Shadow witch, p.12
Shadow Witch, page 12
“Lazaro,” my mom said in shock. I didn’t feel bad though. I didn’t fucking feel bad in the least. I already knew my magic was fucked, but I’d decided long ago that it ended with me. This shit that his side of the family did, overloading us with power—it was over.
“You can hardly blame him,” my grandmother said. “It’s not like your husband isn’t aware that his family is unique. Lazaro has a right to be protective over his partner.”
“Just leave Deva alone, every single one of you,” I growled, turning towards the door and walking out.
Pausing momentarily in the hallway, I considered returning to Grim’s room but decided it would be a bad idea with how worked up I was. Instead, I made my way downstairs, trailing towards the lounge that housed a bar for most of the Society. I was completely unsurprised to find Cage’s brothers there, and I offered them a head nod in greeting before grabbing a bottle from behind the counter and pouring myself a glass of whiskey.
I wasn’t a drinker by any means, especially because I didn’t trust my magic most of the time, but right now it felt like this was exactly what I needed. Just the thing to help me block out the ridiculous way my family thought of things, the thing to help me resist the overwhelming urge to go back to the suite and steal Deva away.
I didn’t even know where I wanted to take her, just that I wanted her away from all of this.
Downing the glass, I closed my eyes and tried to come up with ideas on how to handle what the hell we’d just been told. I knew Deva would want to go after Astaroth ten times harder once she woke up…I just didn’t know how to convince her otherwise.
“Lazaro, your family—specifically your father—are sort of known assholes. You still haven’t told us why you’re so particularly upset right now though,” Alonso, one of Cage’s brothers, pointed out, pouring himself and me another glass.
I hadn’t meant to get drunk. Unfortunately, Cage’s brothers had other ideas, and now nearly two hours later, I was completely trashed. I never wanted to leave this damn seat…at least until I was far more sober. Who knew what the hell I would do after nearly a half a bottle.
See Deva. That’s what I would do. Only I didn’t trust what I would say or do. I couldn’t see her like this. She already thought I was a fucking psycho; she didn’t need to hear the drunk ramblings that were crowding my brain.
Maybe she would come and see me once she woke up. I would love to have her on my lap, straddling my frame as I stared into her mercury-shaded gaze. I nearly groaned, the thought of her body pressed against mine in any capacity too much. Now that I knew what it felt like to possess and claim her, I didn’t want anything less.
I wanted to wake up and go to sleep with my cock buried inside of her, our magics intertwined. I was starting to wonder if the intensity with which I needed Deva was unhealthy, but I also couldn’t seem to give a fuck. I’d known from the start the threat Deva posed to my sanity, yet it hadn’t stopped the trajectory I’d been set on from the beginning. Determined to make her mine.
“Lazaro?” Lugosi said, waving a hand in front of my face. Both brothers were staring at me expectantly, as if waiting for an answer…I just couldn’t fully remember what the question was.
“Huh?”
“Why are you here getting drunk?”
Oh. Now I remembered. “It really doesn’t matter,” I said.
“Of course it matters.” Alonso rolled his eyes. “Family always does stupid shit—just depends on whether it’s the type you’ve got to kill them for.”
“If you could kill them, which isn’t possible for any of us,” Lugosi lamented. “Probably would have tried to kill both you and Cage by now.”
“Right.” Alonso chuckled. “You fucking wish.”
“Hey, assholes.” Cage took a seat next to me as I offered him a nod of greeting, glad for the interruption. I had no intention of explaining to either of them my issue with my family or how Deva played a part in it.
“Like I said—” Lugosi offered me a look. “Would have tried it already if I thought it was possible.”
“I need both of you gone. Our girl is coming down here, and I don’t want her around you.” Cage’s voice was amused, but I could tell he was absolutely serious.
Alonso rolled his eyes. “If she’s going to be around for a bit, shouldn’t we get to know her?”
“No.” Cage’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to share her attention. Now fuck off.”
Amusing, considering he literally shared her with four other men.
Wait. Was she really coming down here? Fuck, this wasn’t good.
“We’re just trying to be friendly. No one is trying to cause problems or ‘take your girl’,” Lugosi pointed out, standing up despite his explanation.
“The love of my life,” Cage corrected as Alonso shook his head but stood as well. “Clear out. I need to try to figure out just how drunk this bastard is.”
“He’s half a bottle in,” Lugosi said as he and Alonso left to join Cage’s two other brothers at the bar. While I didn’t know his brothers well, I knew that there was tension between them and Cage.
Cage had always felt isolated and different from them, I just didn’t know if it was self-imposed or if they’d made him feel that way.
“Impressive, half a bottle,” Cage said, pouring himself a drink and offering me an appraising look. “I’m going to assume your parents said something about her being powerful?”
“Of course they did.” I scoffed, rubbing a hand over my face.
When the sudden screech of a chair being pulled out across the table sounded, I looked up to find Grim, who nodded back towards the door. “She’s worried about you. I don’t know what you plan on telling her, but she can feel through the bond that you’re upset.”
Shit. I really hoped she didn’t think it was about what had happened between us.
