Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

RELIC

The ground shook under my feet while the beast rolled under my skin.

Fern was in pain.

And something fucking huge was coming toward the cottage.

The door opened, and Agatheena walked out. When she stepped aside, my heart slammed against the back of my ribs. Fern’s vibrant red hair flew around her face as she made her way down the steps. Her arms were at her sides, and blood slid down her forearms, pooling in her palms and dripping on the path as she moved toward me. Her red eyes were unfocused, and her entire body trembled.

“Fern!” I roared, but there was nothing, no recognition. I roared her name again, and as soon as the sound left my mouth, my body was thrown back and slammed against a tree.

The crone. Her hand was raised and aimed at me, her magic coiling around me and forcing my mouth shut.

The trees near me shook as Fern walked through Agatheena’s ward and out the other side. She was so close, but still, it was as if she didn’t see me. I struggled as hard as I could, but there was no breaking free from the crone’s magic.

Fern’s head tilted back, and I looked beyond her as a massive serpent slid out from between two shuddering trees and toward my mate.

I strained against my invisible binds.

The serpent hissed, its black eyes focused on my female as it stopped in front of her. Fern nodded as if she understood it. The snake’s forked tongue darted out, tasting the blood sliding from the slices down her arms, and it hissed again.

“Yes, Mother,” Fern said. “I promise to worship you for the rest of my days.”

The huge serpent’s eyes flashed to white, glowing bright, and Fern cried out as her body lifted from the ground, bowing and jerking midair. I fought harder to get to her.

Fern jerked one more time, and then she dropped, landing on the ground in a heap. Unmoving.

The serpent swung around and slithered back into the forest, and as she did, the crone finally released me. Cursing, I sprinted to Fern, dropping to the ground and pulling her into my arms.

“Fern,” I roared.

“Stop the dramatics, hound. If you want to be helpful, heal those cuts on her arms.”

I turned to the crone, now standing at the end of her path and watching from behind the safety of her ward. “What have you done?”

“What I’ve done, what the mother has done, is give her the magic that was denied by her coven and by the monster who hurt her. She is finally whole.”

I looked back down at Fern, and she blinked several times.

“Fern? Fuck, talk to me.”

“I’m okay.” She sat up, and I held her to me. “I’m okay, Relic,” she said again, and looked up at me. “I’m sorry if that scared you, but it had to happen.”

The scent of her blood was driving me crazy, and I grabbed one of her forearms and did what the crone said, licking each of the slices to start her healing.

“You scared the shit out of me.” Another scent hit me then. Witch. Even after I knew she was witch as well, her demon blood had dominated everything else, and I hadn’t been able to detect it. I did now.

Her phone vibrated on the ground beside her, where it had fallen out. Sutton’s name was on the screen. The witch had texted several times while we were caught up in each other, asking Fern to come over.

Fern picked up the phone, and as soon as she did, her entire body froze, and her eyes rolled back.

I shook her. “Fern?”

“She sees something,” Agatheena said. “Leave her.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I snarled.

“A vision,” the witch said.

Fern gasped suddenly, her eyes rolling back down.

“Tink?”

She looked up at me, horror contorting her face. “He’s got them.”

“Who? What are you talking about?”

“The coven, Sutton …” She struggled to her feet. “The Chemist, Grady—they’re there, at the coven house.”

“You saw them?” Agatheena asked.

She nodded. “And I heard them. I fucking smelled that monster. I smelled his poison.” Fern grabbed my arm. “We need to help them.”

“Your power is still unstable, child,” Agatheena said. “More than someone as unskilled as you can handle. It could manifest in ways you’re not expecting. You need to be careful. Always be on alert and speak with care and caution. Anything can be a spell with the right motivation.” Her eyes slid to me. “Protect her with your life, hound, until she learns to do it herself, or I will cut you into pieces.”

I nodded, but the threat wasn’t necessary. I would always protect Fern.

