by Emma Dean
Mika’s heart dropped into her stomach and Dagon’s arm tightened on her waist.
“You know there aren’t.”
She let out a slow breath, shoving her disappointment down deep. Mika hadn’t expected there to be, but she’d desperately hoped she wasn’t the last.
“Then we will pledge our flock to our Morrigan,” Torin said simply. “And since she’s technically the only blood witch…”
What exactly did Torin get out of her being a queen? Mika wasn’t sure that it was just about honor and an oath to his goddess, but maybe it was. She didn’t worship the Morrigan and couldn’t really understand how exactly the ravens felt about it all.
It was difficult to worship someone who’d given birth to her.
This new body, and this new power was because of that goddess, and Mika talked to her like she did Jess. How was she supposed to worship this goddess like humans did in their churches?
No, the Morrigan was her mother.
Mika worshipped nothing but the powers of the universe.
She still wasn’t interested in ruling over all the ravens on this continent, but at least she could prove what she was and let them decide for themselves.
“What exactly are you asking, Torin?”
All twelve raven commanders were fearsome and shared a sharp edge that warned anyone with eyes that they could end you without even breaking a sweat.
“I’m not asking, I’m telling.”
Well, shit.
“Per the oaths we took, we owe the blood witch our allegiance.”
“Has she been crowned queen?” a female asked.
Before anyone could respond, Dagon had teleported Mika to the center of the deadliest circle she had ever been in the middle of. “By Morgana Le Fay, witnessed by the Morrigan herself. And me,” he told them. Somehow the way he said it sounded like a challenge.
All thirteen sets of eyes focused on Dagon and then the hellfire in his eyes before turning those unsettling gazes back on her.
“You are the one blessed by the goddess?” a male demanded, almost as if just the sight of her was offensive.
Mika stepped away from Dagon, slowly turning on her heel to take in all thirteen of them.
As she’d told Emily, she didn’t want or need them all to pledge allegiance to her. Mika just needed a way to defeat Azrael before he did whatever it was he planned on doing, but if she could lay the groundwork now…
Maybe some of them would help when they really needed it.
“How would you like me to prove it?” Mika removed her hood despite the freezing cold and waited to see what would happen.
Before she could blink cold metal pressed against her throat and Dagon was snarling, no longer human but a massive hound. Mika held out her hand to keep him back.
“If you were truly blessed, the goddess would keep you from death, wouldn’t she?” the male asked.
Mika found Corbin among the ravens all dressed in black and despite the blazing red she saw there, he nodded once.
“She doesn’t need to protect me from you,” Mika murmured, careful of the prick she could feel against her skin.
The knife pressed harder and then she smelled her own blood.
Corbin grinned and she smirked right back at him.
To make sure they knew she was the cause, Mika held up her hand palm up, almost as if she were offering him something. But she focused on the blood in his veins, on his very marrow, and squeezed.
His scream was satisfying as his knees shattered and he slumped to the ground.
Mika didn’t move as she listened with her new banshee hearing, feeling the energy in the room, and the distinct sensation of multiple people entering the shadow realm. So, she grinned at the mouthy Commander who clearly felt like he had the most power and simply…sidestepped.
The glittering darkness felt like being wrapped in a warm blanket as she waited to see what the others would do.
But it seemed like the ravens didn’t like a witch who could move in the shadows the same way they did. Mika walked around the Commanders, eyeing each and every one of them as she felt some assassins reappear in their reality.
Some felt her as she passed, but most ignored her or didn’t even notice her presence.
When she stepped back into their reality, she had her arms crossed over her chest – on the other side of Dagon.
“I don’t need protection from ravens,” she repeated. “The Morrigan has already given me the gifts I need to survive.”
Her heart flipped when Torin smiled.
What the fuck?
Did he have on his emotions? Mika couldn’t tell and that was almost worse.
“And you expect us to bow to you?” one of the Commanders asked.
She glanced at Torin, knowing he wasn’t going to like her answer. “No.”
“And why is that?” another asked. “If you are truly Witch Queen, crowned by the goddess’s chosen, then aren’t you supposed to take what is yours?”
She could feel Corbin’s gaze on her like a hot brand and Mika made sure to keep her face as bored and nonchalant as possible. They couldn’t see her nervous.
What would they do if she had even an ounce of weakness?
It wasn’t like the Commander was wrong. Mika was crowned and baptized in blood by a goddess. Morgana Island was hers by clan rights, and there were no other challengers to her power – no other goddess’s daughters to claim their right to rule.
All of it was hers for the taking.
“Azrael is hunting down the Morrigan’s children,” she said instead. “I came here to meet you all, and to warn you. Death is coming.”
“You act as though we don’t live right alongside death, living and breathing with the dust of our ancestors in our lungs,” a female murmured.
The words trickled down Mika’s spine like ice as she absorbed them.
“I’m more familiar with death than you’d think.” She placed a hand on Dagon’s side, ignoring the heat she could feel.
He was literally larger than a bear.
