Bewitch Her: Descended from a Witch, #1

PROLOGUE

My pulse boomed like thunder. The sound deafening in my ears as I stared into the darkness. Shadows waited for me there, clinging to the corners of the derelict room as I stood in the only sliver of weak sunlight left.

I risked a glance to the makeshift bed beside me and tried to remember if it was my scent that welled in this place, or was it someone else’s? The bed was nothing more than a moth-eaten mattress, beside which lay a silver chalice, the shine of it worn away.

I tried to remember how I’d gotten here…to this place.

My thoughts were slow…and shrouded…enchanted.

I jerked my gaze to the doorway, took a slow step backwards, and lifted my hand.

Boots scraped against floorboards as I moved, the tiny sounds of cracking timber followed. Why here? Why this carcass of a house?

What was it about those shadows that filled me with terror? Thick white cobwebs moved. The musty stench invaded with each shallow breath, cold, secretive. The foul, fading scent of rot, but underneath that was something else, something noxious.

Something real.

A chuckle spilled from the doorway, low, throaty like a growl. Shadows shifted, birthing a man.

He was a beast.

A monster.

A Hexer.

Long, pale hair was tied back from his face. Black pupils rimmed with the yellow of the sun. His lips twitched at the corners as he stepped into the room. Movement was swift at his side as he lifted a blade. You run hard and fast, mage…I’ll give you that.

That vicious snarl rumbled in his chest as he stepped closer. I tried to move backwards, tried to get away, until the backs of my boots hit the wall…and there was nowhere left to run.

The honed point of the blade kissed the bottom of my chin. My breath stilled as I stared into my own fate…at the hands of this hunter.

Sparks danced in his eyes, the yellow igniting like sunbursts against the night as the shadows shifted behind him…and more Hexers stepped into the light.

Two became three.

Just as deadly as this one...the one who looked at me with savage brutality. My knees trembled, the urge to flee a roar inside my chest, punching my heart against my ribs.

You invade my dreams, the Hexer growled, the blade forcing my gaze to his. And crawl under my skin. You make it impossible to have any kind of life, unless it’s a life chasing you.

They came forward now, driving my spine against the inch thick dust covering the walls. My breaths were panting as his boots hit mine…his body so close I felt the warmth.

Why? he whispered and searched my gaze.

Don’t look into his eyes, that feeble cry took flight inside my head as the crook of his finger replaced the blade. My body trembled as he lifted my chin higher. Fight him.

Stop right there, I commanded and lifted my hand.

Power raced through my veins. Markings rose to the surface of my skin. Dark markings...the sign of the Black Viper, the most dangerous Witch who’d ever lived. My mother.

I looked at his skin and the hard line of his jaw. I looked at his lips, soft and hard at the same time. I looked at the muscles of his throat as he pressed his chest against mine. There was something about this hunter, something more than just flesh and desire.

Power swirled around us, hungry and savage. The need licked like a greedy tongue between my thighs and an ache bloomed. I wanted him...wanted him to sheathe his body with mine. More than that, I wanted them all.

"Look at me, sorceress."

My breath stilled…the hairs rose on the nape of my neck as I met the lightning rod of his gaze and felt the burn.

Heat flared through me. Desire followed, a kind I’d never felt before.

His finger unfurled from under my chin as he searched my eyes. There was no more talking now. No more running, even if I fled this place. He had me. He caught me.

His chest rose with a hard breath as the battle rose inside him. I stared at every scar that lashed his soul, every battle, every death…all the ones he’d fought hunting me, and all the ones yet to come. I saw it all in the flicker of yellow before I closed my eyes.

There were no more spells here…not now, not between us.

It was like I’d known these hunters my entire life.

Warmth against my lips. I opened my mouth, letting him take what he wanted before boots skimmed the floor. Another grasped my cheek, tearing me from one hunter’s lips to find another.

He was brutal, this one, driving my head backwards until I hit the wall, still it wasn’t enough. Forceful urgency, a hand spread wide to cup my breast, and all the time that fire licked inside me.

We will chase you, came the growl at my right as the rasp of a blade being drawn made me open my eyes. Steel shone as the third Hexer pressed the flat of his blade against my captor, and he, too, took his turn at my lips and touched my body.

I hungered for them…

Almost as much as I hungered for the stone.

I jerked with the thought. The stone…the stone. The warmth of their lips faded as I opened my eyes. The stone…the stone.

I jerked upright and stared at the musty, derelict room—a room that was empty—and I lifted my hand to press against my lips. It was a dream…all a dream.

No, not a dream…a prophecy.

Panic leaped in my veins. In an instant, my world came rushing back to me, the darkness and the light. I stared at the pile of blankets against the wall of the room and lifted my gaze to the fading sunlight.

