Chapter 1

1

Don't let them see me. I held my breath in case it could be heard. Invisibility only hid my physical presence. It couldn't conceal any noise I made.

Magic swirled in a layer around me as I stepped quietly past those watching. They never even noticed. Suckers. I'd gotten better at evading them.

In the month since I'd banished Moloch to Inferis, I'd finally begun to figure out my powers. I had to. I couldn't ignore the missive I'd received from the so-called emperor promising we'd meet. Wouldn't it figure that as soon as I rid Earth of one menace another popped into its place?

With that threat hanging over my head, I'd been practicing my magic daily, first figuring out how to call on it without the need for emotional turmoil. Where once I required rage or another strong emotion to adrenalize my power, I now could use my ability simply by concentrating.

Unlike the other witches, I didn't require special words or gestures. I only had to think to shape my magic. Think, for example, of being invisible and I could step past Cain and Vance who stood guard at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for me to appear.

Some might wonder why I tried to avoid the two men I wanted in my bed. Simple. They wanted me to choose, but I refused. I liked them both. Wanted them both. And I'd made it clear that nothing else would do. After all, polyamory had become a thing in recent years—and the books made it sound so yummy.

Being men built on pride—and victims of jealousy—they refused. They demanded I choose one or the other. I held firm, even as I teased them, which in turn tortured me. Stolen kisses and flirty winks didn't ease the ache between my legs.

You know what did feel good? Besting them, sneaking past the most gifted hunters the reaper guild had to offer.

As I moved away, with them none the wiser, my step quickened only to halt abruptly as Nova suddenly stepped out of her office and in my way.

"Screwing with your bodyguards again?" she remarked, seeing through my illusion.

No matter how hard I tried, she could always spot me because of the magic I used. I let it dissipate and heard the barks of surprise at my back as my protectors noticed I'd managed to slip past.

"Just honing my skills," I stated primly.

"How about putting them to practical use?" Nova inquired.

"What's up?" The last month had been quiet. With Moloch gone, the demons crossing over from Inferis to Earth had slowed to a mere trickle. Everyone assumed the biggest threat was over, but I knew better.

I'd told Nova about the note, a note that disintegrated in my hand after I read it, leaving me with no evidence. She asked me if perhaps I'd dreamt it because I worried about Moloch's return.

Nope, I knew he was dead. Just like I knew the biggest challenge was to come. And I wasn't entirely sure it was this Emperor of Inferis. I'd yet to fulfill my promise to the entity that lived in the nothing space accessed by the portals that allowed us to travel between one place and another almost instantly. A voice no one else heard and yet talked to me every time I stepped into that between space. To save the world, I'd made a bargain with the entity. A body in exchange for its aid in banishing Moloch.

Sounded easy? Not really. I'd tried to give the disembodied voice a criminal. A human with an arrest sheet a mile long, someone no one would miss.

The voice rejected it soundly with a rebuke. Do you insult me, messovenata?

Guess I couldn't blame it. If I had to be reincarnated, I'd want something better than a piece of shit.

What do you want exactly? I'd tried to get clarification.

Someone special.

Not exactly clear instructions.

I couldn't condemn anyone I knew in the reapers' guild or witchy sisterhood. Handing over someone important on Earth, like a president or royalty, also seemed kind of dangerous. Did I want to put this entity in a position of power? Not really. Who knew its intentions?

I'd offered it a demon I captured. Also rejected.

A vampire with a handsome mien and wealth who'd been preying on humans led to me being told, I want a form where I can walk in the sun.

Who knew spirits with no bodies could be so picky!

A month later, and I struggled to find someone that would appease the voice. It didn't help it was growing impatient.

"We lost another person to the portal," Nova stated softly as I followed her into her office.

"Shit." Not much else to say. The Regina, the leader of the witches, knew of my bargain, and while not happy about it claimed she understood why I'd had to make it. At the time, trading one life to save billions seemed fair.

"I know you're having issues finding what it wants," she added.

"Wouldn't you?" I retorted. "I'm essentially killing someone by handing them over."

"But now people are dying because you're hesitating."

"Are they dead?" I countered. "I mean, maybe the voice is just stashing them somewhere to use as hostages."

"Do you really believe that?"

My shoulders slumped. "No."

"For the moment, we've put out word to not use the talismans." The talismans were what we used to activate those shortcut doorways.

