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“Witch business,” Sera says quickly.
Lennox eyes me, thinking the same thing. Maybe we’re all in Hemlock for the same reason, which means we need to keep an eye on them. If Catori’s seer is right in her vision, these witches will be our downfall—unless we can convince them there’s a greater threat we need to fight together. A threat of our complete fabrication, of course; we just need the curse lifted that’s keeping Catori locked in Hell before the seer’s vision comes true.
“How is it you came across this information?” Lennox asks.
Sera chews her lip before speaking. “I have visions. Premonitions.”
“Sera,” Sloane scolds.
“What? Maybe they know something that’ll help.”
“Them help us?” Sloane flicks a black-painted nail in our direction. “We should be brewing a vanquishing potion, not asking for their advice.”
“We can hear you,” I deadpan.
“You’ve seen nothing about the magic between you and my brother?”
Sera shakes her head. “We’re looking into mate bonds, like ones that wolves and vampires experience.”
All I know about mates is that they evoke a deeply possessive love. Demons don’t love, and the succubi Hynde spoke to said those bonds aren’t possible for us.
My chest begins to ache with something deep and uncomfortable. I rub at the spot, willing it to go away when I notice Sera doing the same thing.
“We have too. We have reason to believe it’s more of a curse than a bond,” Lennox says.
“Why?” Sloane asks.
“Demons don’t love. It’s the very foundation of how we are built. Born and bred out of hate, greed, jealousy, power. Love is weakness.” Lennox’s words slowly lose their gusto. Demons are also born out of deep sorrow and despair, like the loss of love.
“I’m Nix, by the way.” I turn to Sera ignoring Len’s tirade and the darkness now clouding his eyes. “I don’t think I said that before. This is Lennox.”
Sera stretches her hand forward. “Sera.”
I meet her palm and fire cracks between us when we connect, the gold magic from last night locking around our hands again. It feels as though her touch is burrowing under my skin. My chest grows warm and my head dizzy in the most satisfying way. It’s weightless, free, and intoxicating.
“Holy shit.” Sloane springs from her seat, prying our hands apart. “Perhaps no more touching, you two.”
“Didn’t you say you were going to make a potion for that?” Len frowns at Sloane.
“Yeah, it clearly didn’t work.” She purses her lips.
I have to shove my hands in my pockets, squeezing the fabric to stop myself from reaching out again. I couldn’t sleep last night, the weight on my chest and restless thoughts keeping me awake. In the end, it pissed me off so bad, I went down to the boxing ring in the building’s basement and didn’t stop until my body was forced to shut down from exhaustion.
Being this close to her again brings it all back to the surface. It’s like hunger or thirst—you can keep doing other things, but your head keeps telling you to go back to the thing you want more, tempting you to take it. Nothing will settle the chasing, demanding, clawing need to get the thing you want most. Why does her mere existence call to me?
As I watch Sera grip the kitchen counter, knuckles turning white, I know she’s going through the same thing.
In this moment, there’s nothing I want more than the very creature destined to be my enemy since the day my mortal life ended. A deep-rooted, unfounded hate imparted by our warden who was cursed by a scorned lover: a witch.
“We should go.” Sloane grabs her coffee and starts pulling Sera toward the door. “If we figure out how to stop this thing, we’ll be in touch.”
“You know where to find us,” Lennox calls, and I give one pathetic, longing look to my witch as she disappears.
Jett and Hynde join us a few moments later.
“What did they say?” Hynde demands.
Len rolls his lips together in thought. “They seem to be on their own mission. For the moment the oddity between Nix and Sera is keeping us from being vanquished. This is good. This will give us time to find the witch we need to lift Catori’s curse.”