“We need to go,” Fern said, fear vibrating through her. “We need to get to them before he kills them.”

“We’ll get there faster if I carry you.” I quickly texted Jag for backup.

“I’m okay. I can run,” she said.

“Not what I meant, Tink.” I pulled off my vest and shirt, and shoved down my jeans.

“Relic?”

I gave her a quick kiss, and let the hound explode from my skin. My mate stared at me, eyes wide, and I nudged her with my snout, before lowering to the ground, urging her to get up.

“Holy shit,” she whispered, unmoving.

I made a huffing sound and pressed my snout into her hand. She jolted, snapping out of it, and quickly scooping up my clothes, scrambled up onto my back.

I growled and gave her a shake when she didn’t hang on tight enough, and she quickly wrapped her arms around my neck. I huffed my approval, and took off.

Instead of heading back to my bike, I swerved to the left and exploded through the trees. We’d get there faster, cutting through the forest. Fern lay against me, her arms locked around my neck, gripping my fur. There was no way she was coming off, so I dipped lower and picked up my speed. I would not let her lose her friends. She’d just found them; she needed them, and I would not let her suffer their loss.

But more than anything, I wanted to hear that sick fuck scream for mercy while I shredded him with my claws.

* * *

FERN

My mind spun as we flew through the forest. Relic ran so fast that the trees were a blur. I clung to his thick neck, my face pressed to his fur, while images bombarded me. When I’d grabbed my phone, the world had spun around me. I saw the coven house, but it was dark. Someone had screamed, and then the smell had hit me: chemicals, blood.

My friends were in pain. Their cries still filled my head, the scent of warm blood and poison making me dizzy.

He was hurting them.

I had to stop him.

The spinning in my head grew wilder and had me fisting Relic’s fur tighter.

My body was yanked to the side, but Relic’s fur was still in my hands. I hadn’t moved. I was yanked again. Then, he was gone, and I was falling.

I hit the ground hard. Winded, I coughed and gasped for air.

Rolling, I climbed to my hands and knees and blinked down at my fingers. Not in dirt. Concrete. There were no trees or dappled light coming from the setting sun. And no Relic. It was dark and cold, and the only light filtered in through a small frosted window in the door beside me.

I wasn’t in the forest anymore.

I stumbled to my feet.

What the fuck?

I was at the coven house. I’d seen this room, I’d smelled it, and now, I was here.

There was a muffled sound from the shadows.

I spun around, snatched my phone from my pocket, and I turned on the light.

Phoebe.

Oh, fuck . She was strapped to a gurney, bloody welts all over her exposed skin.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

“Phoebe?” I whispered.

I didn’t know how I was here. I’d been thinking of this place, and now, here I was.

My powers, it had to be because if The Chemist had somehow done this, he would have been waiting. Oh gods, Relic would be frantic.

“It’s going to be okay,” I said, rushing to my friend. Hands shaking, I quickly undid the straps. “Can you talk?”

She shook her head and shuddered.

“Are all of you down here somewhere?”

She nodded.

He’d magically gagged them so they couldn’t use the wards here to toss him out.

“Is it just The Chemist and Grady?”

She nodded and shuddered again when a scream of pain echoed from somewhere else in the basement. A tear slid down Phoebe’s face.

Sutton.

That fucker was hurting her.

There was a storage cupboard on the other side of the room. I quickly helped Phoebe over to it. It was big and full of coats and a few sleeping bags.

“I need you to hide.”

She limped in.

“Help’s coming. They’ll be here soon. I need you to stay still and quiet, no matter what, okay?”

She nodded again and tucked herself into the back corner, wrapping her arms around herself. I covered her with coats and stacked several of the sleeping bags and camp equipment in front of her. As I shut the door, I hoped like hell she survived this. Whatever he’d infected her with was already taking hold.

