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“Elara,” he said, bending down to kiss my back, running that forked tongue down my spine. “You are mine.”
This last word was growled as he came, pumping into me as he stroked me through a second release of my own, both of us pressed together in aching pleasure, our sweat-slicked bodies going limp as we dropped to the bed. His weight against my back was not unpleasant, and I was a little disappointed when he shifted off me.
“Truth for a truth,” he said, turning me and tucking me into his side. I felt unable to move on my own, and he chuckled at my bonelessness. “You like a little bondage.”
“True,” I replied somewhat breathlessly. “And you want to fuck me as a snake beast.”
Carnon laughed out loud, his chest vibrating with his mirth. “Touché, Red,” he said, kissing my forehead. “Maybe someday.”
“Do you even have the right parts as a snake?” I teased, looking up at him and stroking a hand over the tattoos. Over that scar his traitorous first love gave him.
He looked down at me, eyes back to normal demon, the whites no longer wholly swallowed up by green. He looked peaceful. At ease. He smirked, leaning in to kiss me soundly, biting my lip a little with his sharp teeth.
“Ask me nicely, Red,” he rumbled, “and maybe I’ll show you.”
Chapter 27
Carnon looked tense as he leaned on the desk in his office, arms still and braced as if the tall mirror on its surface could shatter at any moment.
“Glowering and looming like a grumpy strix won’t make this go any faster,” I said, carefully carving the final symbols into the gilt edges of the mirror. The athamé I had bought in the demon market—weeks ago now—was blunt, but Carnon had been able to sharpen it enough that I was able to carve the witch signs into the soft gold edges of the mirror.
“Artemis would resent the insult,” he replied, his breath fogging the glass as I worked.
“Are you sure this will actually work?” Herne asked from the wall, where he leaned with his arms crossed and his face set in a scowl. Cerridwen was there too, and Lucifer, both sitting nervously on the worn, leather couch, but no one else. As much asItrusted Brigid, Carnon argued that the fewer people who knew our plan, the better.
It had been two days in the making, first finding a mirror big enough for Carnon’s broad shoulders to fit through, then collecting and preparing the ingredients for a truth spell, as well as a few others I thought might come in handy. Witch magic was annoyingly slow compared to demon magic, but at least I hoped that meant my grandmother would be equally encumbered by its requirements.
“Nope,” I replied brightly, not looking up from my work. Herne had been trying to poke holes in the plan since Carnon and I had told him about it over breakfast two days ago, and though Cerridwen didn’t disparage the plan aloud, I could tell she was anxious about it.
“We should go with you,” she said for what must be the thousandth time. “There’s not a single reason you two should go alone to face the Crone. You stand a better chance with numbers.”
“Taking you along is too risky,” Carnon said, also for the thousandth time. “If we are trapped or killed, the Darklands would be without both its King and the Lord of Beasts.”
“Don’tget trapped or killed,” Herne growled, looking darkly at his friend.
I sighed, the debate doing nothing to soothe my nerves. I knew there was no point in waiting, and the longer we delayed, the greater chance of terrible harm coming to Mama. I was as ready as I could be, but I was also scared. I had never fought with magic, nor used the gods-blessed magic to kill. And if we were trapped in Ostara for any length of time, our powers would wane. There were no mortals there to feed our magic with their dreams.
Carnon shifted, and I looked up as he checked the sword he had sheathed across his back. He was dressed like a warrior today, similar to his clothes back when he was Hunt, none of the finery of the Demon King on display. I had suggested he don his human glamour, but he argued it was pointless.
“Your grandmother would see right through it,” he said when I suggested it the morning before, after waking from a night of particularly satisfying orgasms. “And I wouldn’t have full access to my powers. Besides, she almost certainly knows you’re with me. Even she knows who the strix protect, and she must have tied that pouch to Artemis’ leg herself.”
Akela whined a little behind me as I worked on the mirror, sounding just as anxious as I felt. Artemis was still too weak to come with us, but Carnon insisted on Akela's presence. I knew that the wolf would defend me with his life, but I sincerely hoped it didn’t come to that.
“There,” I said, finishing the last sign and stepping back to check my work. Witch mirrors were powered by repeating witch signs in five key points around the mirror, the same points as a pentagram to represent the elements.
“What do they mean?” Carnon asked, looking at me from across the desk, a brow raised.
I pointed to each in turn. “Othala for the Goddess, since her magic grants us the power to move. Raido for a journey. Ehwaz for transportation. Nauthiz for a need or requirement. And Laguz for water, since the glass becomes like liquid when we pass through it.” I glanced at Herne, who had moved to stand beside Carnon and looked extremely skeptical.
“That’s all that’s required?” Herne asked, tapping the glass experimentally.
I smiled patiently. “There’s an incantation,” I explained. “And intention is important too.”
“Another similarity to demon magic,” Carnon said, studying me thoughtfully. His lips curved upward. “Interesting.”
I rolled my eyes. “Are you ready?” I asked, checking that the little pouch with spell elements was firmly attached to my belt.
Carnon had armed me with a dagger again, and in the leather fighting gear he had found for me, I felt almost like I was ready for battle. My mother’s necklace was tucked beneath my jacket, hidden in case my grandmother could somehow use it against me. Carnon had also removed his shadowstone ring, hanging it on a chain that was hidden beneath his own jacket. I wasn’t sure if my grandmother would be able to sense our mating bond, but we didn’t want to give her more clues lest she use it against us. As far as she knew, Carnon was just the Demon King from whom I had invoked protection, escorting me on a potentially dangerous mission.
