Rebel Witch

by September Stone

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Bryn

  As I creep through the shadowy forest on silent feet, my heart pounds so hard against the cage of my chest that I’m afraid it’ll break through at any moment.

  Everything is ready. Our trap is set. I know exactly what I have to do to stop Lillian. But the knowledge does nothing to calm my trembling fingers as I push aside brush and low-hanging branches. Overhead, the full moon shines its silvery light through the canopy of leaves, casting a host of skittering shadows over the forest floor. Tonight is the night on which the death mark was to kill me. If things don’t go right, there’s still a chance I could die.

  I gulp around the tight knot in my throat. I can’t think that way. Everything will work out.

  It has to.

  When I reach the edge of the clearing where Mona instructed me to wait, the blood rushing in my ears is so loud I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to hear if someone was stomping through the underbrush directly behind me.

  Lillian stands atop a large, flat boulder, looking like a dark fairy princess in her floor-length, lacy white gown and with her long hair loose around her shoulders. Half a dozen men stand before her in a semicircle, but she doesn’t acknowledge their existence. But the oddest thing about the whole scene is the tripod set up with a video camera aimed at Lillian. For a moment I wonder if she doesn’t want to film the moment when she receives her final magical affinity, but then I realize the camera’s true purpose. Mona told the truth about the gathering of vampires thirty miles away. Lillian plans to livestream her announcement to them once she’s acquired her last magical affinity.

  Except that’s not going to happen. Elowen broke the death mark—a fact that Lillian will soon learn.

  Every muscle in my body is primed for action, but I don’t dare move before it’s time. When I asked Mona why it’s important to wait until after Lillian realizes the death mark didn’t work, she clucked her tongue with disappointment before explaining that we need Lillian mad—too mad to think clearly. If I jump out too early, Lillian will be too full of anticipation to spare me much notice; she’ll simply send her minions after me, and they’re not our target. But once she knows the curse failed, she should be angry enough to spring into action herself.

  And if she isn’t… Well, I can only hope Mona holds up her side of the plan.

  “The time is upon us.” Lillian’s confident voice easily carries through the clearing. “In mere moments, I’ll possess my final magical affinity, and then our reign can begin!”

  A smattering of applause echoes against the nearby trees as Lillian lifts her hands skyward and tips back her head. Anticipation crackles through the air. I hold my breath, readying myself for the opportune moment.

  Nearly a minute passes before Lillian’s arms drop to her side and her head snaps back to center. She rounds on the slender figure standing on her left. “Why isn’t it working?”

  The man cowers, holding his hands up as if to fend off an impending attack. “I don’t know. I don’t know! I’m not the one who cast the curse!”

  “But you understand the mechanics of it, don’t you?” Lillian snaps. “What’s wrong? That little witch’s powers should be mine now!” In a flash, she’s off the boulder and in front of the cringing daemon, arm raised like she plans to strike him.

  Even though I don’t know anything about this new person she’s bound to her service, I can’t let her hurt him. All I can see is Silas in his place, and no one should have to endure violence when a spoiled bitch like Lillian doesn’t get her way.

  I leap into the clearing, allowing the moonlight to bathe me in its silver-white glow. “That magic you’re waiting for? Yeah, I think I’m going to keep it.” Seven pairs of eyes lock onto me, but I don’t allow myself to quiver under the weight of their gazes. “I came here to give you a message, Lillian: Leave me alone, or there will be consequences.”

  “Get her!” yells one of the men.

  But before any of them take more than a step, Lillian’s voice cuts through the night like a knife. “No! The witch is mine!”

  Taking my cue, I pivot and dart back into the forest. With each pound of my foot against the earth, I send sparks of my magic into the plant life around me, and it silently accepts my will and does my bidding. Subtle shivers of tree branches point me in the direction I should go, leading me to the field where the charm I made lies in wait.

  “Come back here!” Lillian screeches. “Your magic is mine!”

  “Not today!” I shout over my shoulder. Roots, vines, and stumps vanish as I pass by, allowing me an even path on which to run. But Lillian’s frustrated screams assure me my magic isn’t giving her nearly so kind a trail.