Rushing to the door, I listened for movement beyond it. Power throbbed through me while I stood there, power that I had no idea what to do with. All I could hope for was that The Chemist felt it, that he sensed the strength flowing through me. Because it was so incredibly vast and wild, there was no way that monster wouldn’t feel it pouring from me on the waves of my hatred.

Sutton screamed again, her pain and horror so raw that tears sprang to my eyes.

Get it the fuck together. Your friend needs you.

Gritting my teeth, I yanked the door open and strode out into the hall. There was another one at the end, and I didn’t think—I couldn’t think, not when my friend was being tortured. If nothing else, if all else failed, The Chemist seeing me walk into that room would stop him hurting her. I just had to stop him from hurting her, and then Relic and his brothers would be here. I just had to buy some time.

As the fear in my gut swirled faster, it twisted into rage, and I let it feed the power simmering inside me. It could be a monumentally stupid thing to do because I had no real control over my magic. And the way it felt? Shit, if I let it, it could bring down this entire house. So, I thought of an iron door, of locks, so many of them, holding some of my power back to try to restrain the magic spiraling and surging inside me. It seemed to work—for now anyway.

Throwing up my hands as I approached the doors, I let a little of it slip free, and they burst open, buckling and snapping under the force.

The Chemist spun toward me, a bloody scalpel in his black latex-covered hand.

“Stop,” I cried out, and my voice seemed to resonate through the room.

The Chemist froze, his eyes widening.

Sutton was strapped to a table in the middle of the large room while Boo went crazy in a cage beside it, crashing repeatedly against the bars to try to get to her.

“Step away from her,” I ordered, my voice sounding far stronger than I felt.

The rattle of chains, hisses, and snarls came from one of the shadowed corners. Ghoul. The Chemist’s most horrible creature, a demon, broken and starved, was right there. I forced down the fear that instantly hit me and aimed all my hatred at the twisted witch holding the scalpel.

Shock and surprise moved across The Chemist’s face when he struggled, trying to move, to fight it, but he was forced to take a step back. “Ahhh, there you are, Estelle,” he said, the surprise replaced with excitement. “There is my very special demon.” His head tilted to the side. “I’ve waited for so very long for you to show me who you truly are. You’re powerful.”

“Yes, I am, and I’m not here to show you anything,” I snarled. “I’m here to fucking kill you, you twisted fuck.”

He grinned, and it sent cold dread down my spine. “You can’t hurt me, Essie—you must know that. You’ve seen my very special sigils.”

Yes, I’d seen the sigils branded into his flesh while he’d fucked his favorite mannequin in front of me.

A howl echoed in the distance, and my heart leaped.

I smiled. “Do you hear them? Hellhounds—they’re coming for you, Erwin.”

He bared his teeth, fury lining his face. He didn’t like being called by his name. “They won’t get through my ward, not this time.”

“I hate to burst your bubble, but you have no idea how strong they are.”

He was powerful, but nowhere near as strong as Agatheena. Relic had already proven he could get through one of The Chemist’s wards before, and this one, with him and his brothers battering it, would be no match.

Grady burst into the room, saw me, and immediately charged. I threw up my hands instinctively, and he stopped so hard and fast that something snapped—several bones in his body breaking or dislocating. He flew across the room, slamming against the wall before hitting the ground hard.

As soon as he did, Ghoul’s chains rattled, and his bony arm shot out of the shadows; long, tattooed fingers grabbed the only part of Grady he could reach—his hair—and dragged him into the darkness with it.

Grady’s screams filled the room, and The Chemist stared into the corner, breathing hard, his eyes wide with shock. Then I felt it—his fear. And it was bright and sharp and wonderful, feeding my burning rage.

The Chemist’s gaze sliced back to me, and I slowly circled him, until I stood between him and Sutton. She was unconscious—at least, I hoped that was all she was—and when I saw the extent of the damage he’d done to her, my rage and power shot higher.

Vicious barking, growls, and snarls echoed in the distance, but quickly grew louder.