Suddenly, Deva walked through the door, her gaze moving around the space before landing on me. Her brilliance completely overshadowed the fact that Oz and Alek had joined us as well. I put down my glass and stood on unstable legs, relief painting her expression as she crossed the space.
My throat went dry as I looked over what she was wearing. She had showered and changed, her body covered in a black velvet dress that wrapped around her, covering most of her skin with the exception of the leg slit that came up to mid-thigh and showed off leather boots. Boots I would love to have wrapped around my waist as I pushed that dress up and railed into her.
Rounding the table, I didn’t hesitate to meet her as she melted into me, a small breath leaving her lips, an exhale of relief that had a foreign sensation working its way up my throat. I had no idea what she was feeling or thinking, my inebriated state preventing me from reading into our bond, so I simply held her exactly how I wanted. My fingers strung through her damp hair, and my other hand wrapped around her back in a possessive hold.
I could hear the others talking, but it was background noise.
“I was worried when you weren’t with me when I woke up,” she whispered, vulnerability filling her expression. “I thought…I don’t know what I thought.”
I had a feeling she thought I was pulling away.
Sliding a hand up to her jaw and speaking quietly, I tried to explain without going too far into depth. “Nothing to do with us, little thief—just needed a moment after talking to my family…and a moment turned into quite a few drinks with Cage’s brothers.”
Her eyes filled with surprise as she examined my face, smiling. “Are you…are you drunk?”
Chuckling, I put my head down and pressed my forehead to hers. “I’m not not drunk.”
“You’re totally drunk,” she teased, biting down on her bottom lip. “Are you okay? What happened with your family?”
“Are you okay?” I countered, her eyes shaded subtly by haunted pain.
“I’ll be okay.” She rested her forehead on my chest, her eyes closing for a long moment. “I just need to come to terms with everything.”
Nodding, I finally answered her question. “I went to tell my family they were assholes for throwing that on you out of nowhere.”
Her eyes widened. “You didn’t have to—”
“I didn’t have to,” I agreed, “but I did. They were completely out of line, and I knew—I absolutely knew—how they would view it. My father had the fucking nerve to mention that our future children wouldn’t need to be overloaded on power because of the strength of your magic.”
A breath whooshed out of Deva as her eyes darkened. “Shit.”
“Lazaro.” Oz’s hard tone had me looking over to him and the other three, all of them staring at me in anger, though I knew it was directed towards my father. They probably weren’t happy that I was being so damn vocal as well, not wanting me to upset Deva with any more bullshit than she was already dealing with. I was normally blunt, but right now I had even less of a filter than usual.
“I know,” I assured them. “I already told him I didn’t want his family’s toxic shit coming anywhere near any kids we may have.”
Alek nodded, looking back towards his drink, but I could tell Oz was still pissed. Probably enough so that if my father wasn’t a blood relation he would pay him a visit, and I couldn’t blame him. I hated the idea of anyone referencing Deva’s future as if they knew what was going to happen, and I sure as fuck didn’t like another man talking about her having kids, father or not.
“Thank you for saying something.” Deva drew my attention back, her hands sliding up my jaw as I looked back down at her, noticing a slight flush to her cheeks.
“Of course—but what’s the blush for?”
Her lips pressed into a small smile. “I…I just didn’t expect you to feel so intense about any future…kids, I guess? I like it. I just didn’t expect it.”
My gaze examined hers as I spoke as plainly as I could without freaking her out. “I can’t deny, nor would I want to deny, what’s going on here, little thief—no matter where this takes us. And I feel extremely protective over a future you’ve worked so hard to have.”
I could tell immediately I’d said the right thing despite my more than slightly inebriated state. Deva’s frame melted against mine, and she tilted her head up, her lips right within reach if I wanted to kiss her—which I did. Always.
“Little thief…always going to call me that?”
“Considering your ability to steal everything from my attention to my heart, Deva, I would assume so.” My words were factual, but her mercury gaze melted with emotion as I realized what I’d essentially just admitted. Placing a light kiss on her lips, I smoothed my thumb over her jaw and pulled back, breathing in her natural scent.
Suddenly, the sound of others laughing in the room reminded me we were far from alone, and considering the serious conversation we needed to have…
“We should get out of here,” I suggested. Either out of the estate or somewhere more private.”
“It’s going to get busier,” Grim agreed.
“Never a good sign when Lazaro wants to go on a damn adventure though.” Cage chuckled.
“Maybe the gardens?” Deva suggested. “I don’t think we should leave just yet.”
“At least until we figure out how close Astroth’s people are watching us,” Alek said, and Oz nodded in agreement.
Of course I knew they were right, but I was still fighting the urge to get out of this damn place and away from my family, away from all of this and the heavy weight placed on Deva’s shoulders for at least a bit. When it came to Deva’s safety, though, we didn’t have that luxury.
“Gardens, then.” I scooped Deva up into my arms, her surprised laugh nearly tugging a smile onto my lips as I carried her to the internal garden. I could feel the others following behind, but I was purely focused on the interest and curiosity on my little thief’s face as we reached the stone entrance to the oasis in the middle of the gothic stone fortress. While it wasn’t raining, it was overcast, and the wind was chilled just enough that I was glad her dress had long sleeves.
