kate storm 04 - witches dont back down (17 page)

His shoulders were not quite as broad as Ash's and his muscles were a little leaner. And he was more fashionably dressed than Ash. If a witch preferred the metro style to dominance and leather.

I didn't.

He had on a black silk button down shirt tucked neatly into his black trousers with slick black loafers. And his belt buckle was undone.

I really wished I hadn't noticed that part.

Ash poked him in the chest. "You damned demon. How in Hell did you get out?"

"Same way you did." The blonde demon crossed his arms over his chest. "I made a bargain with Morgause."

Aunt Tabitha and I gasped. Ash growled.

The blonde demon immediately turned to my aunt. "Don't worry, Tabby." He set his hands on her waist and pulled her into him. "I lied to Morgause. I just used her to get out of Hell. I'd never do anything to hurt you, my love."

I would have protested, but Ash had done the exact same thing. And he hadn't confessed quite as quickly as Blondie.

Damn it.

I elbowed Ash. Hard.

He ignored me. "Did you tell her Kate or Tabitha are in Dominion?"

"Of course not." Blondie didn't even look at us. He was too busy dropping reassuring kisses onto my aunt's cheeks. "I told you. I lied. I told Morgause I could find Tabitha and Kate if she got me out of Hell. And once I was out I came straight to Dominion. I knew Morgause couldn't find me here." He placed a much deeper kiss on my aunt's lips. I caught a brief glimpse of tongue before I turned away.

"I knew my Tabby was in Dominion."

I risked a quick look. Blondie's hands were running up and down Aunt Tabitha's sides. And lingering a little too much in the cut outs of her dress, but at least they weren't kissing.

"I had to be with her again."

"Again?" I quit looking at Blondie's hands and stared at my aunt.

She only had eyes for Blondie.

"Did Morgause track you down or did you find her?" Ash asked.

"Morgause made an appearance in Hell." Blondie looked over his shoulder at Ash. "You have made quite an impression on her, my lord. She's not happy with you."

"My lord?" I frowned at Ash. "And Morgause is tracking you down?" I shuddered. Bad. Bad. Bad. I turned back to Blondie "And what did you mean by again?"

I was getting mental whiplash. There were too many trails to follow.

"I'm the King of Demons, Kate." Ash looked down at me. "I'm addressed by many titles. My lord. My King. Sire."

Ash. King of Demons. Spirits, that just did it for me each and every time.

I hadn't really thought about proper terms of address for him. Oh, but now I could. I could see myself on my knees in front of him saying, "I've been a bad witch, my lord. Very bad."

"You know Morgause," Ash continued.

I blinked away my naughty thoughts. This was not the time, I reminded myself. We were discussing Morgause. A little shiver went through me. I seemed to be doing that whenever I heard her name.

Ash ran his hand down my back in comfort. "She's very thorough. The moment I broke my bargain with her, I went on her list."

Morgause's list of People Who Had to Die Because They Did Bad Things To Me.

I knew that list.

I hated that list.

Everyone I loved was on that list.

"And what about the
again
part?" I looked at my Aunt Tabitha. She sighed.

"I've told you this story before, Kate."

She had?

"When I was younger, I was kidnapped by a demon prince. I know I told you this." She patted Blondie on the chest. "I told you the demon prince took me back to his place."

Sweet Spirits.

I'd asked my aunt if she knew anything about demons when I had first met Ash. Turned out, she knew quite a lot. From personal experience.

A demon prince had captured my aunt and dragged her into Hell and made plans to keep her there.

My aunt had decided not to stay. Hell is not a nice place. Even the demons who live there want to leave.

I thought she was over it. Him. Her demon prince.

Clearly, I was incorrect.

Ash put his hand on the middle of my back. He gestured towards Blondie with the other. "I'd like to present Kate. The love of my life."

I melted. Into a frothing pool of utter mooshiness.

I was such a gooey mess I almost missed the rest of the introductions.

"Kate, meet one of my demon princes."

I held my hand out.

"This is Lucifer."

22. The Devil I Now Know.

Holy crap. My aunt was dating the devil.

I actually pulled my hand back, realized I was the one behaving rudely and put my hand out again.