The Chemist looked up, but he shook his head, a furious expression on his face. “Even if they manage to breach the ward, they can’t touch me.”

The sound of the door splintering upstairs came next.

“You were saying?”

A roar came from upstairs, so thunderous and violent that goose bumps rose all over me.

The Chemist tried to step back, and this time, he could—whatever I’d done, whatever spell I’d cast was wearing off. He turned to the door behind him, but I wasn’t letting him leave. No fucking way.

I flung up my hands. “You will not leave this room.”

A massive hound—my hound—burst into the room, then another and another. The Chemist spun back to the door. My powers were as volatile as Agatheena had said they’d be. I didn’t know how to direct them, and now they weren’t stopping him. He ran for the door—

Relic leaped from one side of the room, landing in front of the exit. He shifted, looming over the smaller male, and The Chemist stumbled back.

My mate grabbed for the monster who had tried to break me over and over, and as soon as Relic’s skin made contact, it started to bubble and burn from the power of The Chemist’s sigils. Relic hissed, but he didn’t let go—no, his eyes met mine. Asking what I wanted him to do. I could let Relic kill him—he wanted to. It would be so easy for him to crush my torturer, but when I looked at my friend, so badly hurt, and thought about what he’d done to Phoebe and gods knew how many others, my hatred manifested inside me, pushing outward.

I lifted my arms, and as I did, my rage and hatred radiated from me, dense and vibrant, forming a kind of shield, sparking from my skin like a live wire. I walked toward them, relishing the look of horror on The Chemist’s face. He hated touch, germs, and contact of any kind. Relic holding him was making him freak out already, but I kept coming as Agatheena’s words filled my head.

“Then, when you find him, child, you make him feel the pain you suffered. You make him feel every moment of it.”

The force field around me sparked brighter as image after image of the things he’d done to me filled my head. I fed my magic with that pain until fire ignited, dancing over my palms, just like my mom had done the night I was taken. It didn’t stop there, though; it engulfed me, the hot wind whipping around me.

I kept walking, closing the space between us, and wrapped my arms around The Chemist’s struggling body as tight as I could.

Relic stayed right there, not letting him get away as I poured all that savage fury inside me into my tormentor, my torturer, my abuser. He screamed, and I lifted my head, looking into his eyes as his scarred face bubbled and burned.

“You deserve this. You deserve to die screaming,” I said, my voice shaking with the force of my power and the fury in my heart.

His face melted away, and he went limp in my arms. My power burned higher, and I screamed, releasing all the pain and fear inside me as the rest of his body melted away.

Then, there were massive arms wrapped around me while the fire raged.

Relic. Oh gods .

I cried out, trying to pull away, terrified I’d hurt him, but he just held me tighter.

“You did it, baby. He’s gone. Let it go. Let it all go.”

The power inside me—the magic—slowly subsided, and the fire died down. Shaking, I frantically searched him for burns, but the welts from The Chemist had already healed, and the fire hadn’t touched him.

“You’re okay … you’re okay.”

He flashed his teeth. “Hellfire can’t touch me, sweetness.”

“Hellfire?”

He nodded and pulled me in against him.

Witch and demon, I was both, and my powers had manifested in a way that included my demon blood.

I took in the room around us. The three other hounds crowding it. Jagger was holding Sutton in his arms, and he was licking my unconscious friend’s wounds, growling under his breath, trying to heal her, while Dirk and Roman closed in on the corner where Ghoul had dragged Grady.

“No, don’t go near him,” I cried out.

Grady’s body was tossed from the corner, leaving a smear of blood and gore on the concrete floor. Rome was now within striking distance. Chains rattled, but Rome didn’t attack—no, he cursed in surprise, then reached down, helping the demon, pulling him from the shadows, and holding him up. I stared over at him—at the threat that had been held over me most of my life, Ghoul, the evil thing who had drunk my blood while The Chemist watched, eyes glittering with glee.