The nicker of a horse slipped through the cracked window, coming from somewhere in the distance. They were here.

I jerked my gaze to the shadows, the same shadows I’d stared at in my dream. Only this time, I had a warning. I hurried now, bending low to grab the silver chalice and slip it into the pocket of my dress. Panic filled me as I turned from that forgotten room and made for the broken back door of the abandoned place.

Boom…

A pulse danced across my skin—a warning.

My lips moved, whispering incantations as I eased the door open and slipped through. Darkness was approaching, sweeping across the land as night-time choked the sun. The soft neigh of a horse was closer. Boots thundered, loud enough to find my ears. Power raced through me, sweeping away the sting in my eyes. I was tired from running, tired from fighting…tired from searching.

The stone was out there—the crash of the front door echoed as I raced through the backyard and lunged for the trees—and so were they.

I tried to conjure the strength to harness my power and drove down deep into that endless well of potential inside me…where the strength of my blood lay.

It wasn’t just me they wanted.

It was my bloodline.

It was my power.

I wasn’t just any mage bred in servitude.

I wasn’t just on my own.

There were stories about us, about the creatures we became. About how we’d bring about the end of this world as we knew it. Three sisters born from a woman more powerful than this world had ever known. A woman most feared—a woman hunted until her final breath. My mother wasn’t just a Witch. She was the Witch.

And I was her legacy.

1

HEALER

Twenty years before…

Awoman’s scream ripped through the night, bloodless and hoarse, filled with unending rage and pain. I stumbled toward that sound, my steps small, stuttering, before they suddenly stopped.

Move, the man behind me growled.

A punch to the middle of my back. Pain flared as I lurched forward once more. Thunder cracked overhead. Blinding streaks of white light flared in the distance. I flinched from the glare as the hairs rose on my arms. The cold was chilling.

A flash of white came through the window of the castle’s passageway. Not lightning this time…something more ominous. A white raven battled the darkness to land on a stony opening of the castle’s walkway.

I swallowed at the sight and walked past. It watched me with beady black eyes, and opened its long, honed beak to caw until I slammed into the opening of the passageway.

Darkness waited for me as I looked into the abyss filled with darkness and screams.

Down there, the guard snapped.

Stony steps clung to the walls, curving down into the bleak pit below. Her scream came once more, this time low and guttural, a roar of savagery. I stilled, not more than five steps down, and turned back.

No you don’t. The towering wall of iron and muscle crowded in.

I shook my head, tears welling in my eyes and spilling down my cheeks. I can’t do this. I…

Can, and will, healer. The foul scent of rotting onions slammed into me as he leaned close. Now, you can walk down there…or I can throw you down.

Her screams took flight once more, gravel against my soul.

Two days we’d listened to her howls.

Two days as I cowered in my room.

I knew they’d come.

The last healer was freshly buried, not more than two weeks ago. She left me her books, left me her room filled with dried herbs. She left me with lies and her vows. There was no magic in my hands, no power in my veins. Nothing more than an empty promise—to care for those in need.

Glass bottles clattered in my pockets. I’d grabbed all I could as the guard ripped me from my room and commanded me to this cursed woman’s side.

Thunder roared in the wild and merciless storm. The sound echoed in the stairwell. I lifted my gaze to the male who’d come for me and saw not an ounce of compassion in his eyes.

What I saw was fear. Fear for what waited for us down in the darkness. Fear of what screamed and snarled. It wasn’t just a woman that waited down there…it was damnation.

The guard swallowed hard as another howl of agony and rage took flight, rebounding off the walls to slam into me. He jerked his gaze toward the stairs. Don’t make me force you, healer.

My heart punched into my throat as I turned back and stepped slowly, making my way down the stairs to the cells below. Murderers were kept down here, rapists and fiends. The worst of the worst were here in the King’s Cage. The vile, the contempt, the outright barbaric. But none of them compared to the whispers of her.

None came close to the terror she inflicted…the savagery, the cold evil of who she was. It was the whispers of that evil that stayed with me now as I hit the last step and stared into the beak darkness.

Steel grills to the cells were raised high, the bottoms of the barriers sharpened to points.

A savage grunt was followed by a moan—the sound of something suffering. Black Viper waited for me in there. An unmerciful Witch, the darkest of mages. One survived only by the suffering she inflicted upon others.

My stomach clenched tight as the fist came at my back once more. There were no threats now, no demands…nothing he could do to me now was worse than what waited for me.

Run, the word took flight in my mind, but I didn’t need to turn my head to know there was no escape now. One way in and one way out. They wanted it like that in case of sickness or overrunning. They could seal the doors then, and flood the pit, drowning everyone inside.