Blondie, that is, Lucifer, smiled charmingly and shook my hand.

"What a pleasure to meet you, Kate."

I tried not to let my mouth drop. Honestly, I've met angels who weren't as agreeable.

"You're Lucifer?" I tried my best to keep the disbelief out of my voice. I wasn't even close to being at my best.

"Indeed, I am." He winked at me.

I looked at my Aunt Tabitha. She beamed.

I looked at Ash. He appeared slightly disgruntled with his demon lord subject.

No one was running away screaming. Which meant I couldn't go running off either. But I wanted to. As fast as I could.

I knew I was dating the King of Demons. I was proud of it.

But Lucifer was another matter entirely.

He's the bad guy in Hell. The one everyone is taught to fear. Humans and non alike.
Behave or you'll go to Hell where Lucifer is waiting to claim your soul.

I looked back at Lucifer. His blue eyes twinkled at me.

"Um." I wasn't sure what to say. My mouth opened and shut several times.

I didn't want to insult my aunt's boyfriend. But then again, I couldn't
not
say anything either.

She was dating Lucifer.

Someone had to look out for her soul.

"So." I decided I'd ease into it. "Are you stealing my aunt's soul?"

Well, there went my plan for easing into it.

"Kate!" Aunt Tabitha actually shook her finger at me. The I-taught-you-better-than-that finger.

I knew I'd be getting a lecture later. I didn't care. I loved my aunt. If I had to go up against Lucifer for her, I'd do it. I might be a bit freaked out and wishing desperately for my wand and a kick ass spell that would prevent any soul stealing, but I'd do it. She's family. I'll do anything for family.

Lucifer closed his angelic blue eyes and shook his head mournfully. "I'm never going to live that down. One time. It was just the one time!"

My aunt patted his chest. "I know, love."

"What was the one time?" I turned to Ash to ask my question. Both my aunt and Lucifer were completely wrapped up in some sort of drama.

This was the devil? The blonde dream griping about someone's daughter and the unfairness of it all?

Shouldn't he have a pitchfork? A forked tail? Hellhounds that breathed sulfur?

Ash tucked a curl behind my ear. "Lucifer stole a soul one time. And one time only. It was just after he became a demon lord. He was at a party, he'd had too much to drink and someone dared him." Ash shook his head as if he'd recounted this story a million times and he still couldn't believe it.

I was a bit confounded myself. I thought Lucifer went about stealing souls willy-nilly.

I frowned. "If it was just the one time, why did he get such a bad rep?"

My aunt was still trying to console Lucifer. I didn't think her consoling needed to involve quite so many kisses.

"The bet involved a king's daughter. Lucifer stole her soul and then returned it a few days later. The king was furious because the daughter fell in love with Lucifer while he had her soul."

"Okay." I shrugged. I still didn't get it. Stealing souls was bad, but he had returned the soul. So why the bad rep?

"The daughter then refused to marry a prince her father had arranged a marriage with."

"Ah." It made a little more sense now. Arranged marriages had been all the thing centuries ago. Family dynasties had been built upon such marriages. I could sort of see a greedy father getting all bent out of shape over a daughter's refusal to enlarge the family coffers. "So the king lost a political connection."

"Yes. And then his kingdom and an entire country." Ash shook his head. "Greece. Rome. India. It could have been most of a continent. I don't remember the details." Ash shrugged. "Crops were burned, people went hungry, battles were fought and they started lecturing their sons and daughters on the evils of Lucifer."

Ouch.

"I never stole a single soul after that." Lucifer said. He made a solemn x over his heart with his finger.

"I confined you to Hell after that." Ash stated, crossing his arms over his wide chest.

Aunt Tabitha sighed and caressed Lucifer's cheek. "He didn't steal any more souls. Just a few more hearts." She laughed. "Including mine."

"But, Aunt Tabitha, you've never mentioned him."

Lucifer winced.

"We're cursed, Kate. I wasn't going to stick around and watch the curse take effect," Aunt Tabs said matter-of-factly. "And there's no sense in crying about it either. I put Luke behind me and concentrated on living a good life." She blushed. "I never expected him to track me down."