I sat her down on my lap as I positioned myself on the edge of the fountain, the others spreading throughout the space, their conversation going completely past me as I buried my nose against her throat. When her hands ran through my hair, I nearly fucking purred but managed to keep it together.
“This is beautiful,” she said. “I didn’t even know gardens really existed in Carmina—I’ve seen a few around cemeteries, but even those were limited.”
My jaw clenched at the thought of where Deva had been before this, specifically when she was on the street and on the run from Astaroth. I was extremely thankful that Oz had been the one to find her when she’d run away and not myself. If I was this controlling and overbearing now, having met her after a summer of her healing and two years away from the abusive asshole that was apparently her father, I couldn’t even imagine if a younger version of myself had met her.
That would have been so fucking bad. I would have locked her away like a prized jewel.
“Hey.” Deva’s soft voice had my eyes opening as I realized I’d been trapped in my own thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“Did you mean what you said earlier? About what I stole?” Her hands were still in my hair, her attention focused there in an effort to hide her uncertainty.
I could remove that—easily. I could be an overcontrolling bastard, but Deva was mine now, and there was no escaping that. I planned on showing her what that meant every single day for the rest of our lives.
“That you stole my heart?” I clarified, and she confirmed with a small nod.
“Yes. That is exactly what you’ve done—you’ve captured every part of me Deva, and now that you’ve given yourself to me, I won’t be letting you go. You’re mine.”
I probably should have softened the words because I no doubt came across as an absolute psychopath, but a spark of heat filled her gaze as she brushed her lips against mine. “I love you.”
I nearly groaned as I tugged on her bottom lip a bit harder. “I love you, little thief.”
15
DEVA
“Seven more deaths last night.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised by the shit show that greeted us this morning, yet somehow the news had my eyes widening as I tried to control the surge of pure fury I felt at Phelan Nyx’s words.
Not just fury, but guilt.
I normally felt a misplaced sense of fucked up guilt for Astaroth’s actions, constantly wondering why I hadn’t been strong enough to stop him myself rather than running all those years ago. But now that I knew the truth and how we were connected, it was more intense than ever.
My gaze moved to the window that was coated in the morning downpour of rain as Alek’s hand tightened on my leg in a comforting squeeze. I knew he understood my dilemma more than anyone since people often blamed him for his father’s actions.
It didn’t help that I could feel the tension rolling through our group bond. None of my men were happy about how we’d been woken up this morning, especially Alek, whose arms I’d fallen asleep in on the couch. All of us had been getting some much-needed rest, only to be woken by a loud banging on the door by estate staff who informed us that Phelan and Circe needed to see us.
Now I understood the urgency, but I didn’t think it made my men feel any better about it. They didn’t like anyone disturbing us. We probably weren’t going to last very long in the dorms if we did go back to DIA, truth be told.
Although, I think the specific tension today was in part because of Lazaro’s parents and grandmother, who were sitting opposite us in Phelan’s office, the latter watching me with interest despite my attempts to ignore her.
“Unblessed?” Grim asked, shadows dancing along his fingers as he sat on my other side. Cage sat in front of me, relaxing his back against the sofa I sat on, while Oz stood near the window, listening but keeping his attention there rather than the rest of the group. I could feel Lazaro pacing behind us, and I knew that his aggressive restlessness was making his family stressed, but I couldn’t care less at the moment. The more Lazaro revealed about them, the less and less I liked them.
They weren’t the ‘bad’ guys, but they weren’t really the good guys either…especially if they had truly messed with his magic as badly as he implied.
“Five of them. The other two were young children whose abilities hadn’t yet revealed themselves.”
My brain halted completely on that as I snapped my head towards Phelan. “They killed children?”
“Eight and ten,” Circe confirmed.
I frowned, running a hand over my face and deciding to just ask the question on my mind even though it risked revealing how much I knew about Astaroth. Although it seemed they’d already caught onto that, even with the simple tale I’d spun about being one of the many children raised by him.
“Did Astaroth kill them, or was a different method used? I never knew him to kill children. Bring them into his ranks, sure, but kill…”
“It’s true,” Oz said. “When my parents were killed, I was spared and escaped with the help of a neighbor before Astaroth could collect me.”
My eyes widened, realizing that if he hadn’t escaped, Oz’s and my paths would have crossed far before they actually did. I was glad he never had to go through what I did, though.
“He may hate the unblessed, but he still would have experimented on their magic,” I added. “I know it doesn’t make sense, but if they died during one of his experiments, it was vastly different in his mind than a straight kill.”
“It wasn’t his normal style, so it’s completely possible it was one of his commanders,” Circe agreed, examining a piece of paper that laid on the main desk.
“Ozul,” I murmured softly, unable to stop myself. “He would have done that.”
“All the more reason to find him,” Cage sang as he looked up at me, a smile playing on his lips and bloodlust twinkling in his eyes. His father chuckled, and his mom shook her head but didn’t comment. I had a feeling she was used to it, and while his brothers weren’t here, I had to assume conversations of bloodshed were the norm between their family as a whole.
