In unison, our heads swiveled around. A girl about my age stood a couple of yards away. She was pretty, even with her eyebrows reaching for the top of her head. A black scrunchie held her long curly red hair behind one ear, and there was a wicked cool tattoo encircling her neck like a choker. Hugging her trim legs were black skinny jeans tucked into army boots. I even admired the pink lacy camisole peeking from underneath her cropped jean jacket.
“Who are you?” I asked. One cat and two new people. I hadn’t had this much fun since . . . well, forever.
“Johnna?” Malachi’s nostrils flared as his irritation deepened. I guess he wasn’t having as much fun as I was. “How did you get here?”
“Thanks a lot. Not even a ‘hi?’ And don’t you mean, why am I here?”
Her answering chuckle made me want to laugh along with her. But the snarl curling up Malachi’s lip killed the mood.
“Mr. Muscles?” I bit back my snicker.
Malachi glared.
“Who’s this?” the girl asked.
I turned my gaze back to the redhead. Before I could say my name, she spat out two more questions. “She’s so normal. Why is a normal person here? And why is she bleeding?”
I stared at the cuts on my arms. Blood pooled around my hands where they still rested on the ground. “Huh. That’s new too.”
“Malachi?” the other girl pressed.
Malachi blew out a breath, staring at the angry-looking crisscross patterns on my forearms. “I don’t know, Johnna. I found Willow like this when I returned from the castle. She was on her hands and knees, staring at the ground with her eyes closed. Her body was shivering so hard, I was more focused on calming her than anything else. I hadn’t noticed her arms.” He tilted my face upward. “Willow, what happened?”
I tried shaking my head, but since Malachi still had a firm grip on my chin, nothing moved. “I don’t know. The nightmares usually don’t hurt me.” I turned my arm and followed the path of the gash. Where DC’s cute, tattooed face should have been, my skin gaped open. All I could see was the raw meat of my arm. The rest was buried beneath the welling blood.
DC? I whispered frantically. Are you there? Oh my gods, please tell me you’re okay?
I am fine, little human. However, we will need to discuss these nightmares of yours. I do not like pain.
I put a mental sticky note on my to-do list. She needed to spill the beans about demons. From her statement, I had way more to learn. Then her words sank in and I panicked a little. Wait. You’re hurt too?
A minor wound, I assure you. The knife bearer was fast, but I was faster. My poor fur, on the other hand, is mutilated. Cut down to a nub. It will never grow back the same.
Yes, we definitely need to talk. I was scared to death you were cut to ribbons and all you’re worried about is your fur growing back. I don’t think we’re seeing eye-to-eye on our priorities.
The Goth girl plopped down next to me in the sand, legs folded beneath her. She stared at my arms a moment, her gaze finally moving up to my face. “Start from the beginning. I don’t understand any of this.”
My lips twitched when Malachi muttered under his breath, “Neither do I.”
A warm tingling crept up my arms and turned into a mild burn. “I smell singed hair.” Afraid to see what was happening, I focused on Malachi’s beautiful face. I only half listened while he introduced the girl as Johnna and told us he’d sent someone named Danielle to report to someone named Lucien, who already knew about the realm’s changes and all the weird stuff happening. As the burning in my arms faded, my curiosity won over my stomach’s queasiness, and I looked down at my arms. The blood remained, but my cuts were gone.
“Willow?”
Johnna’s soft voice pulled my numbed mind back to their conversation. I sat back on my heels, more confused now than I was before. “Sorry. You healed me? How is that possible?”
She nodded. “It’s a little thing I do. I’ll explain later. Now, though, I want to hear your story. How did you end up here?”
I shrugged and tried to stomp down all the nerves rising up in protest. I had never told anyone my whole story. Those tidbits I’d shared with Tish and DC had been hard enough. I wasn’t sure if I could tell anyone about my past. I pulled in a deep breath and, before I chickened out, I blurted, “A demon tricked me.”