  When I finally burst into the field, I aim straight for the spot where the charm lies half-buried in the ground. A ring of white moonflowers marks the perimeter of the gravity trap, and I’m preparing for the jump over it when hands slam down on my shoulders, knocking me forward.

  I try to keep my balance, but Lillian’s full weight propels me to the ground. I buck and twist, but instead of throwing her off me, I manage only to roll onto my back. Lillian’s violet eyes glow and her elongated canines glisten in the moonlight.

  “Foolish girl! Did you really think you could threaten me?” She pins my wrists above my head with one hand and presses the other against my sternum. “I don’t know how you escaped the death mark, but it doesn’t matter now. I will have your magic, little witch.”

  I wrench my arms against her hold. “No. I won’t let you!”

  She chuckles throatily. “Like you have choice.” In a lightning-fast motion, she moves one hand to my jaw and the other to my shoulder, pressing on both spots to expose my neck. I can feel the pounding of my blood through my veins, like the liquid of my life is calling out to the vampire baring down on me.

  I ball my fists and pound at every part of Lillian I can touch, but nothing I do has any effect. She inches closer and closer to my skin, the achingly slow pace ratcheting up my panic. Can she taste fear? If so, she’s about to experience an overpowering bouquet.

  I press my hands against her torso, attempting to push her away, but I’m just not strong enough. My palms tingle, and before I think through the idea, I summon all the magic I can to my hands. Like in the car on the way here, the skin heats to a level that should cause me pain, but it doesn’t.

  The same can’t be said for Lillian, who screams and jerks away, giving me the window I need to slip out from under her. Getting my feet beneath me, I dash around the moonflowers and turn to face Lillian. “Is that all you’ve got, old lady?”

  A scream tears itself from Lillian’s throat and she charges at me. But as soon as her feet cross over the moonflower barrier, she collapses to the ground as the magnified force of gravity within the circle pulls her down with too much power to escape. The half-buried charm begins glowing with a milky blue color.

  “What are you doing?” Lillian demands, her words slow and slurred.

  “We’re taking what shouldn’t belong to you.”

  I jump at the sound of Mona’s voice, pressing a hand to my heart to keep it firmly inside my chest cavity. “Are her people taken care of?” I cringe at the vagueness of my question. I made Mona promise we wouldn’t kill anyone on this mission, but it isn’t as if I trust her to be a woman of her word.

  “They all succumbed to my song, as expected.” Mona’s eyes are locked on Lillian as she approaches. “They’re on their way to Las Vegas to enjoy a long weekend. We shouldn’t be interrupted here.”

  The charm begins to pulse with a slow, steady rhythm. “How long will this take?”

  “Why? Do you have somewhere to be?” Mona casts me an annoyed glance before turning her attention back to Lillian. “I’m not entirely sure. Maybe an hour? The charm has four affinities to absorb, after all.”

  Her words jar against my ears. “Four? You mean three, right?”

  Mona glances at me, the corner of her mouth curving. “Do I?”

&nbs
p; Before I can react—before I can even think—Mona grabs hold of my shoulders and swings me in an arc. As soon as my feet pass over the circle of moonflowers, my body feels like it weighs a ton. Unable to hold myself up, I smash into the ground. Stars pop in my eyes as the back of my head slams against the dirt. “What are you doing?” I demand, each word a struggle to grind out.

  Mona releases a deep sigh. “Oh, my dear. Surely you saw this coming. You really are too trusting.” She points at the glowing charm in the center of the trap. “That thing doesn’t simply pull the magic out of a person—it collects it. And once it’s collected all four affinities, I’ll take them on myself. You see, child, I really did have a moment of realization when Lillian held me captive. And the one thing I promised myself is that I will never, ever be weak again.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Poe

  We’re less than a quarter mile from the spot where the map says the ley lines intersect when I feel it. My stomach lurches so hard I’m afraid the cheeseburger I bolted down before meeting up with the Front earlier might make a reappearance.

