poor thing stopped when she heard some voices nearby. Her dried lips opened and she seemed to try to call out, but only a whimper escaped, as her clearly raw throat would not allow for any words to form. Despite how low the sound was, the voices stopped. The sound of movement got nearer as Delsin stood there, desperately wishing he could protect the witch. What had she been thinking, calling out like that?

  A small group of villagers emerged, and they immediately reacted to her. Too exhausted to continue, the witch fainted to the ground. Suddenly the images around Delsin seemed to waver, letting him know that this memory was now complete. His eyes went to the woman, and for the first time in his life, Delsin wanted to fight the magic to stay and help – even though he knew he couldn't. Running his hand over his mouth, the warlock shook his head and moved forward. Not knowing what to expect, he stepped toward the next threat, but not without looking back to see a villager picking up the woman.

  Delsin jerked his head forward and forced himself to walk away.

  ✽✽✽

  CHAPTER THREE

  Bracing himself, Delsin stepped into the next memory, half expecting another perilous situation. Silence met his ears as his eyes took in the surrounding area. It looked like a forest, but it was certainly somewhere much more civilized than where he had left the witch. There was no way to tell how much time had passed since the last one, but he automatically looked for the woman who had been in the last two scenes. As he started looking around, the warlock noticed something that was always an indication of a problem.

  Habit forced him to cast a protection spell as his brain began to pay attention to his surroundings – the place was too quiet.

  A whimper from nearby drew the warlock’s attention, and he headed toward it. “Little fool?” he called out quietly. His voice sounded strange in his ears as he sought the witch who had been in the last two memories. There was no doubt in his mind that it was the witch, but he couldn’t see her.

  As if in response, there was a quiet shushing sound. Delsin drew his hand over his face, shifting his vision so that he could better see anything living nearby. Crouching not too far away was the familiar figure, her belly even larger than the last time. Instinctively he knew that it had been only a few weeks since the last memory.

  Delsin’s shoulders relaxed as he moved forward. “There you are.” Even he could hear the relief in his voice as he carefully inched toward her through the brambles. Sitting down beside her, he wondered why she was cowering this time. “What is the problem, little witch?” His question was spoken without thinking because she could not hear him. Delsin knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help but feel some sense of connection with this poor creature. She had made so many mistakes, yet none of them for the reasons that he would have attributed to a witch. There was something clearly different about her, and he couldn’t help but be curious to learn what would happen to her. Her immoral actions should have turned him against her, but Delsin was finding himself hoping that she would actually be safe. Almost forgetting that she was carrying a demon.

  The witch had her arms wrapped around her knees. Pulling them toward her, she muttered, “Thank you. I had thought I was forsaken since it is nearly time.” Her body shuddered.

  Looking around, he wondered about her words. Turning his head, the warlock sought some indication that there was someone else nearby that she was addressing, but there was no one. Frowning, he faced her and began to focus more on her current state. Her eyes were wide and terrified, giving her the appearance that she was half delirious. Delsin reached out and placed a phantom hand on her shoulder without saying a word. It was clear that she was running a high fever, something he hadn’t noticed when he had first spotted her. Another basic mistake on his part, proving that he was getting too emotionally invested in the memory.

  A memory can’t hurt me. The excuse was quick to come to mind, but he knew that even if there were no risks for him in the current situation, it was dangerous to allow himself to get too comfortable when surrounded by the unknown. He should be keeping up his guard, not relaxing into a false sense of security because there were no stakes for him in a memory.

  It w
as possible that the demon who impregnated her was around. If that were the case, it could mark him – it lived in a different dimension, so there was no way to tell exactly what it could do. Time did not work for pure demons the way it did for people on this plane. Delsin shook his head vigorously, trying to clear out the sympathetic thoughts.

  And he still had no idea why she was cowering.

  A few minutes passed in near complete silence. Delsin was able to make out the sounds of humans shouting, their voices loud as they shouted orders at each other. He had experienced this enough times to know exactly what was happening. She was being hunted. “Oh, little witch, you have a way of getting yourself into such trouble. It’s clear you have been sheltered your whole life.” He smiled as he looked at her, fighting down the urge to move her hair out of her terrified face. “Do you even have the strength to protect yourself?”

  The woman bit her lip. “I can’t do anything. I can’t protect my baby.” She wrapped her arms around her stomach as if her thin arms could prevent anything from hurting the child. Her body rocked, causing the brambles to move and rustle. There was a wildness in her eyes, and Delsin’s heart went out to her.

  “I’ve never seen a witch who cared about her demon child. You are quite the strange little fool.” He shook his head. He looked around them and saw that the hunters were coming closer, a small pack of dogs leading the way. “I wish I could help. A simple spell to create a tree around you would be adequate with this lot. They aren’t exactly adept at using magic.” His eyes took in their surroundings, as if there were anything he could do. All was not lost, though. “You are incredibly lucky that you aren’t being tracked by other magic users because you are in no state to fight them on your own. If you can tamp down the terror enough to cast a spell, you can save yourself and the child.”