Johnna and Malachi glanced at each other then back at me, their confusion plainly written on their faces.
“A demon. You’re sure?” she asked.
I nodded. “During a spell to take a curse off my best friend, Tish, I accidentally summoned a demon. Tish was killed. I’m positive it was a demon because she told me what she was.”
Malachi closed his eyes, his chest rising and falling with each deep breath. I did the same thing when I tried to control the turmoil churning in my gut.
Any hope I’d had of escaping this wretched place evaporated. I rubbed DC’s tattooed face and whispered, “I am so sorry. I should have researched the spell better. Everything seemed to go okay—as it was supposed to. Well, except for the demon taking over Tish—”
“Wait a minute,” Malachi interrupted. “When you said Tish was killed, I assumed it was at the hands of the demon, but the demon was inside your friend?”
I nodded. “Mmm-hmm.” I hadn’t noticed Malachi’s hand on my back until the heat increased. Earlier, the gentle friction of his palm rubbing my back had been sweet. Now? Sweet torture. His touch was softer, more of a caress. The longer he rubbed, the tighter my insides twisted.
My discomfort must have shown. Guess I needed to work on my own poker face. To my horror, Johnna moved closer to Malachi and laid her hand on his leg. “Stop, Malachi. Take your hand off her back.”
In total humiliation, I stared down into the valley at the columns, the twists and kinks in my stomach loosening, allowing it to slowly settle. I wasn’t going to hold my breath it would stay calm, though. Since I’d moved around so much, settling into a “normal” routine had been impossible. This included my teenage years when lusting after the cutest guy in school would have been a priority.
If this jittery, scatterbrained queasiness in the depths of my being was how it felt, I wanted no part of it. I was swearing off men, demons included.
“I think there’s more going on here than we realized,” Johnna pointed out.
I watched the rhythm of the nonstop finger tapping against her knee. And waited, impatiently of course, while she thought. I had no idea what she was talking about, but if it meant I still had a chance of getting out of here, I’d listen to just about anything.
“Malachi, do you remember when Lucien, Niki, and I visited all of Dark World’s regions to find out how many followers the Queen actually had?”
He nodded. “Sure I do. It was about a month after you blew her up.”
“Hold on a minute,” I put in. “Did I hear you right? You blew up a Queen?”
Johnna cringed. “I wouldn’t say that exactly . . . In truth, I sent her to Tartarus for Lucifer to deal with, but I’ll tell you about it some other time.” She glanced back to Malachi. “We need to figure out what’s happening right now. There were a few places we couldn’t go, forcing Lucien to check on them alone. While he was gone, Niki and I searched for anyone who might’ve known where Mom and Dad had been sent—something more concrete than Grandpop’s ‘in the Nightmare Realm’ speech.” Johnna air-quoted.
Then she met my eyes and I squirmed under her direct gaze as she added, “But we never found them.”
I could imagine the multitude of questions running through her mind and knew without a doubt her next word would be my name. “Willow?”
And it begins. I must be clairvoyant.
“Did you ever know your birth parents?”
My mouth hung open, resembling a codfish, and I slid sideways onto my butt as the
numbness in my legs became terminal. “Not exactly the question I was expecting. How did you know I was adopted?”
She held up her hand. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Try me.”
She shrugged. “If you insist.” She pointed a finger at my hand and said, “Your ring told me.”
“Umm . . .” For once, I had nothing to say. Any possible retort froze at the impossibility of what she’d just said. “Come again?” I nervously twisted the piece of jewelry around my middle finger, something I’d done since I first got it. I was so used to the feel of the gold band, I hadn’t even remembered I was wearing it.
“My father is the demon king’s mage, and my mother is a Greek Erinys. They had me and, go figure, I’m a metal mage, meaning I can manipulate metals, like your ring. It spoke to me.”
