Shadows and monsters cro.., p.1
Shadows and Monsters (Crossroads Witch Book 3), page 1
Chapter 1 - Amaya
Chapter 2 - Cassie
Chapter 3 - Amaya
Chapter 4 - Cassie
Chapter 5 - Cassie
Chapter 6 - Amaya
Chapter 7 - Amaya
Chapter 8 - Amaya
Chapter 9 - Cassie
Chapter 10 – Amaya
Chapter 11 – Amaya
Chapter 12 – Amaya
Chapter 13 – Cassie
Chapter 14 – Amaya
Chapter 15 – Amaya
Chapter 16 – Cassie
Chapter 17 – Amaya
Chapter 18 – Amaya
Chapter 19 – Amaya
Chapter 20 – Amaya
Chapter 21 – Cassie
Chapter 22 – Cassie
Chapter 23 – Amaya
Epilogue
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They say you can never go home again. God, I wish.
With the body-hopping supernatural psychos finally vanquished, it seems like it might be time to relax. You know, have some fun. Hang out with my friends. Focus on my magical education. And, if all goes according to plan, take my relationship with Kai to the next level. Trust me, having spent my early twenties locked up in an institution, I’m more than ready to celebrate that particular rite of passage. But if I’ve learned anything in my short time in the world of witches, it’s never to let your guard down.
No sooner do we attempt to chill a little than we get a big, fat reminder that two bitter enemies remain very at large. Clearly, they haven’t forgotten me either, since I soon end up in one of their videos using my magic for all the world to see. As intended, their little stunt puts me at dead center of the Hunter movement’s crosshairs. With that kind of target on my back, no wonder I soon find myself cornered. My only means of escape involves jumping through the veil into my old stomping grounds, only to get stuck in that particular version of Hell. I also soon learn there are others there like me, cambions who very much need to be rescued. But in order to save them, I need to stay in monster form long enough to pull it off—my Demon Soul very much in the driver’s seat. The problem being, I’m not sure if she’ll ever let me take back the wheel. If not, then I can say goodbye to Kai and my human friends forever, since I’ll be going full-on demon. Which means I won’t be coming back, my new cambion friends will die, and the Hunters will keep hunting witches.
Chapter 1 - Amaya
I feel Maeve’s eyes boring into me, the pressure building as I steady my hand and try to block out distractions. From what feels like a million miles away, I hear Sophie whisper, “What’s she waiting for?”
I understand. I get it. Everything rides on what happens next. One wrong move, just one tiny slipup, and it’s over.
Thankfully, it’s Kai’s voice I hear next. “You’ve got this,” he says softly. “I believe in you, Amaya.”
It means the world to hear him say that right now. I need to know he has faith in me. I take a deep, calming breath. I brace myself and narrow my eyes at my target.
Then, finally, I strike.
Kai pumps his fist in the air. “Nice!”
Sophie says, “Oh, my God. Seriously?”
Maeve shakes her head, disgusted, as she mutters, “She really does have a gift for smacking balls around.”
She glances at Kai, who looks understandably confused.
“For your information, we didn’t have pool tables at Wilkins,” I inform Maeve. “So, this time I owe my ball smacking skills entirely to Kai.”
Maeve freezes, stares at me for a few relished moments, then bursts out laughing. She literally howls with glee as she doubles over and slaps her knee.
Face burning, I say, “You know what I mean!”
Maeve can’t stop laughing long enough to respond.
I glance at Sophie, who’s laughing too hard to look back. Meanwhile, Kai’s cheeks have turned red.
He says, “Um, what’s with the ball smacking thing?”
I can barely bring myself to look at him. “She’s talking about ping-pong. Maeve is just jealous that I beat her and Sophie—two against one, I might add—three times in a row.”
Kai glances back and forth between us. “Okay, cool.” Do I hear relief in his voice? I’m pretty sure I do. Then he adds, “And now we just beat them at pool.”
Our eyes meet as a grin spreads across my lips. “We sure did!”