  “Ugh,” Silas breathes from behind me. “Can we slow down for a second?”

  I glance over my shoulder, ready to read him the riot act for wanting to kick it into low gear when we’re so close to our target, but when I catch the pinched looks on Calder’s and Taj’s faces, I freeze in my tracks. “Do you all feel sick all of a sudden?”

  Taj and Calder nod wordlessly while Silas shakes his head. “That can’t be a good sign,” he mutters.

  “Something’s wrong with Bryn.” I don’t know how I’m so sure, but I can feel the truth of the proclamation in my bones. “Rivers be damned. I wish we had some backup.”

  “The mission commander said he’d spare who he could as soon as he could,” Taj says. “There might be a team on the way here right now, for all we know.”

  “Which doesn’t do us a fat lot of good.” We’re up against an unknown quantity of enemies on an unknown terrain. If reinforcements are coming, we might end up squaring off against them before realizing they’re on our side. “If Bryn is in trouble, we need to move.”

  The guys don’t complain as we continue through the forest. With the moon glowing bright overhead, our progress is quick, but still I push harder. As we were studying the map of ley lines, the Front member who reached out to her contacts in Twin Rivers found us and reported that the safe house was empty. And although I have no definitive proof she’s out in these woods, it’s the most logical assumption. We know Mona wants to bring down Lillian, and given the lengths she went through to send the Front on a wild goose chase and get Bryn alone, I have to believe she needs Bryn for whatever plan she’s cooked up.

  I only slow my pace as we approach the coordinates. I motion for the others to stay in the shadows as I press forward into a small clearing. A large, flat-topped boulder stands toward the center of the area, but the only clue that people have been here recently is the tripod topped with a video camera aimed at the rock.

  “They’re not here,” I say when I return to my companions.

  “They could be somewhere nearby.” There’s a note of desperation in Calder’s voice, and I can’t resist the urge to cup a hand on his shoulder.

  “Maybe.” I say it because I want it to be true. “Let’s split up and search. We’ll meet back here in fifteen minutes. Call if you find anything.”

  With determined expressions, the guys split off in different directions. But instead of taking off right away, I take my time in the clearing. It’s obvious someone was here, and I’d like to have as many details as possible before moving forward.

  Trampled circles of grass near the boulder tell me there were six people here—probably men, based on the size of the patches. Five smell faintly of copper, but the sixth bears a note of sulfur. Vampires and a daemon.

  I circle the edge of the clearing, hoping for some other hint. I’m about to give up and start off in the only unclaimed direction left when a familiar sent prickles my nose. Cinnamon.

  Bryn was here.

  The aroma is faint. It’s clear she wasn’t here nearly as long as the vampires or the daemon. But the fact that I can smell it at all gives me hope that she didn’t leave too long ago.

  I dart into the forest, my eyes sweeping the moon-splattered forest as I go. I catch a whiff of cinnamon every few yards—just enough to let me know I’m on the right track. Everything in me wants to call out for her, but I rein in the desire. I have no idea who else might be out here, and I don’t want to give away my location.

  Finally, I find myself in a small field. The scent of cinnamon is stronger here than it’s been anywhere, and I rush forward, scanning the tree line for any sign of movement.

  That’s when I see it—a pulsing blue-white light surrounded by two shadowy lumps on the ground. And these aren’t fallen logs or animals bedding down for the night—they’re people. One wears a long, lacy white dress with black char marks along the torso. The other figure’s long, blonde hair fans out around her face.

  “Bryn!” I run the last few yards, my eyes fixed on her form and searching for obvious signs of trauma.

  “Don’t,” she croaks. “Trap.”

  My blood runs cold, but before I can puzzle through what kind of trap she means, movement in my periphery draws my eye.

  “I should have known her lovers would come for her.”

  Mona Ward steps out of the shadows. She wears the same painted-on jeans as the last time I saw her, but she’s abandoned the gray jacket in favor of a low-cut black tank top. If she’s wearing a bra, it’s no match for the crisp night air’s effect on her nipples, which jut out like diamonds against the fabric of her shirt.