Wow. And I’d almost made up my mind to overcome my extreme aversion to people and attempt to befriend her. However, accepting a delusional person into my already chaotic life was just asking for tons of trouble, and I created enough of my own. Yet, if I acknowledge my current predicament, it makes me delusional too. “Fine. I’ll play along. Exactly how did my ring tell you?”
“Like I mentioned, I manipulate metals. I can do anything with any kind of metal. I’m even able to heal by changing the reaction of metals in the blood, or I can make someone worse. I can repair objects or change them completely. I’m still learning how to control it,” she said.
The imaginary light bulb above my head brightened. “So that’s how you healed me?”
She nodded and folded her arms over her perfect chest, imitating my own stance. “Blood has metals in it. Copper and iron are the most abundant but there are also minute amounts of sodium and potassium. All species have these in their blood and body, just in different amounts.”
I should’ve known—from the earlier Cheshire cat grin—to brace myself against her bombshell. I was feeling giddy again, unsure if I should believe her or not. Since I could do my own weird stuff, I probably would. Something about Johnna made me feel at ease. For some strange reason, I felt as if I’d known her my entire life, and I wanted her as a friend. My friend.
“It’s how I know you are adopted. You aren’t human.”
I stared at her and felt . . . nothing. No emotion, no thoughts, only emptiness. I had no idea why, but I accepted her words, ‘not human.’ My early, tormented years finally made sense as she justified my existence. Every strange thing that had happened to me growing up now made perfect sense. I should have been terrified, but I wasn’t.
As my frozen brain mulled over Johnna’s announcement, I realized I did feel something. I felt relief.
A spot behind Johnna turned hazy, reminding me of heat waves hovering above the desert, and the second most gorgeous male I had ever seen stepped through the blurry space. The rapier-thin scar bisecting his eye from mid-forehead to low cheek gave him a wicked look and paired well with the dark scowl he sported.
“Um, can anyone tell me why there’s a really good-looking but very pissed-off guy heading this way?” I couldn’t keep the squeak from my voice. The man could probably start a fire with the crimson flame in his eerie yellow eyes.
Johnna and Malachi whirled around, but only Johnna reacted as she cried out, “Niki!” as she hopped up and ran toward the guy.
I threw a quick glance toward Malachi. “I take it she knows him. Who’s Niki?”
“Her skin,” he replied dryly.
“Huh?” The pictures flying through my head ranged from gross to kinky. I needed my brain bleached.
Malachi let out a deep, disgusted grunt. “Scratch that. They’re inseparable. Even before she took care of the queen, they were attached at the hip.” He shook his head. His face sort of twisted to one side. “He was a zombie, for heaven’s sake. How does that even happen?”
I was so confused. “A zombie? What are you talking about?” I did what any self-respecting girl would do in this situation and punched him in the arm. “Can you please try to make sense? Start from the beginning and tell me the complete story.” Batting my eyelids, I pasted on a fake smile. “Pretty please? And don’t leave out any details.”
I never knew a person’s face could actually turn blank, but his did. Definitely a great poker player. I wanted to take him to Vegas. I’d win a fortune.
“It’s their story to tell. Not mine.”
“Well then, what’s your story? You mentioned you were made, not born and you have brothers who have fallen. Whatever that means.”
His lips slowly widened, the corners turning up until a small gap appeared in the middle, showing his very white teeth. My heart flip-flopped inside my chest. I just thought this Niki guy was to die for. Malachi was breathtaking. As my insides jiggled in excitement, I reminded myself, less than two minutes ago I’d sworn off both men and demons, even if they were smoking hot.
“I’m not telling.”
“Not fair. You can’t dangle something like that then refuse to share.”
“He was in time out when they taught that particular lesson,” Johnna quipped as she and Niki joined them. “Do I need to leave you two alone for a while longer?”
Malachi shook his head. “No. Just teaching Willow one of life’s lessons. She can’t always get what she wants.” He motioned to Niki, who released his possessive death grip from Johnna’s shoulders and followed him to the nearest column several feet away. I wanted to hate his smirking face but couldn’t. He was just too cute.
