Page 22 of Claiming Chaos
Hecate have mercy, my knees nearly buckled. I turned to face him. “Only for me.”
He drew an X over his heart. “I swear on the throne of Hades.”
“I thought Lucifer was king.”
“He has many names.” He took my hand and guided me toward a side street. Quaint little houses in pastel shades lined the sides of the empty road, and a streetlight cast a hazy glow over a giant pothole.
Chaos tightened his grip on my hand and yanked me behind him. “Don’t move.”
“What’s wrong?” I started forward, but he put his arm out to block me.
“Shadow magic. A group of witches are battling an orc.”
“What? Right here around all these houses?” I gripped his arm and followed his gaze to the supposed scene. I saw nothing but a quiet street. “Let’s turn around so they can do their thing. We’re not supposed to engage here.”
“Indeed, I can,” he said to the invisible witches. At least, I assumed it was them because I still saw and heard nothing.
“Allow me to be of assistance.” Chaos strode toward them and lit a fireball in his hand.
Crappity crap. What part of fire and water don’t mix did he not understand? The New Orleans covens despised Salem. They swore their city was the magical epicenter of North America, even though Salem had the first witches and the thinnest veil.
I had no idea what they said in response to his display, but he tossed the fireball onto what I assume was the dead orc. The flames blazed and dissipated in seconds. A moment later, the shadow magic rolled away, and I could finally see.
A woman stood with her arms crossed, eyeing Chaos suspiciously, and a wet spot lay on the concrete where Chaos had tossed his fire. Oh jeez. Of course he had to do that in front of a water witch. Way to stay off their radar.
“You.” She pointed at me. “Come here.”
I held in a groan and walked toward them. “Sorry for the intrusion.” I clutched Chaos’s arm. “My boyfriend is overly helpful sometimes. We’ll be on our way.”
She widened her stance, and the three men who were with her fanned out around us. “You saw through our shadow and can summon fire. You’re not going anywhere but our coven headquarters. The High Priestess will decide what we do with you.”
“That’s really not necessary.” I squeezed Chaos’s arm, reminding him of his promise to be a good demon. “We’re just here for a little vacay. If we’re not welcome, we’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
“How did the orc get here if there’s no rift?” Chaos asked.
The woman tilted her head, studying him. “We sealed it yesterday. This was the last monster who got through.” She cast her gaze to me. “Fire witches who know about the rifts. You must be from Salem.”
“No.” I shook my head adamantly. “We’re from Maine, actually. We’re solitary.”
She put her hands on her hips. “First an earth witch infiltrated our library, and now we have fire witches in our midst. If Salem wants war, that’s what we’ll give them.”
Shit. Chrys was here. This was bad. So very bad. “Hey, honey?” I squeezed Chaos’s arm again. “Remember that promise you made?”
His energy shifted, his magic rising to the surface. “Indeed.”
“It’s okay if you want to break it.”
“Understood.” He didn’t move, didn’t give any indication that he was doing anything at all, but the water witch’s eyes widened, and her hands clenched into fists. She looked at us, confusion creasing her brow, and she whirled to face one of the men.
“What are you doing?” she screeched.
The man stiffened. “What are you doing.”
One man shoved the other, and I tugged on Chaos’s arm. “Time to go.”
We turned and pounded pavement back to Royal Street before making a sharp right and heading for the hotel. Inside, I cast a ward to shroud our magic and hoped to Hecate they didn’t see which way we ran.
“Chrys believed the book was with the coven.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “Why?”
I shook my head and paced the small room. “She must have used magic to search. A location spell might show her the general area, but it wouldn’t be precise.” I stopped and dropped down next to him. “She has Mayhem’s skull. I bet she used it as a conduit to scry for his mark. Good gravy, she’s a strong witch.”
“Not as strong as you.” He grasped my hand. “Why did you not scry for it?”
“Because searching for it the mundane way was faster and didn’t use any vim. If she figures out it’s in the public library, we’re screwed.”
“Then will have to get to it before she does.”
I sighed hard. It looked like breaking and entering was on my to-do list after all.