  “Let her go,” I growl.

  Mona tosses her burgundy hair over her shoulder. “No. I don’t think I will. And you’re not going to stop me.”

  My hand, which was digging in my pocket for my phone, goes slack at her words. Of course I’m not going to stop Mona. Why would I?

  “Poe.” The syllable sounds labored on Bryn’s lips. “Don’t listen to her.”

  Mona laughs, and it’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. Like wind chimes dancing in a summer breeze. “Dear girl, you don’t get it, do you? Soon that charm will siphon off your magic, and it will be mine. And when it is mine, they will be, too. I’ll be their anchor, and I’d be lying if I said I’m not looking forward to the fringe benefits of the arrangement.”

  The word anchor pricks something deep inside me. Yes. My anchor. The one my soul is bound to through magic, passion, and love.

  Mona approaches, and a nagging sense in the back of my mind tries to tell me something important, but I can’t focus on it. She fixes me with her turquoise eyes—like bottomless pools I could swim in forever. “Yes, you’ll do nicely,” she purrs. “You’re looking forward to life with your new mistress, aren’t you, shifter?”

  I nod because I know I’m supposed to. Mona’s fingers trace the side of my jaw and draw a line down my neck. She pressed her palm flat against my chest, and my body screams for more.

  “Poe. I’m right here. Be strong, Poe.”

  The heavy voice is a minor annoyance—not nearly enough to distract me from the feeling of Mona’s hand drifting lower. She traces my abs through my shirt before skating a finger along the waistband of my jeans.

  “You want me, don’t you?” Mona sings.

  In response, my cock swells, pressing against its denim prison. A moan escapes me when Mona cups my manhood through the fabric.

  “Poe, what the fuck?”

  The voice ringing through the forest is vaguely familiar, but my head is so full of music that it’s hard to recall the name of its owner. It isn’t until I catch a glimpse of the slim, black-haired man that this name comes to me. Silas.

  “I suggest you come over here and find out for yourself, daemon,” Mona says.

  Silas stops short for a moment before complying. There’s something strange about the way he moves, and
the word robotic floats into my mind before being drown out.

  “Silas,” Bryn whimpers, but I barely hear her over my own sigh of disappointment when Mona removes her hand from me and turns her attention on the newcomer. But my mood lightens when my mistress bids me to follow her. As she begins kissing a trail along Silas’ neck, I pull Mona’s ass tight against my throbbing cock, holding her in place with one hand while allowing the other to explore her breasts.

  Something about this situation is familiar—but some details are off. I never thought I’d be okay sharing a woman with a daemon, but this isn’t a first for Silas and me. Although last time, our positions were reversed. He was the one getting his dick wet from behind, and it was so incredibly fucking hot watching him pound her pussy while her mouth worked around my length. And what a sweet mouth it is. Everything is sweet about her. My Bryn.

  The illusion shatters as the music in my head switches off like someone hitting the power button on the radio. Mona is using her song on me. I don’t love her—I love Bryn, the woman crying out for Silas and me to hear her through the haze of the siren’s song.

  I don’t know how long my miraculous clarity will last, and I need to make the most of it before it’s too late. Careful not to give anything away, I continue grinding against Mona’s backside while I study the trap imprisoning Bryn. Although I’ve never seen anything with this kind of effect before, stasis traps are all typically the same. A ring of moonflowers circles the area where Bryn and Lillian lie, but it isn’t until I glimpse a glitter of crystal hidden among the vines that I strike.

  With as much speed as I can muster, I jump back from Mona before kicking her square in the ass. She stumbles forward into Silas, whose dark eyes brighten as the siren knocks into him. Before Mona has the chance to speak, I drop to the ground a knock the nearest crystal out of alignment. As soon as Bryn’s arm twitches, I know the magic containing her has broken, and I reach in and pull her to my chest. Lillian bolts to a sitting position and is gathering her feet under her when I press the crystal back into place. Immediately, the vampire drops like a ton of bricks.