The raven on his knees finally got to his feet thanks to his shifter healing and she twirled her fingers, so he was forced to spin around and look at her. Mika twisted her fingers and he gritted his teeth as he handed her the knife he’d held against her throat.
Everyone in the Enclave seemed to hold their breath when she plucked it from his hand and sheathed it next to the others on her thigh.
“We will never swear ourselves to you,” one of the Commanders spat.
“How can you say that when she’s clearly a blood witch?” another asked, as if he was asking about the weather.
Mika took in the faces around her, cataloging the ones who seemed to have some shred of emotion and who had none at all.
“If she’s the last then we still can’t fill our ranks with death knights.”
“That’s actually not true,” she murmured, releasing her hold on the raven. “Necromancers and demon witches can also be death knights. I assume banshees can as well. We are all daughters of the Morrigan. Just as you are.”
Well, Mika didn’t know about demon witches, but she did know they were all descended from gods of death in one way or another.
“Untrained death knights are a nightmare. When was the last time we even had warrior witches?”
It wasn’t even the argument that was bothering her, it was that they all accepted it so willingly.
This was normal for them. Just another day.
But to the Council, to the other witches who were supposedly her brothers and sisters—they’d looked at her with disgust and fear, none of them remembered or liked the time when witches, with their unpredictable power, weren’t neutral.
This was what Corbin meant when he’d said this was her world. Even if she knew nothing about it, even if she didn’t necessarily like it or understand it – these were her brothers and sisters too.
But raven society was something she knew she would have a hard time becoming a part of.
When she found Corbin’s eyes again, and then Emily’s, she knew…she knew that ravens were made the same. They were broken and rebuilt into deadly assassins that the rest of the world feared so much they could hardly even speak about ravens without whispering as if they were monsters in a closet.
Mika used to be one of them.
But not anymore.
“I’ll leave you to discuss,” she murmured, pulling out her necklaces just as she’d told Corbin she would and what it would mean. “Those who choose to accept me for what I am can speak to Torin.”
The muscles in Dagon’s arms clenched as he prepared to teleport them out of there, but Mika sensed something before he could, and she turned just as the pair of assassins made to take out the hellhound first.
Dagon’s paws were larger than most of their heads and he was clearly holding back.
Her nails shifted into talons so fast she barely realized what she was doing as they raked across one face. Her other hand reached out toward the other and she squeezed, feeling more slipping in and out of the shadow realm.
Mika spun and kicked another with her heel.
The sound of a knife being plunged into Dagon’s side set her teeth on edge. He turned and snapped off someone’s head when Mika slammed one raven into another and bared her teeth at Torin who didn’t even bother to intercept.
So, this was a test.
“A dangerous test,” she spat, feeling the heat of blood on her hand as she moved to defend Dagon.
Somehow, they had weapons that could cut into his flesh and the hellfire in his body spilled onto the stone.
The sound of a knife being thrown made her move, and Mika counted at least ten more attackers.
Where was Corbin?
When she found him, Emily had him in a chokehold as he tried to reach her.
Rage crackled in her veins.
Then a knife slid between her ribs.
Mika dropped to one knee in pain, yanking the knife out at the same time. Flipping it, she whirled and slammed it into someone’s neck.
They all became faceless as they came at her.
“Every single raven is a warrior,” a female Commander told her, clearly judging her every move.
Mika flipped, twisting midair as she dodged another knife. Malachi would be proud the dodgeball training had stuck, but all she could think about was the blood being spilled needlessly.
“We cannot follow someone who cannot do what they demand of us,” she continued. “If you cannot fight as viciously as any raven, then you do not deserve to lead us.”
Mika was more annoyed Torin had clearly led her into a semi-friendly trap than she was that ravens were trying to kill her.
Another spin kick and she nearly took off someone’s head.
“Enough.” Mika tossed the knife she’d stolen to Dagon who caught it mid-shift.
Then she concentrated and squeezed both her hands into fists.
Every single raven in a ten-foot radius of her froze, including the Commanders.
“You don’t seem to understand,” she told them, hands shaking as she concentrated on so many. “I will kill them all if they keep pushing me. And I will not let you waste their lives just to see what I’m capable of.”
She squeezed harder and thirteen sets of knees hit the ground.
“I will not make you swear to me, and I will not kill them, but I will protect what is mine.” Mika reached back as if she had Excalibur strapped to her back, summoning the sword at the same time.
When she lifted her hand back up the sword was there, and she pointed the tip at Emily. “Let him go.”
Emily held up her hands with a look Mika understood. The Enclave had to know – they had to see, or two paths could become one and right now Mika needed all the chances she could get.
Corbin was by her side in a flash and Mika used the opportunity to check her side, lifting up her shirt to see the stab wound that could have killed her was almost completely healed over. Mika dropped her shirt and tilted her neck to the side until it popped.
“I could lose,” she admitted. “Against all of you. But I would take down more with me than you could imagine, not to mention what these two could do, or the others that are mine.”
Mika found the female she disliked the least and bared her teeth at her. “Figure it out.”
Then Dagon wrapped his arm around her and reached for Corbin, and the three of them disappeared.