We fist bump and I can’t help but feel proud of sinking that eight ball. Kai looks proud too at having coached me through my very first game. Maeve, her face still red from laughing, offers me a fist bump too. “You really are on a winning streak lately.”
“Thank God for that.” Sophie joins us to make things complete.
For just a few moments—as we smile at each other, our eyes meeting—I become unaware of the blues music playing in the background. I don’t hear the voices of the others as they laugh, talk and compete at their games. I forget we’re even in Moe’s Place, Cassie’s favorite neighborhood bar, where we’ve gathered to celebrate and blow off steam. There’s just these three people. My tribe. The only true friends I’ve known in my strange and confusing life.
“Okay, everyone! Dinner!” Regina’s gruff voice brings all activity to a halt. I swear, for just a moment, even the sound system cuts off completely. Then the music resumes.
A bit of magic there? Quite possibly so. Although, there’s no glow at Regina’s hands. There’s just her expectant stare, proving that she doesn’t need to float in the air to command our attention. Somehow, at just over four feet tall, she’s still the tallest person present.
As we file out of the game room, I can’t help but feel once again self-conscious at the curious glances cast my way. That keeps happening, even though not everyone here witnessed what took place the other night. Only the mages who were at Phillip Marchant’s estate, along with Nora, Cassie’s vampire friend. But word spread quickly. So quickly that I’d only just gotten back to my room when Maeve, Sophie and Kai started pounding on my door.
“We just heard!” Maeve said, her eyes wide with excitement.
“For real?” Sophie asked. “It’s finally over?”
Kai just stared at me, his eyes full of wonder.
For that night, I tried to convince myself that we really were out of danger, as we laughed and drank wine. As we stayed up half the night, despite knowing our unfamiliars would be at us to get moving first thing in the morning. After all, Felkerus and Bloodhound were gone, defeated at my hands, even though it still seemed impossible. The memory was fresh in my mind—how I’d transformed before that watching crowd. How I’d revealed to them my Demon Soul, as I’d stood before them triumphant, seeing in their eyes a mixture of awe and fear. But what they couldn’t have possibly known at the time was that I too felt fear.
I still do.
For two reasons. I haven’t forgotten that moment when I wrapped Felkerus in the vaporous tendrils that unspooled from my hands, and how much I wanted to feed upon his helplessness and terror. So much so, that I wasn’t sure if I’d come back again or remain forever fully a demon. Thankfully, that didn’t happen, but what about the next time? And then there’s the other thing I couldn’t possibly forget—that only part of the threat is actually gone. The other half remains out there, waiting.
Now, it’s that very threat that I find myself thinking about as we gather for dinner.
I take my seat and Kai looks over at me. His brow creases. “Everything okay?”
I force a smile. “Oh, yeah. I’m fine.”
Don’t think about him. Don’t think about her. Especially her.
Even as those thoughts race through my mind, it’s already too late. Because that’s the way it works, right? If you tell yourself not to think about someone, then you’ve already thought about them. Although, in this case, way more her than him as I once again remember seeing Chloe in that parking lot. The way her eyes flashed and her hands lit up, her magic at the ready just at the sight of me. I try telling myself that so much has changed since then, that I’m not the girl who Chloe humiliated in front of everyone weeks ago. I tell myself that I’m so much more powerful now, that she could no longer pose a threat. But part of me remains unsure. Her magic against mine? Sure, no problem, if that’s all it boiled down to. But there’s way more than magic in this world. There’s guile. There’s hatred and twisted determination. There’s evil. And sometimes evil is all it takes.
“Hey, I know you!”
I look up to see a kind face looking down at me.
He smiles broadly, his eyes full of joy. “You came here with Cassie last week. Oh, shoot…” He shakes his head. “Don’t tell me.” He takes a moment, then says, “Amaya, right?”
I stare back at Moe, more than a little stunned. I’ve been here exactly once and he remembers me?