The demon looked different now that he’d drained Grady. He was still thin, but his inked skin clung to flesh and muscle; he was no longer just skin and bone.

Ghoul’s gaze slid to me and locked on, and I stumbled back a step.

Relic caught me, but he was looking at the demon. “Lukan?”

“You know him?” I choked.

“He’s one of Lucifer’s lords,” Rome said. “He’s been missing for a really long fucking time.” He turned back to my nightmare. “Brother, Lucifer’s been looking for you for decades.”

Hand trembling, Lukan shoved his long, tangled hair back from his face, before his eyes met mine, a vibrant yellow-green. “I-I’m so sorry,” he rasped, “that I h-hurt you. When he brought you to me, I was blinded by hunger. I would never have … your mother and me … I loved her.”

I knew who he was instantly. The bony, hissing, starved creature that The Chemist had kept chained, taking him wherever he went, was my father.

“I don’t understand.”

He straightened, looking a little stronger now. “Erwin trapped me with a hex knot a long time ago, and he’s kept me imprisoned since before you were born.”

“What?” I choked out.

“Your mother’s coven found out we’d mated, and they captured me. Erwin was hired by your coven. At first, their goal was to take out Lucifer and bring about the apocalypse. It’s written in ancient texts that Faron and I are the only two who know Lucifer’s one true weakness, and with that knowledge, he could be destroyed. So, they held me and tortured me, and when I wouldn’t tell them what they wanted to know, they brought you here to force my hand. They starved me until I didn’t know what I was doing or who I was feeding from … and then they’d bring you in. Afterward, Erwin would show me what I’d done, who I’d hurt.” He shook his head. “I wanted to save you. I wanted to make it stop. I wanted to stop them from hurting you, but even if I could get free, my choice was saving my daughter or bringing about the end of times.” He leaned more heavily against Rome. “I don’t expect you to ever forgive me, daughter, and I’ll never forgive myself for what I did to you either.”

I held Relic’s hand tighter. “And when he realized you’d never talk, he focused on developing a magical virus that would kill us all instead,” I choked out.

“Yes.”

“Is Faron here as well?” Rome asked him.

Lukan nodded. “When I was moved, I had a moment where the hex knot slipped. I was too weak to escape, but I reached out to Faron. He came for me, but that little fuck, Grady, was ready. He’d let the knot slip on purpose. He knew I’d call for my brother, and I fell for it like a fucking fool. I guess they thought they could make him talk since I wouldn’t and they’d lost you. He’s being held here, but they’ve kept us apart.”

His gaze came back to me, and I couldn’t look away. My father was one of the lords of Hell.

“Sutton needs a healer,” Jag growled out.

I snapped out of my shock. “And Phoebe—she’s hiding in the closet in the other room. There are others locked down here as well.”

Everyone jumped into action, freeing the others in the coven, who were thankfully unharmed, and like I’d thought, they’d been magically gagged by The Chemist so they couldn’t eject him from the house.

Grady had followed us when Sutton and Phoebe dropped me off to see Relic at the clubhouse, and then he snatched them, and he and The Chemist had forced them to grant access to the coven’s house.

The hounds found Faron in one of the other rooms, bound by a hex knot as well. He was thin and pissed off, but he was fine.

Healers were brought in to come and take care of Phoebe and Sutton, and the hounds stayed here to guard the house.

Only then did I let the exhaustion set in.

Relic hauled me into his arms and headed upstairs, knowing I wouldn’t want to leave my friends—not yet, not until I knew they’d be okay.

He pressed his mouth to my hair. “You’ve done everything you can, baby. Now, it’s time for your mate to take care of you.”

“I’m okay.”

“Well, I’m fucking not. After today, I’m far from okay, Tinker Bell. So, you’re going to let me take care of you before I lose my fucking mind.”

“Okay.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my forehead to his. “I think, after everything, I need that as well. I need my mate to hold me and not let me go.”

“Never,” he growled.