8
They weren’t in the prince of hell’s throne room, but somewhere that looked a lot more relaxed and comfortable in Mika’s opinion. She vanished Excalibur and stepped away from Dagon.
“Are you okay?” Corbin asked, grabbing her jaw and angling it so he could see where the knife had been.
“I’m fine,” she reassured him. “It’s gone.”
“I smell your blood,” Dagon growled, eyes still glowing.
Then Corbin lifted up her shirt to see the red mark where she’d been stabbed instead of an open wound. The scar looked years old and seemed to be fading. “You can heal now?”
“Apparently.” Mika turned and did the same to Dagon, inspecting where he’d been injured—for her.
“I’m all right,” Dagon insisted. He took her hand and simply held it instead of pushing her away. “The blessed silver hurt, but I heal just as you once it’s removed.”
Mika pulled back when she realized she was touching his abs for longer than she probably should.
Corbin grinned when he pulled her in for a quick hug and kissed her on the top of the head. “The hellhound is all right, and you’re all right, no thanks to Emily. I’m going to kill her.”
“She didn’t do it for Torin,” Mika murmured into his chest. She would never forget what Emily had told her about the fine threads of Fate and how easily they could be broken or changed. “She did it for me.”
“Lucifer and Jess should be here soon,” Dagon reminded them.
They had other problems than just ravens.
Mika sighed and let go of Corbin. “Hopefully they have some good news.”
“Doubtful,” Corbin muttered.
“Mika!” Jess grinned as she came into the room wearing nothing but jean shorts, a tank top, and some ass-kicking boots. She hugged Mika hard. “I’m so glad you can visit hell.”
This was what a big sister was supposed to feel like.
“It’s good to see you,” Mika told her, hugging the demon witch back. “How goes the hunt?”
Her smile dropped and so did Mika’s stomach. “Not well,” Jess admitted, stepping back and slipping her hands into her back pockets. “We can’t figure out where he’s hiding and a good third of the demons in hell have gone missing along with him.”
Suddenly, she felt dizzy and Mika slumped onto the red velvet couch. “How many is a third?”
“About twenty thousand last time I checked.” Lucifer’s deep voice reverberated through the room as he entered.
Mika couldn’t bother to stand up. “Well, I’m sure that’s totally not something to worry about.”
“Being sarcastic isn’t helpful,” Lucifer chastised. His gaze slid to Dagon then, who didn’t kneel this time. “Mor has been doing most of the reconnaissance since it’s difficult for me to leave hell for long periods of time. The Council doesn’t like it.”
“Well, I’m on the Council now technically,” Mika told him, waving her hand. “And I say you can come and go as you please as long as you’re not an ass about it.”
He gave her a wry smile and sat in the adjacent armchair, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees. Lucifer’s hair fell into his eyes and Mika couldn’t help but admire the neck tattoo above the crisp, white button-down he wore.
“I’ve seen that shirt before,” Corbin drawled, perching on the arm of the couch. Mika leaned into him for comfort, wishing she’d
been able to come down here for something other than death.
“Ethan may have borrowed one of mine,” Lucifer admitted, giving the raven a sharp smile. “He didn’t have a father or a big brother to ask.”
Mika studied the prince of hell and wondered how Ethan had even reached out to him, or why the devil felt the need to bring them all under his wing.
“Can I speak with you alone?” she asked, glancing at Corbin and Dagon.
Instantly everyone tensed.
Then Jess kissed Lucifer’s cheek and laced her arms through Dagon’s and Corbin’s. “Let me show you guys the kitchen, and we’ll grab some snacks.”
Before either of them could protest, Jess had shoved them both through the door and then closed it to give Mika and Lucifer privacy.
“So, she lives here now?” Mika asked, sliding off the coat she didn’t need in hell.
Lucifer gave her a half smile that reminded her he had ruled this place for thousands of years. It was sharp and mischievous and just this side of cruel. “What did you need to talk to me about that no one else could hear?”
Mika didn’t press her question – it didn’t really matter anyways. “I just met with the Enclave.”
“And the Council?”
She shook her head. “When was the last time you heard from the Morrigan?”
Lucifer raised an eyebrow. “A few days ago.”
It wasn’t easy to talk to the devil, but Mika had to know where she stood with him, and why it seemed to matter so much. “Why did you call me sister instead of cousin?”
He sat back then, considering her. “You are a daughter of death.”
Mika tapped her nails on the wooden arm of the vintage couch. “A daughter, not a sister.”
Lucifer sighed and ran his hand through his hair as if she were aggravating him. “You may be Jess’s cousin, but you and I have more in common than just family. I was betrayed by my father just as you were. I’ve been cast in a dark light as something evil and vile when all I’m trying to do is punish those who do evil. It’s not the same.”
Mika didn’t know what to say to that. She shifted as the stab wound itched.
“I see myself in you, and I know you lost your brother.” Lucifer huffed almost as if he were embarrassed. “For some reason I felt like I should take his place. So sure, we’re cousins in some weird way because of Jess. But I called you my sister for me.”