A smile of joy curls across my lips as the rhythmic rise and fall of Jax and Gunner's chests lull me to sleep.
Dedications
To Ladysparkles, who loves these characters perhaps as much as we do. ♥
ABOUT BETHANY JADIN
Bethany Jadin is the pen name of two best friends, Elaina and Beth, who enjoy writing unconventional romance together. They love telling stories with a tantalizing combination of sizzling hot steam, action-suspense, and sexy, smart men you'll fall head-over-heels for. You'll find humor, heart, and heat inside every series. Signup for their newsletter: eepurl.com/dgrqPL or join their readers' group: facebook.com/groups/jadinsmaidens for sneak peeks, exclusive content, and more.
OTHER BOOKS BY
BETHANY JADIN
The Code Series
Vested Interest
Hidden Agenda
Broken Process
Risky Business
Perfect Design
Get the complete series of all five novels:
The Code Box Set is available now!
WITCHY TRICKS
AND
DEMON TREATS
BY
CRYSTAL ASH
WITCHY TRICKS AND DEMON TREATS
BY CRYSTAL ASH
How does a family of witches and demons celebrate Halloween? They don't. It's Samhain or nothing, according to Deja.
She's in a pickle when her three children beg to go trick-or-treating. When her daughter befriends a young girl who sees the dead, Deja is reminded of her own childhood.
While discussing the young girl's strange ability, and the Halloween issue with her own children, Deja learns her four lovers have their own tricks (and treats) up their sleeves.
WITCHY TRICKS AND DEMON TREATS
BY CRYSTAL ASH
© COPYRIGHT 2018 CRYSTAL ASH
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are either the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 4 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
PROLOGUE
My third child was born on a Samhain night. The moon hung round and full in a sky just as inky black as the hair that covered her head when she came into the world not crying, but smiling and cooing.
“Congratulations, Dads!” the doctor said, swiveling her head around to the four men standing like imposing guardians around my hospital bed. “Who’s holding her first?”
“Give her to me.” Raum’s silky, commanding voice elicited shivers of desire up my spine despite the exhaustion from giving birth that consumed me.
Everyone looked on proudly as he took the tiny bundle in his arms and beamed down at his newborn daughter. Her head of thick black hair matched his, which fell to his collar in silky waves, perfectly.
Biological paternity was not something we cared about, seeing as there were four of them and one of me. All of them would be doting fathers to her, just as they were with our older two, Deidre and Braxton. But all of us saw it as clear as day when Raum grinned down at lucky number three, and she smiled right back.
She was his, through and through.
“Hello, Raven,” he cooed in a soft voice, his dark eyes dancing with joy.
“Raven, huh?” Seth lifted an eyebrow, his stormy grey eyes lighting up. “It’s a pretty name, but does Deja get any say in it?”
“He’s seen all of this already,” I said, waving my hand tiredly. “He knew her gender, name, and date of birth before we even conceived her. And anyway,” I smiled at the newborn with her father, “Raven is a perfect name.”
Each of my demons possessed unique abilities, but Raum’s visions of the past and future were something else entirely. It was no wonder the early Norse regarded him as Odin. His powers spanned across human history, even if no one knew it was him.
“She’s perfect, my love.” Ash leaned over and lifted the hair stuck to my forehead before kissing me there. “You were amazing.” His coarse beard tickled my skin, and his crystal blue eyes gleamed with pride. With the overly bright hospital lights shining on his blonde hair like a halo, my fallen angel looked nothing short of angelic.
Raum handed Raven over to Sal, who took her with incredible care. While supporting her head, he enveloped our daughter in his forearms as though creating an impenetrable shield. If anything even thought to try and harm her, Sal would kill them with a single look, and do so with brutality and pain.
But my fiery, wrathful demon just melted as he cradled her. His emerald eyes glittered with tears as he smiled down at her, then looked at me.
“She has your face, beautiful. Thank fuck.”
A soft, collective laugh went around the room as each of Raven’s fathers took a moment to hold and meet her before returning her to me. Seth rubbed my aching neck as I leaned back and directed her to my breast.
“So when are you and I making a baby, sweetheart?” he teased, the storm brewing in his eyes. As the only mortal of my lovers, not a true demon but a witch like me, his time on Earth was limited.
“Can I recover from birthing this one first?” I sighed, making a face at him.
“Yes, let the mother of our child rest,” Raum commanded with a low growl. Already overprotective of her and I secretly fucking loved it.
The other three quietly filed out of the room, leaving Raum and I to gaze at Raven in adoration as she greedily fed from me. Through her skin on mine, I could already feel the dark, shadow magic unfolding in her tiny body. An aura began encircling her head, sparking with the simple pleasures of her sated hunger and feeling secure in her mother’s arms.
“Will she be okay?” I said in a soft whisper.
Raum knew what I meant. And he knew not to bullshit me.
“Oh, baby,” he chuckled. “She’ll be more than okay. Raven will thrive. There will be challenges along the way but she will overcome them all. I can’t wait for you to see what she becomes.”
