By the time the magical storm passes and the strange, sparkly blue smoke dissipates, I’m no longer alone.
There, in the center of the café, a man rises from the glittering darkness like a legendary monster from the mists of creation. Horns protrude from a head of dark, silky-looking hair, his eyes glowing red, broad shoulders pulling at the fabric of a…
Wait. Is that a bathrobe? And… some kind of… leather?
All at once, recognition hits. My heart drops right into my stomach.
“Show yourself, dark sorceress!” the Devil bellows, his commanding British tone leaving no room for argument. “And prepare to meet your end.”
Chapter Six
DEVLIN
Fire and brimstone. Smoke and ash. My body disintegrates as the universe collapses and reforms, scattering the dust of my bones through time and space and realms unending, through the dawn of demonkind and the end of the human age, then back again, a kaleidoscope of light and dark, life and death, beginnings and endings and beginnings anew, and—
Merciful Hell, I need to lay off the hard drugs.
Where in the seventy-eight lower regions of Hades am I?
I take a whiff, trying to get my bearings. The scent of magic is everywhere, like burned cotton candy laced with expensive bourbon. Not altogether unpleasant, but I learned long ago not to trust the sweet seductions of witchcraft.
Bones thankfully intact, the ground solid beneath me once more, I gingerly rise to my full height. A thick haze of blue smoke slowly dissipates, revealing some sort of… restaurant?
Velvet couches in purple and red, the spent embers of a recent fire in the hearth. Framed artwork covers nearly every wall—moon phases here, diagrams of plants over there, far too many paintings of small woodland animals sipping from fancy teacups.
Not your typical evil-witch-from-the-primordial-swamp aesthetic, I’ll give you that. But I won’t be fooled again. The dark ones can hide amongst the trappings of humdrum human lives until the end of time, but the Devil waits for no enemy.
“Show yourself, dark sorceress!” I command. “And prepare to meet your end.”
A yowling screech and a bright orange and black blur from the shadows is my only answer, and I brace myself for the onslaught, calling upon my last reserves of hellfire. The flame grows bright between my palms, eager to cut through anyone who dare threaten me.
But this is no witch attack. It’s… cats.
Two of them. One orange, one black. Both circling me like predators, hissing but wisely keeping their distance.
I hiss right back at them, making their fur stand on end.
“Grumpy, no!” A battle cry cuts through the darkness, soft but mighty, definitely female, followed by a stumble and the felling of several countertop stools. “Damn it,” the female mutters. Then, “Run, boys! Run! Save yourselves!”
I follow the sound and the fury to its source. There, tumbling out from behind the fallen stools—a tiny sprite of a girl dressed in denim overalls and a black shirt covered in red-and-white polka-dotted mushrooms. From beneath a cloud of auburn curls that may have once been a bun and a pair of glasses too large for her delicate face, she blinks up at me, blue eyes wide and terrified. Magic emanates from her in faint shimmery waves.
Damn it.
Another witch, then. Likely an apprentice. Clearly not a professional by any stretch.
“P-please don’t hurt my familiars,” she stammers, crouching down to gather the offending beasts into her arms.
“Whereisshe?” I cross the distance between us in three quick steps, my shadow falling across her face. “Answer me!”
The two feral felines bolt, vanishing into the darkness behind the counter. Still crouched on the floor, the sprite says nothing. Just trembles, those big blue eyes peering up at me, lip quivering.
Well. The delicate flower act won’t fly with me. I need answers.Now.
I hook my fingers through her overall straps and haul her up, setting her on her feet. She’s even smaller than I presumed, the top of her head just barely grazing my collarbone, her narrow shoulders rounding as she hugs herself to fight off a shiver.
My heart gives an unexpected thud, my blood roaring with a fierce and inexplicable need to… protect her?
Damn it.Again.
