Page 41 of Claiming Chaos

11

ASH

“I hate this.” I sat on the edge of my bed and wrung my hands. “I’m not tired at all, Chrys has to be somewhere in Salem, and I feel like we should be looking for her.”

Chaos sat next to me and stilled my hands. “I agree. How long will it take the others to recharge now that Chrys’s hex has been broken?”

“A few hours, minimum.”

“And if you scried for her, how long would you need to recover?”

I turned my head to meet his gaze. “It depends on how long it takes and how much of your energy I use, but you’re not suggesting we go after her on our own, are you?”

He lifted his hands, palms up. “Your team is in no condition to fight, but you and I—”

I shook my head. “Let me stop you right there. She has bested us twice already and nearly killed us both times. When we face her, it needs to be all six of us.”

“But your fire…”

“Is supposed to be a secret. If we go after her now, and she gets away again, we lose the element of surprise. She thinks I’m dead. Let her keep thinking that.” I stood and turned down the bed. His plan was tempting. I couldn’t deny that, but we had to be logical about this, and logic was my jam.

“Just because this magic inside me has been unlocked, it doesn’t change who I am. Ash Holland always has a plan. She’s cautious and rational. She doesn’t run off on tirades just because she can. Ember’s the adrenaline junkie. I’m the librarian, and that’s not going to change. I’m not going to abandon everything I stand for and join the leap-first-look-later crew. I’m always going to look, and I’m going to make damn certain the people I love do too.”

He grinned, his gaze dancing over my face as he rose to his feet. “You are absolutely right. You are the librarian, the Ink Master, the logical, rational witch who has, against the laws of nature, found a home inside the heart of Chaos.”

I crossed my arms, trying to ignore the warmth spreading through my chest at his words.

“You have kept your sister in check through all of this, your spells saving her life on multiple occasions. Can you see, now, how powerful you are? How powerful you have always been?” He rested his hands on my hips, pinning me with his emerald gaze. “Can you see yourself the way I see you?”

I laughed and clasped my fingers behind his neck. “My entire life, I’ve been just. Just a librarian. Just an apprentice. Just a screwup. Just…Ash.” My chest tightened, not in a fist of dread, but of intense gratitude. “But I’m not just Ash.”

“No, you are not.”

“I’m Ash effing Holland, and I have you to thank for making me realize that.”

He slid his arms behind my back, tugging me closer until our hips met. “I told you we were meant to be.”

“And this couldn’t have happened any other way.” I rose onto my toes and pressed a kiss to my demon’s lips. My demon. He planned to lift my curse, but he had already saved me.

An mmm rumbled from his throat, and he slid his hands down to grab my butt, pressing his hips harder against me. As if I couldn’t already feel just how happy he was to hear me say that. Lucky for both of us, I had plenty of vim to cast a silencing spell on my room, no potion required.

I stepped out of his embrace, and his expression morphed into that of a predator. His eyes narrowed, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled my scent. “Don’t back away from me, little witch.”

Heat pooled below my navel, my lady bits throbbing between my legs. I couldn’t tell you what it was, but every time he called me his little witch, I felt like I needed to change my panties. He prowled toward me, and I put my hand on his chest, stopping him.

“Two things first,” I said. “Do you sense Mayhem in this realm?”

He closed his eyes and took three deep breaths, going utterly still. “No, but even if I did, I’d tell you he could wait.”

A thousand butterflies danced in my stomach, flitting up to my chest. “Then give me a second to cast a silencing spell over the room, so I can have my way with you without the whole house hearing it.”

He peeled off his shirt and tossed it onto the dresser before dropping his pants to the floor, and boy, oh boy, I almost forgot all about that spell I wanted to cast. Seriously, my gaze locked on his dick, and all thought drained from my brain, letting my hooha call the shots.

He chuckled. “Any day now.”

I sucked in a breath, snapping out of my trance. “Right.”

After reciting the incantation, I tugged my oversized t-shirt off and tossed it next to his. “Ready to be my bad demon?”