He stroked a loving hand over my hair and I leaned into his touch, taking comfort in his words, but the protective mother in me still worried.
Even now, in today’s world, witches weren’t safe. The trials with burnings and hangings of centuries ago may have died out, but before my children were born, my lovers and I literally ran for our lives. Raum nearly died from a substance called an angel’s kiss, the only weapon capable of killing a demon.
But it wasn’t the angels or their followers persecuting us. Now other witches hunted us.
These witches wanted no association with demons and blamed them for our kind’s oppression throughout history. After all, the close association between demons and witchcraft saw so many innocent witches burned, hanged, or drowned.
Modern witches wanted to erase the link between themselves and demons forever.
And that link was me.
Thousands of years ago, I was the first human woman created. The Creator gave me the name Lilith. He paired me with the first human man, Adam. Long story short, I couldn’t stand Adam and refused to submit to him as I was apparently supposed to. We were made from the same substance, so why couldn’t I be treated as an equal?
The Creator, known by many different names at this point, almost killed me. But an angel saved me. An angel rebelled against his creator’s will and saw himself thrown down from his heavenly realm as a result. That fallen angel was my Ash.
His two partners in the rebellion were Lucifer and Beelzebub— perhaps you’ve heard of them.
Lucifer created Hell, the underworld of many modern and ancient cultures, and became a father figure to me. With the incredible powers he bestowed upon me, I was the first of my kind. Born human, and not of Heaven or Hell, I became the mother of all witches.
With a fallen angel and hellborn demons as my lovers, my children’s powers grew to be unique and varied as their fathers’ were. And when they proceeded to have children with humans or other witches, those powers never decreased.
But the creator, his army of angels, and their human followers never stopped persecuting me, my lovers, and my children. I died hundreds of times, but thanks to Lucifer, I was reborn in hundreds of different bodies.
Across all my lifetimes, I finally found peace in this one.
We created a safe haven on earth for magical beings of all kinds— witches, demons, shifters, and whomever else felt persecuted and unsafe. Even some non-magical humans stumbled upon us over the years, feeling out of place with their own kind.
We called this place Voluspa. It was my dream to stop running, stop fighting, and survive this one lifetime to old age. I wanted to watch my children grow up, and witness the birth of my grandchildren. I wanted to create a place on earth where no one experienced fear just because they bore fur, feathers, or horns.
Even within these safe, magical walls, I refused to let my guard down. Me and my huge, extended family of misfits would always be hunted. But I wouldn’t allow any of them to get hurt; our enemies would need to go through me first.
CHAPTER ONE
FIVE YEARS LATER
“Raven!” I hollered for the fiftieth time that morning, stomping down the stairs. “It’s time to go! You’re gonna be late for school!”
I entered the kitchen to find Raum preparing two mugs of tea, mine a stiff English breakfast in a travel cup. Without a word he slid it across the counter to me, a knowing smirk on his ruggedly handsome face.
“Where in Lucifer’s name is your daughter?” I demanded, clutching the precious liquid in my hands.
“Good morning, baby.” Ignoring my question, he leaned across the counter for a kiss.
“You smug bastard, I’m not kidding.” I bit down savagely on his lip, though it only drew a lazy, rumbling chuckle from his chest. “I can sense the movement of every rabbit and deer within a mile radius but I can’t sense her, which means she’s not on the ground.”
“So where else could she be?” His chocolate eyes danced as he took a sip of his own tea, his smirk widening.
“Raum, I’m not in the mood for this. She’s going to make Deidre and Brax late.”
“You’re an awful liar,” he grinned, reaching across the counter to take hold of my upper arms to pull me closer. His hot lips brushed against my cheek. “You’re always in the mood for me.”
“That is a total and complete lie.”
He just laughed and ran his tongue along my earlobe while holding me in place. When my breath hitched, I could feel his satisfied smirk on my neck before he started to kiss me there.
Damn him. Ten years in this lifetime and thousands of years across others, and he still never failed to turn my whole body to jelly. The more I challenged him, the more he pushed back until I was a quivering mess that obeyed his every word. It made for a fun, hot dynamic between us. He let me think I could gain control before pulling the rug out from under me, and dominating my body in ways that only he could.
“I hate you,” I breathed, a weak protest to match my half-hearted attempt to writhe away from his touch, but it was useless.
“Mm-hm,” he murmured carelessly as his fingers released my arms and drifted down my sides. I didn’t move as we both knew I wouldn’t. The demon didn’t even need to restrain me to dominate me.
Heavy steps and the clicking of claws on the wood floor jerked me out of my lusty haze. I looked over my shoulder to see a mountain lion padding over to us with sleek, powerful feline stealth. His green eyes gleamed as they met mine, and it took me a moment to notice the small, brown-feathered bird wriggling in his jaws.
He gently placed the bird on the floor, a juvenile raven not yet grown into its adult black feathers, then both animals quickly shifted to human form.
“Eww, Dad! You covered me in drool!” Raven whined, wiping at her arms and legs.
