Page 31 of Witch’s Ruin

One look about their home told me enough—that they weren’t well off. They had mouths to feed. I would never accept their money.

At last, she nodded then shuffled away with the pouch. Rixon spent a few minutes speaking with Fin about the door. Then we bid them goodnight and emerged back out onto the street.

After a few steps, Rixon pulled me into the darkness of an alley and pushed me against a wall. “I cried? Lady Witch? Really?”

I clamped down on my smile. “Well, to be fair, you balled your eyes out like a baby, but I figured you didn’t want me sharing that much.”

“You little demon,” he hissed, then brought his mouth to mine, stealing a quick kiss. “I was crying,” he explained, pulling away to look at me, “because I couldn’t lose you—couldn’t bear a world without you in it.”

“As I said to Fin—particulars.”

He snorted, then pressed his body against mine, his knee slipping in between my legs, thigh pressing against my apex. “Rixon!” I scolded. It was the middle of the night, and we’d just fought off a demon. A seedy alley was the last place I wanted his arousal.

“Just need you to feel what you do to me, Lady Witch.” Then he nipped at my bottom lip, stepped away, and adjusted his pants.

* * *

We stood upon a rooftop, gazing out over the city. I waited for the familiar pull that signaled more demons, keeping my cloak tight around me, despite the temperate air. It felt safer, as if I could ward off whatever was happening in Corinna.

My mind continued to jump back to Fin’s family until a hard scowl marred my features. They could have died tonight. Others already had. How many demons had broken into homes? How many losses had Corinna seen?

The king forced our witches indoors under threat of arrest should they break the curfew. Why? To tarnish our reputation?

My lips flattened. “He’s letting innocent people die,” I spat. “I want to know where they’re coming from. How they’re getting inside the city.”

“As do I, Lady Witch.”

“I think I have an idea on how to accomplish it.”

“Oh?” That got his attention.

I rubbed the back of my neck, knowing he wouldn’t like this. “It will require me to use my magic—not my witch magic, my demon magic.”

I hadn’t planned for it, that day. Hadn’t planned to absorb all that power. But I’d been distracted by the blade piercing my body. I’d accidentally lost my hold on it, and it had rushed right into me, sweeping through me. Just another of those pivotal moments that had changed my life.

Ever since that day, my abilities had multiplied. I could do more than see in the darkness; I could communicate with them. I’d only done it once, that day Rixon and I had a picnic on the river outside Rockfall. I hadn’t tested the boundaries yet, too afraid by what I’d find.

“You want to…you want to ask a demon?” he said, failing to hide his disapproval. “And you’re just going to…what? Walk up to one and go, ‘Oh, hello, demon. What are you doing in the city? And where did you come from?’ Because that sounds like a grand plan, Mina.”

So many words.

“Thank you, Lord Wielder, for your excellent sarcasm. And yes, it is a grand plan.”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“I will do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of this.”

“And if the demon leads you to the witches?”

“Then we’ll know they’re the ones behind this—that they betrayed us. But at least we’ll have an answer.”

“Fuck me,” he muttered, scrubbing a hand over his face. He looked tired, more tired than I’d seen him. Being here, in this city, was taking its toll.

I went to him and took hold of his arms, circling my fingers around his wrists. “Look at me, Rixon,” I said, voice softening. “I love you, you know that? I love you very much. But you’re being a pain in my ass right now. We need to do this. I don’t want to be in your awful father’s presence any longer, especially now that there’s this gods awful impending betrothal hanging over us. And neither do you, unless…”

“Unless, what?” he demanded, lifting his brows.

“Unless you’d like to stay and make Trudy your wife?” I challenged him with my gaze.