“That man is annoying.” I scowled. “I’ve never gotten what I wanted.”
Johnna reached down and waited for me to place my hands in hers before she pulled me upright. “I’m curious. What were you wanting?” she asked.
I brushed the sand off my butt. “His story. Yours. Oh, I don’t know. Any information I can get. I feel so stupid. Nothing here makes any sense.”
She squeezed my shoulder. “We’ll figure it out together. Relax.”
“Easy for you to say. You can leave whenever you want. I, on the other hand, am stuck here. I won’t relax until I find a way home.”
Chapter 8
When Niki strode toward us, intimidation reared its ugly head. I probably resembled a deer caught in headlights, wild-eyed and basically stupid looking. But the man, demon, whatever he was, truly scared me. He carried an aura of power about him like a cloak, and his golden eyes glowed, resembling those of a large, predatory cat. I failed miserably at suppressing a hard shudder, but his eyes gave me the willies. I watched him pull Johnna back against his chest and wrap his arms around her.
I ignored the small twinge of jealousy zinging through my heart. I’d learned a long time ago not to hope for love. I also didn’t trust men, so I usually didn’t beat myself up about it. Watching these two, though . . .
Malachi cleared his throat, thankfully drawing my attention away from the nauseating lovebirds. “Niki, tell the girls what you told me.”
Niki nuzzled Johnna’s neck. I tried not to barf, now understanding and totally agreeing with Malachi’s earlier comments.
“Lucien sent me to deliver a message.”
“Okay, you’ve mentioned this Lucien several times now. I know I sound like a broken record, but exactly who is he again? Keeping a new world and lots of . . . well, different people straight is shorting out my brain.”
“Lucien is king of the demons,” Niki answered. “Instead of joining us here as planned, he’s been caught up in trying to find out how much damage his mother created before her unsuccessful coup.”
“What did his mother do?”
Niki exhaled slowly. “She tried to take the throne from Lucien.”
I looked at Johnna in a new, much more appreciative light as realization dawned. “She’s the queen you were talking about before?”
> She threw Niki a sideways glance then nodded with a small grin.
Niki shared a look between Malachi and Johnna. “Do either of you realize how long you’ve been gone?” He didn’t wait for their response. “Malachi, you’ve been gone close to a month, and it’s been a week since Johnna left the castle.”
“Seriously?” Johnna’s voice rose an octave. She cleared her throat. “But I’ve only been here a couple of hours. How could I have been gone a week?”
“The Nightmare Realm doesn’t recognize time, as I’ve already tried explaining to Willow,” Malachi replied. “You don’t age, feel hunger, or sleep.”
“Sheesh. Every girl’s dream and nightmare all rolled into one,” Johnna muttered. “No sleep would suck.”
I nodded. “It does, and definitely qualifies as a nightmare.”
Niki loudly cleared his throat. “May I continue?”
Johnna patted his arm. “You may.”
Niki rolled his eyes. “Gee, thanks,” he added with a touch of sarcasm. “Johnna’s grandfather has been helping Lucien in the Outlands, hoping to find out more information as to where Gerard and Sabine are imprisoned. He came across a group of Watchers, and a few of your boys, Malachi. They said the succubi have been causing problems and to keep an eye open. They’re manipulative and sneaky.”
Johnna shivered. “Succubi give me the willies. They look like the most beautiful women you’ve ever seen. But once they’re done sucking a man’s soul, they become hideous psychotic crones.”
I pushed my hands against my now quivering stomach. “I’ve seen one up close and personal, and I’m still sorry you told me. What are the Outlands?”
“The Outlands are the realms on the fringes of Dark World. All realms here are dangerous but the Outlands even more so. Only a few of us have been there. The realm contains some of the harshest, most inhospitable areas. Very few can survive them for long.”
Saved by the Spell (Of Mystics and Mayhem Book 2) Page 8