Anya Bast - Witch Fury

“When your head mage, Thomas Monahan, and his woman were pushed into Eudae, preceding them went an Atrika named Ashe. The humans and the aeamon knew him as Erasmus Boyle.” Sarafina nodded. “He was some kind of military leader, wasn’t he?” “Long before he was pulled through the daaeman circle by the Duskoff, he had been high in our military, yes. However, he was in our version of prison for crimes against our people at the time he was yanked to Earth.” Sarafina tried not to imagine how horrible the crimes must have been to land an Atrika in prison.

“He was murdering women and children for pleasure,” Bai answered, perhaps correctly reading her expression.

She screwed her face up. “I didn’t need to know that. So, Ashe was pulled through the demon circle and then what?” Bai recounted the story, explaining that the demon circles that the Duskoff performed were dark magick, blood magick. The warlocks would gather powerful witches from each of the elements and put them in a charmed circle that pulled their magick and life force from their bodies. That helped create a doorway between Earth and Eudae. Through it, they called a daaeman who would be tied to them for a time to do their bidding.

The daaeman called through always matched the emotional energies of the summoning warlocks. That meant the Duskoff always called Atrika through, not Ytrayi, Mandari , or Syari . In addition, the daaeman who was called through always matched the power of the witches sacrificed in the circle. The more powerful the witches, the more powerful the daaeman .

Erasmus Boyle had been called to Earth from the circle that had killed Mira Hoskins’s mother. Boyle was mega-powerful. “He lived here until he devised a way to open a doorway to return home,” Bai explained.

Sarafina nodded. “He killed six witches to do it.” She knew the story.

Bai nodded. “In the course of his quest to return to Eudae, he developed a fascination with Isabelle Novak, whom he decided to use as the last witch to secure the doorway. In order to win her regard, Ashe kidnapped Stefan Faucheux from Gribben and intended to kill him. However, Stefan convinced him to spare his life. Instead, Ashe and Stefan struck a bargain.” She lifted a brow. “A bargain?”

“The warlock formed an alliance with Ashe. Ashe intended to return to Eudae, you see, to urge us to form an interdimensional partnership with the Duskoff, using the portal he had opened. Ashe believed bringing us this partnership would convince us to spare his life.” Sarafina shook her head. She didn’t understand. “But that never happened. Thomas and Isabelle wounded Ashe before he limped over to the other side and was beheaded by the Ytrayi . Thomas and Isabelle were sucked in after him because the doorway was so unstable and they were there when Ashe was killed. They saw it. Ashe never hooked up with the Atrika , so no alliance could ever have been formed between the Atrika and the Duskoff.” Bai smiled.

Sarafina fought the urge to tell him to stop. The smile of a daaeman was nothing happy. All those teeth didn’t warm her heart.

“You are correct,” Bai answered. “Before he died, Ashe planted a small bit of daaeman magick on Eudae for Stefan, which allowed communication to be sent back and forth through the use of an air witch. Ashe loved his people above all else. He must’ve deemed the alliance with the warlocks as something of benefit to the Atrika .” Bai paused. “Indeed, it has been an advantage and will be even more so if Stefan produces the elium.” Sarafina frowned, trying to wrap her mind around it all. Then she remembered the kidnapped air witch from Boston. The one who’d only had enough power to send and receive messages. The woman they’d kept awhile and then simply killed without trying to use in a demon circle.

Had she acted as their telephone?

Sarafina blinked at the implication. “But how did Stefan get the elium?” She shook her head. “For that matter, how did you-all open a doorway between Earth and Eudae and get over here in the first place?” “Ah, that brings us to love . Stefan manipulated Rue, the Cae of the Ytrayi and the holder of the elium, into believing that he and the Duskoff had kidnapped Claire and intended to kill her. Thus, Stefan led him into opening a doorway in a specific location. Once they did, the Duskoff was ready for him. It was a trap, you see.” “So they extracted the elium and killed Rue?” Bai shook his head. “No. It is my understanding that the Duskoff are keeping the Cae alive for the time being and the elium intact within him. I don’t know how they have done this or where they are keeping him, but we have been promised his body and the elium once we have accomplished what Stefan requires of us.” “The destruction of the Coven.”

Bai nodded sharply. “Yes.”

“What do you intend to do with Stefan and the Duskoff once you have what you want?” Bai blinked. “We are not without honor.” “That’s not an answer.”

“The Atrika do not take well to being placed on a leash and told to heel.” His voice had taken on a sharp quality and his eyes flashed red. “Stefan Faucheux has destroyed himself in his quest for revenge. He wanted it badly enough to risk his life and, thus, he will likely lose it.” “You’ll kill Stefan, then take the elium from the Cae , return to Eudae, and overthrow the Ytrayi .” Bai nodded once. “You will see it all because you will return with us. . with me.” He stepped toward her and she glanced down at the sword. “And what if I say no?” He bared his very sharp teeth. “You cannot. Your magick is strong and you’re perfect in every way to carry my children. You’ll return to Eudae and do that.” “How many other wives do you have?”

He looked surprised. “You will be my only one.” “How will I carry your children? Your blood is acidic.” The thought of carrying an acidic daaeman child in her belly made her shudder, not to mention the mental picture of how it might get in there.

“There are ways,” he replied calmly. “Our ancestors bred children on humans in ancient times through the use of—” “Yes, yes, I know. It’s how elemental witches came into existence.” “The concept is much the same.”

“What if I’m in love with someone else?” He roared and Sarafina almost wet herself. “Don’t speak to me of love. Love is for children. Love only gets people in trouble, like it got the Cae of the Ytrayi in trouble.” She couldn’t argue with that last part.

He closed his eyes for a moment and drew a deep, steadying breath, once again trying to master his emotions. Bai reached out to her. “Now come. Let’s get to know each other a little while we wait.” Oh, hell no .

Sarafina scooped the sword from the floor and ran for the door. She’d spent an entire day exploring this piece of land; surely she could find a place to hide.

Behind her Bai roared again. His boots clomped on the concrete as he chased her.

Only she’d better hurry.

Good God, this was worse than nightmares she had as a child. The monster in her closet was real and it wanted to do a whole lot more than just kill her.

THE SENSATION OF STEFAN’S THROAT SQUEEZING between Theo’s hands was pleasing. Especially since the action stopped such phrases like, “Bai has taken Sarafina to Eudae.” Those were words he never wanted to hear and could not believe were true.

Stefan’s eyes bulged and he scrabbled at Theo’s forearms, under far too much duress to even consider calling fire. Theo was armed with plenty of earth charms that countered fire, anyway. In the paper-rock-scissors game of elemental magick, strong earth magick usually won out over flame.