Healer, a low growl came from the closest cell.

A prisoner stepped forward, hand outstretched, spearing between the bars of the cell. Gaunt, sunken cheeks and wide, luminescent eyes were all I saw. Don’t leave me in here…not with her.

Healer? The command was a whip from the end of the cells. About time you came. In here, she’s been pushing, but nothing is coming out.

Pushing?

I tore my gaze from the inmate and hurried forward. Grunts were punctured by long, unmerciful groans of agony. Panting followed, long draws of breath before a woman’s croak followed. Girl…girl, come closer.

That voice…that terrifying voice. Hard and harsh, like gravel over my skin. I jerked my gaze to the man standing outside the cell, shrouded in a long black cloak, his eyes pale the whole way through. A Seer’s eyes…I shrank from their gaze before he stepped to the side and motioned for me to enter.

I didn’t want to be here…not in this dungeon...not in this castle. Still, I stepped up to the doorway of the open cell and stared inside. Moonlight spilled through the bars across the window high up on the wall. I saw everything…but most of all, I saw her.

She commanded my attention as she lay on the narrow stretcher in the middle of the room. Her black dress was torn and sodden, the stench of sweat and other bodily fluids made my throat tighten and my stomach clench. But it was her eyes that gripped me, white against black, piercing me like a blade where I stood. She lifted a trembling hand and motioned me to her side. Come…I haven’t the strength to do this on my own.

Chains clinked as she moved. Shackles bound her wrists, a hand-forged iron collar was clamped around her neck. She lifted her head. Strands of long black hair stuck to her face. There was terror in her eyes, but there was also danger. She clenched her jaw and bared her teeth before dropping her head back and letting out a guttural roar.

I looked at her body, at the deformed, bulbous girth that moved under her clothes. She was pregnant…and not with just one.

Do something! she screamed.

I flinched at the sound and cast a panicked look behind me. The Seer stood there, unmoving, unflinching, watching this beast give birth in front of him.

Thunder roared high above the castle. Lightning struck the ground. Power swirled all through the room, like a tornado around her until, with a grunt, she collapsed back against the stretcher, unmoving. Her chest rose hard and then fell. The jagged sound of sawing breaths filled the room.

I shoved my hand into my pockets and pulled out the five small bottles and swath of cloth with needle and thread. It was all I had…and it was useless. Useless against this.

C…come, she commanded, this Black Viper.

Strike first and you’re dead. She was within striking distance now. Hurt and vulnerable, birthing her demonic offspring into the world. I stepped closer, one small step at a time.

Can’t push through, she gasped.

I saw how pale she was now, dark veins carved like a map under a translucent skin. With a clench of her jaw, she forced her head up to stare at me. She was so thin…cheek bones jutting out, the same for her collarbones. Even that midnight stare had lost its edge. There was nothing to this Viper. Nothing more than ashes and soot. Nothing more than pain and anger.

You understand what I’m saying, girl?

I held out my hands with the bottles of herbs and stepped forward. I brough—

I don’t want your fucking flowers! she roared. "I need…I need… her words almost a plea. I need you to cut me."

I flinched at the command and jerked my gaze to her belly. Warmth slid from me as I gave a shake of my head. I can’t do that…I…

"You will do that, do you hear me, healer? You will do exactly as I say. These babes are coming…and they will be alive. Your blade." She dropped her gaze to the small sheathed knife at my waist.

It was small, but sharp, used for stitches, and cauterizing open wounds, the blade flat and wide.

Pull it out, kneel at my feet.

Shackles clinked and clattered as she thrashed her head. Hurry…I don’t have much time left.

In the next blinding flash of lightning, I saw her. The whites of her eyes bled to black. A monster’s face moved under her own, pushing to the surface until it was all I could see. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t do anything but stare.

The knife! she shrieked.

Panic drove me. I scurried to the bottom of the stretcher. Her legs were bent at the knees. The long midnight dress, now filthy and torn, had fallen between her legs.

I couldn’t do this…headaches and bruises were what I’d trained in. The odd broken bone from a fall off a horse. Not this…not anything like this.

A shattering screech made me jump. I jerked my gaze to the window as the white raven settled, staring back at me.

Don’t mind him, she said. He’s not here for you.

I met her gaze, and the truth of her words shone in the inky void of her stare. I pulled out my blade and settled between her legs. My fingers shook as I reached out. I clenched a fist, my words a trembling mess. I don’t know what to do.

"You will do exactly as I say…and only what I say. The blade, you’ll need to nick the skin as they push out, just at the bottom, not near her head. Do you understand me,