“Told you he had an amazing memory,” Cassie says, slipping in beside me. She turns from me to Moe and says, “She’s a bit shy.”
Don’t. Just don’t.
Cassie casts me a sidelong glance, then mock-whispers to Moe, “She just got out of a mental institution.”
I’m going to freaking kill her.
Moe freezes, his eyes going wide. Then he bursts out laughing. “Oh, you almost got me there!”
Cassie laughs too. “Yeah, w
“I know you will,” Moe says. “You always do! Like that thing you said about seeing a ghost in the pool room.” He chuckles, shaking his head.
Seriously? She told him about seeing a ghost here? How many beers did Cassie have that night?
“Don’t worry about her,” Cassie says. “She just passes through. Actually, she lives next door.”
Moe bursts out laughing. “You kill me, Cassie.”
Cassie just shrugs and smiles sweetly.
Moe says, “Okay, your food’s about to come out. Meanwhile, can I get you anything?”
“How about a beer for me and my friend here?” Cassie lowers her voice again. “She’s making up for lost time. You know, now that she’s off her meds.”
Moe laughs again, then sets off toward the bar, just as people there raise their voices. One of the bar customers points at the TV. “There!” he exclaims. “It just happened again!”
Another one calls out, “What’s the deal? Moe, can you put the game back on?”
Moe frowns and looks up at the TV, which, for some reason, must have changed channels. Instead of the basketball game, it now shows a bunch of people standing at tables wearing aprons as they decorate cakes. Moe points the remote and the basketball game reappears on the screen, just as one of the players streaks across the court. The player stops and swivels, then passes the ball to his teammate. That one dashes forward, outmaneuvering his opponents as he flies toward the basket about to take his shot. The bar patrons watch in rapt attention, some jumping to their feet.
One shouts, “Come on, score!”
“Two minutes left!” another exclaims. “Go, go, go!”
Suddenly, the channel flips back to the baking show. A man with an English accent intones, “Now, comes the moment of truth. Which of these bakers will stay or go home?”
The bar patrons cry out in frustration. One shouts, “What the hell is happening?”
Across the table, Maeve says, “Great British Bake Off. I love this show.”
Sophie asks, “Can you turn it up a little?”
A mischievous smile plays on Parker’s lips. She barely moves her index finger and the show gets louder. The man with the English accent says, “And this weeks winner is…”
“Moe, put the game back on!”
“Come on, there’s like one minute left!”
“Georgina Smith!” the baking show host announces.
On the screen, a woman stands behind a beautiful cake, her eyes brimming with joyful tears. She opens her mouth to speak and Moe points his remote. The winning baker gets replaced by a now emptying basketball court.
A sportscaster says, “I have to say, that was truly amazing. Have you ever seen anything like that?”
A different man responds, sounding stunned. “Wow. That was truly basketball history in the making. I think it will be a very long time before we see something like that again.”
Moe’s mouth hangs open as he stares up at the screen. His bar customers start booing. Moe turns to them and says, “It wasn’t me!”
“Check to see if Guy Fieri is on,” Maeve says.
Kai says, “Good idea.”
Parker goes to make her move and Cassie hisses, “Don’t. It’s bad enough he brought that thing.” She gestures toward Jerome, one of the witches I met at the Cauldron. Sure enough, his snorfler is at that moment gobbling M&Ms from his palm..
Sensing Cassie’s attention, Jerome looks her way. He raises his eyebrows. “What?”
Cassie sighs. “Just keep your demon frog in line.” She turns to me and says, “No offence, Amaya.”
What’s that supposed to mean? I’m half-demon, not half-frog.
I turn to Kai. “You’re into cooking shows?”
His brow furrows. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Yeah,” Maeve says. “That was super sexist.”
My mouth drops open. “No! I just meant—”
“Right. Got it. I should be into football or something.” Kai grins merrily at my embarrassment. “Because I’m a dude, right? In fact, I should probably go lift some weights. You know, to be more manly.”
Maeve laughs.