I was brought up by one smart witch. Practical. Loving. Determined. And I planned to do everything I could to make sure we both got the happy endings we deserved.

"Speaking of Morgause and the curse . . ." I motioned to Ash to take off his leather jacket. "She's getting closer. She knows Ash is somewhere in Dominion."

My aunt and Lucifer both gasped when they saw Ash's sin. The lines moving all on their own. Twisting and turning over Ash's skin.

"Black magic," my aunt stated. She leaned closer to Ash's sin to get a better look. Lucifer pulled her back.

Any other time it might seem funny–Lucifer frightened by black magic. He was the devil and black magic originated in Hell. I’m sure it was what he used to steal the princess's soul. But right now it simply served to show me how utterly terrifying Morgause was. Even the devil himself didn't want to get too close.

"I think she's flinging out random shots of black magic to see if they hit anything. Black magic comes from Hell so I figure it's attracted to beings from Hell."

Aunt Tabitha tightened her grip on Lucifer. I'd never seen her get protective over anyone but myself, Al and Morgan. She was clearly very serious about Lucifer.

I wasn't sure yet how I felt about him.

"You're right." Aunt Tabs looked back and forth between Ash and Lucifer. "Black magic would not only be attracted to a demon, it would hone in on them. More specifically their sin."

It's what I thought, but I hadn't been one hundred percent sure. Dropping out of the Witch Academy left several holes in my education. I needed my aunt to confirm my suspicions. And now that she had I really wanted to go hide somewhere. Things were getting worse and worse.

"Morgause must be getting desperate, too. I've never heard of anyone using black magic without a specific target in sight. It's too dangerous."

Well, shit.

I'd tried not to ask myself how much worse things could get, but it didn't matter. Things were getting worse all the time.

They were going downhill faster than an empty cauldron.

I'd thought Morgause was super scary by herself. But to add desperation into the pot?

Aunt Tabitha and I exchanged a look. We needed to add in a little desperation ourselves.

I'd gone over every bit of information I'd ever found on Morgause with my aunt and Morgan. Nothing I'd found so far and nothing my aunt and Morgan had been able to discover from their friends in the HC had proved to be helpful in any way.

We were still where we'd always been. Cursed, with a determined witch out to kill us.

And now she was desperate.

Désirée Norma-Sue's words shot through my mind, "Desperate people can be dangerous people." Morgause was already dangerous. Like a potential wildfire during a dry spell, she'd just gone from high to extreme.   

23. The Things We Do For Those We Love.

I was born cursed. I grew up cursed. It's something I've learned to live with.

And there is one thing I've always done no matter what. I've lived.

Gone ahead with life as if I have the same shot at a happy ending and a long life as the next witch.

I've ducked and dodged and even faced various things, but I've always plodded forward. Because if I let the fear take over, Morgause would have already won.

And despite our narrowing odds, I was determined not to let her win. Call it what you will: blind foolishness, sheer grit, delusional optimism. It didn't matter. My course was set and any maneuvering left or right meant slamming into the barnacles of doom. AKA Morgause.

So Aunt Tabs and I decided to divide and revisit our contacts. Or rather the contacts she and Morgan had in the HC. I didn't have any and my online research was a complete bust.

We were hoping someone might have seen Morgause recently. Black magic doesn't work well from far distances. She had to be closer than we thought.

I still didn't have a clue as to how I was going to defeat Morgause.

But I knew we didn't have a chance at all if she found us before we found her.

I gave my aunt her amulet. She and Lucifer made plans to visit a couple covens nearby. She thought someone might have seen Morgause. Morgause had been born a witch. She'd turned to the dark side, but if she kept in touch with anyone–or wanted to find someone to cast a spell on, destroy their soul and coerce into being her servant–she'd look to another witch.

After we made our plans, I did one of the hardest things I've ever done.

I called my UDBF and asked her to meet me at
Got Fangs?
.

I knew they had karaoke tonight. I couldn't avoid it. I wasn't about to sit at home and twiddle my wand. The HC might not talk to me, but they would Morgan and at least I would feel as if I was doing something. I really hoped that something wasn't karaoke.

But I couldn't think of another solution.