"Hold on, if you do that, then we'll be stuck." Our castle—and main headquarters—was situated in the Rockies, in a valley impossible to reach without a helicopter or extreme multi-day hiking.

"We cannot take the chance the entity will take another reaper."

We'd lost three in the last week. No one I knew, but it would only be a matter of time before I did, seeing as how I'd started training with some of the reapers because, as Cain stated, You might not always be able to rely on magic .

A knock at the door led to Nova barking, "Come in."

Asher entered, looking peeved. "We lost another."

"I'm aware," was Nova's low reply. "I was just talking to Sadie about it."

Asher whirled to fix me with his vivid blue eyes. He was a man in his late fifties. With his muscles and vitality, he could have passed for much younger despite his salt and pepper hair. "You need to give it what it wants."

"I've been trying," I hotly exclaimed. "It's rejected every single person I've offered."

"Have you asked it why?" Asher drawled.

"It doesn't want anyone ordinary."

"Meaning what?" he blurted.

"If I knew we wouldn't be having this conversation," was my sharp retort.

"I want it to stop taking my men."

"So do I. If you have any volunteers who don't mind giving up their bodies, then feel free to send them my way," I snapped. While I might be responsible for making the bargain, it didn't feel fair to get blamed for the entity's pickiness. Had Asher forgotten that my deal saved the world?

"I am not giving it any more of my men. Fix this," he barked before stalking out.

I glanced at Nova who shrugged. "The one we just lost was his nephew."

"Oh. Fuck." It explained his anger. I rubbed my forehead. "Guess I should go have a talk to the voice." A voice who'd almost told me its name once, but since then had been playing coy.

"Be careful, Sadie. We can't afford to lose you."

Sounded caring, but I knew the truth. They didn't want to lose the messovenata, the only person who could touch both the male and female side of magic. It meant I could cast spells like a witch, but like a reaper male, I could also see through the demons' fog-like camouflage.

Unlike most of the others in the guild, I hadn't come into my powers until late in life. Forty-two, to be exact. The saying about old dogs and new tricks? Not entirely true. This bitch was learning, but that didn't make up for the decades of practice the others had.

I emerged from Nova's office and just about ran into Cain's chest. A wide chest, I should add, encased in a form-fitting navy-blue t-shirt tucked into snug jeans. Very yummy.

"Don't you dare turn invisible," he warned.

"Or what? It's not like you can find me." I might have smirked.

He offered me a predictable scowl. "Not funny. We're supposed to be protecting you."

"From what? The demons have been routed. Moloch is gone. The castle is overrun with reapers and witches, and I am no longer useless." I held up my hand and a ball of crackling fire hovered over my palm. Cocky, but it proved a point.

"A bullet to the head will still kill you," was his harsh rebuttal.

I snorted. "Yup, it will, and having you beside me when it happens will do exactly squat to stop it." I began walking toward the main entrance.

"Now where are you going?" he huffed.

"To talk to a certain disembodied spirit."

"You're going back into the portal?"

"Yup."

"Did Nova not tell you we lost someone this morning?"

"She did." I walked out of the castle into bright sunshine and squinted.

"Doesn't seem like a good idea to throw yourself in there," he insisted, having followed me.

"Don't have much choice. We can't keep losing people."

"We won't lose them if we stop using the talismans." Cain had a simple solution and for once it didn't involve killing the problem.

"Without the talismans how would we do our job?" I whirled to ask. "We can't have reapers in every single city and town. Part of the reason why the guild works well against demons is because we have the ability to move the reapers to where they're needed quickly."

"Yeah, well, maybe it's time we found another way."

"I'm all ears. Pray tell, what other way is there?" I crossed my arms and arched a brow.

"Now you sound like the princep." Asher's title as leader of the reapers.

"Because he's right. We need the talismans to work to do our job and for that to happen, I have to give the voice what it wants."

"What if it wants you?"

I blinked at him. "Wouldn't it have specified that at the time of the bargain?"

"Not necessarily."

"Well, it's not getting me." As if I'd sacrifice myself. I might be a hero now, with more courage than I knew what to do with, but that didn't mean I had a death wish.

Still, Cain planted a seed, so the first thing I did once I entered that cold nothing place that allowed us to travel was to mentally query, Do you want my body?