AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This was an argument we’d had on the ride here. In Never’s mind, it was her job to save her brother. I didn’t want to deny her that, but the demon and its rogue shadow were my responsibility.
“Not happening,” she breathed almost silently as she climbed the stairs. Her hand drifted to the railing before she caught sight of yet more blood smeared along the scarred wood.
At the landing, we found another crimson streak, along with several heavy droplets staining the rough tile. This time, though, she reached for the door without hesitating, twisting the knob and easing the solid wooden panel open.
Scents washed out of the space beyond in waves. Incense, burnt sage, a hint of something ancient, and more blood. A lot more. I caught Never by the arm and hauled her back to me. One thing I’d learned in the many, many years I’d existed was to trust my instincts. Right now, they were telling me something was wrong.
She looked up at me, her suspicion mirroring my own. Instead of fighting me, she half-rolled her eyes, let out a silent huff, and stepped aside.
I moved past her, pausing just long enough to whisper “Good girl” in her ear.
Oh, the look she threw could have melted glass, which was the only reason I was wearing a smirk as I rounded the corner into what appeared to be a witch’s den.
The space was a mixture of modern and archaic styling. Tattered books and wrinkled parchment were grouped in chaotic stacks, piled on nearly every flat surface in the place. A fan in the corner swiveled slowly, catching and fluttering a few stray pages that had found their way to the worn wooden floor.
Instead of a cauldron over an open flame, there was a cast-iron pot resting atop a stove, with something bubbling inside despite the lack of flame beneath. Another scent was slowly filling the space, displacing the other, more familiar fragrances. The closer I drew to the stove, the stronger it grew.
The trail of blood, however, led away from whatever vile smelling concoction the resident witch had been brewing. I wasn’t aware of any potions or spells that called for rotten eggs, but perhaps it was something specific to the human world.
I felt a pull at the back of my shirt and found Never pointing to a body slumped in the corner. That sense that something was wrong tingled up my spine again, racing along my nerve endings.
Holding my arm out to keep her from coming around me, I made my way across the room to the body. Naturally, instead of following me, she’d chosen to follow the trail of blood.
The body was that of a witch. A modern witch, from her attire, but definitely a woman of magic. The problem was the lack of blood. I reached out slowly and lifted one eyelid. The whites of her eyes were shot through with red, and I caught the hint of bruising forming on her slender neck.
She was dead but still alarmingly warm to the touch.
Before I could relay as much, a crash yanked my attention across the room. Never screamed a curse and stumbled back as a lanky form advanced on her. I’d only glimpsed her brother on the deck of my ship, but I didn’t need to pull that memory forward to recognize the boy. His features were so very like hers, just with stronger lines and somewhat sharper edges.
If that wasn’t enough, the black sheen to eyes would have removed any doubt.
“Stop, demon,” I commanded, throwing power behind the order.
The boy’s head whipped my way. Surprise lit his youthful face before his lips pulled back in a wicked snarl. “Captain,” the creature hissed.
“You know how this ends,” I said, fighting for calm even though I could see Never in my peripheral vision. The front of her shirt was painted red, the same as the demon’s hands. Hell, the thing’s clothes were varying shades of red and brown, as though layers upon layers of blood and gore had already dried beneath the current shine of its fresh kills.
The thing looked from me to Never, until she leveled it with her fiery stare. “Let him go.”
Her brother’s head tilted unnaturally to one side, like a praying mantis watching its prey. “No.”
The shadow wasn’t really worth arguing with, or threatening, for that matter. I was too primitive to care. But why the hell was it stalling? This was a creature of action, not words.
“What are you looking for?” Never asked. “What do you need to leave my brother alone?”
It chuckled, a sound too low and vile to come from the throat of a seventeen-year-old boy. Its eyes dipped to Never’s chest, zeroing in on the pendant tucked inside her shirt. Still, it didn’t make a move.
“You know the drill, asshole. Come get it,” she said.
“No!” Had she lost her mind?
The creature charged forward only to haul itself back so violently it nearly pulled itself off its own feet. I was already across the room and at her back by the time she’d taken a step toward it.
“Matty?” Her voice wavered. “Fight it, Matty. Fight it and stay with me.”
I watched the boy’s body with my own muscles on the very edge of action, ready to throw myself in front of her the nanosecond that thing made another move in her direction. His eyes flickered from black to blue and back. He let out an inhuman bellow that shook the wall and rattled the windows.
“Enough!” I yelled over the creature.