“That’s what you get for hiding from your mom,” Sal teased, messing up her shiny black hair.
“Thank you, lion!” I declared, walking over to Sal and wrapping my arms around his neck. “At least someone in this house isn’t conspiring against me.”
“Mom, I got really high this time!” Raven said excitedly, forgetting all about the drool that covered her. “I even floated in the air a little bit. Daddy Sal had to climb a tree to get me.”
“Oh, really?” I shot a glare back at Raum. “That’s great, honey, but remember I said to practice flying after school and on weekends, not before. We’re gonna be late.”
“Daddy Raum said it would be okay. We can just anchor to school.”
“I bet he did.” My glare intensified as Raum sipped his tea with feigned innocence. “Well, we have no choice but to anchor now, instead of enjoying a nice walk. Come on, get your stuff.”
When she skipped away, I speared my fingers through Sal’s auburn hair and kissed him deeply, surging my tongue into his mouth. He moaned in reply and snaked both arms around me to grab my ass.
“You’re my favorite right now, lion,” I said, loud enough for Raum to hear when our lips parted. “I want you all to myself when I get back.”
“You know nothing makes me happier, beautiful,” Sal purred, squeezing my ass gratuitously as we put on a little show for Raum.
“Please go on. I’m definitely enjoying this view.” Raum leaned his elbows on the counter, smiling hungrily as he watched us.
“You don’t get to watch or join in,” I told him coolly despite the lava flowing in my veins. “Sal had my back this morning, not you, with your tricky daughter.”
“That’s fine,” Raum said lightly. “I’ll just punish you later.”
I shivered, knowing he would hold true to his words.
***
“Hey, Mom. Can we go trick-or-treating this year?”
Deidre, my oldest, peered up at me with golden eyes that mirrored my own. She looked like such a spitting image of me and my birth mother of this lifetime, it was uncanny. From our eye color and dark brown hair, to her attitude and affinity for earth magic, she was every bit my mini-me.
“Why do you want to do that?” I asked, surprised.
“Because CANDY!” My son Braxton cried out.
“And dressing up. And hanging out with our friends,” Deidre added with a sassy hand on her hip. “It’s what everyone does on Halloween!”
“It’s what humans do when they have no magic,” I corrected. “We’ve talked about this, sweetie. We celebrate Samhain, not Halloween. It’s not about dressing up and eating candy.”
Deidre lowered herself to Raven’s eye level. “What do you think, Ravie? Wanna dress up and eat yummy treats, like chocolate?”
“Chocolate!” Raven pulled at my hand, bouncing in excitement.
“See, Mom? You’re outvoted.”
“Excuse me? This is not a democracy!” I huffed.
“No, it’s a dictatorship.” She stuck out that sassy hip again. “Like Hitler.”
I narrowed my eyes. “How do you know about Hitler?”
“Dad has books about him in the study.”
I groaned and rubbed my forehead. Ash withheld hardly any books from her. He maintained a philosophy of: If she can reach it and read the language, why keep the knowledge from her? As a result, she read one of his ancient tomes cover to cover every day, sometimes two in a day. At ten years old, she already read English at an adult level and was proficient in German, Italian, and Old Norse.
As much as I loved that my eldest child inherited Ash’s intelligence
and curiosity, days like today where she compared me to Hitler were trying.
“We’ll talk about this later,” I grumbled. “Off to class, you demon spawn.”
Deidre and Brax raced across the quad to their respective classes while I walked Raven to her kindergarten class. My heart lifted at seeing children of every imaginable magical background running, playing, and talking to their friends. A pair of fox shifter boys wrestled on the lawn while their teachers chatted. A group of witch girls played hopscotch with chalk that moved and changed colors on the sidewalk.
A school was the first thing I wanted in Voluspa. I was pregnant with Deidre at the time, and before the school was even built, teachers began applying for jobs. Not long after, contractors placed offers to build houses, hospitals, and offices. For too long, these people had been forced to hide their abilities among the general human population, so when word spread about a place where they could live as their true selves, they jumped at the chance.
I kissed Raven goodbye and walked with pride across the school’s campus. Admiring my vision come to life never got old. And today it looked especially idyllic. It was a warm mid-October morning with just a touch of autumn chill in the air. The tree leaves’ brilliant colors of golds, oranges, and reds were on full display. They drifted down, falling to the ground in piles big enough for the children to play in.
My steps quickened across the pavement, and I sipped my tea as I headed toward a smaller building on the other end of campus. I left the elementary side, crossed over to the high school, and that small, modest portable building coming into view served as our temporary university campus.
I let myself in, my pulse quickening at the sight of the gorgeous man behind the desk. Black-framed glasses sat on the bridge of a perfectly straight nose, tousled blonde hair sat on top of his head and matched the neatly trimmed beard lining his angled jaw. The eyes that scanned the assignments in front of him were an icy, crystal blue, but the most magnificent thing about him was the set of huge, black-feathered wings that stretched out beyond the edges of the desk.
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