I try again. “No, I just—”
“Geez, Amaya,” Sophie says. “Guys can be into cooking.”
“Guy Fieri, for example,” Kai says.
I mumble, “Just trying to make conversation. God.”
The truth is, we were encouraged to watch cooking shows at Wilkins. They were considered to be a creative, non-confrontational means of entertainment where people worked productively in groups. My roommate, Olivia, thought they were boring as hell. I actually liked them. I just didn’t realize Kai liked them too.
He nudges me playfully. “You know I’m just kidding.”
I refuse to look at him. “It sure didn’t sound like you were kidding.”
He chuckles. “You sort of set yourself up. Couldn’t resist.”
I sip my beer. “Yeah, well. Maybe you should have.”
“Look,” Maeve says. “Amaya is pouting.”
Parker grins. “Oh, yeah. She totally is.”
Sophie says, “Are you going to do the demon thing?”
I glare at her. “I’m not going to do the demon thing.”
“I don’t know…” Cassie says. “It looks like she might Hulk out right here.”
Kai nudges me again. “Actually, it’s kind of flattering that you think I’m macho.”
I still don’t look at him. “I don’t think you’re macho.”
Maeve grins. “Hear that? Amaya just told Kai he’s not macho.”
“Ouch,” Sophie says. “It’s okay, Kai. I think you’re macho.”
Kai says, “Thank you, Sophie.”
Parker bats her lashes. “Do you really lift weights, Kai? You sure look like you lift weights.”
I feel a laugh bubble up inside me, trying to get out.
Maeve says, “Look, she’s trying not to laugh.”
Sophie says, “The pouty thing is kind of sexy.”
In a deep mock-baritone, Kai says, “Why, yes, Parker. I do lift weights from time to time. Thank you for noticing my well-toned physique.”
Parker presses her palm to her chest. Breathlessly, she asks, “How could I not? You’re just so bulgy!”
I burst out laughing.
“Aw,” Maeve says. “No more pouty face.”
“Stop,” I say, still laughing.
Sophie perches forward to stare at me. “Or what? You do the demon thing?”
Cassie says, “That demon thing is seriously badass. Are you going to Hulk out now?”
Still in the middle of a giggle fit, I manage to say, “No, I’m not going to Hulk out here.”
At that same moment, Moe sets my dinner down in front of me. He looks at me quizzically. “Well, I’m glad to hear that. We discourage customers from Hulking out, if at all possible.”
As my face turns red, Cassie says, “You should see it. She sprouts wings and everything. Her eyes go pure black.”
Moe chuckles. “Keep trying, Cassie.”
Cassie perches forward. “No, really! She gets talons too. Oh, and these black vapor things shoot out of her hands.”
Moe nods patiently. “Got it. So, kind of like Spiderman.” He sets Cassie’s plate in front of her, then looks down the table toward Jerome. He stares, frowning. “What the hell is that thing?”
Jerome, who was being somewhat discreet before, must have forgotten himself. Now, his bright blue, winged amphibian sits perched on his shoulder. Two neon green eyes stare back at Moe as the snorfler’s tongue snaps at the air.
Cassie calls out, “Hey, Jerome! Moe wants to know what you’ve got there.”
Jerome breaks off his conversation with Julia. He looks at Cassie, then at Moe a bit nervously. “Oh, this is Gene.”
Moe’s frown deepens. “Not its name. I meant, what is it?
Jerome’s face turns red. “Oh, of course. Gene here is a Costa Rican Draco.”
“Costa Rican Draco,” Moe repeats softly.
Jerome nods happily. “That’s right. He’s part of the Agamid class of lizards.”
Moe’s brow furrows even, more. “I’ve been to Costa Rica. Never saw anything like that freaky-ass reptile.”
He sets off toward the now empty bar, above which, on two TV’s, Guy Fieri appears to be sampling someone’s Mexican food. Whatever he’s eating must be good, because he sure looks happy. Moe, on the other hand, not so much.
