The demons witch the com.., p.35
The Demon’s Witch: The Complete Series, page 35
All anger was gone from her expression.
Hell, his embrace had been like the most effective surgery ever. It felt like her heart had now mellowed so much that she’d never be angry again.
“There’s been a disappearance,” he said, his voice raw.
“Disappearance? Who?”
“The principal of Broadstone.” Lucifer looked right at her.
Judging by the pressure in his voice, she’d expected the target to be someone they should give a hoot about.
She was so surprised, she actually snorted. “Who cares?”
Lucifer shot her that look. It was the one that made her think that he had to be more than a demon. Demons were meant to live for breaking social norms, but not this guy.
She quickly pressed her lips together and looked sorry. “What I mean is what does that have to do with us?”
“Something is happening at Broadstone, Felicity – I’m sure you can appreciate that. The principal was part of the old guard. For him to have disappeared, it means that something is afoot.”
“Well, that kind of serves him right—”
“Felicity,” Lucifer warned with a gravelly growl.
She put her hands up. “I was going to say that he’s been a big part of what’s been happening at Broadstone, and—”
“And what?” Lucifer asked pointedly. “Therefore no one should care about him?”
Felicity knew it was not a good idea to get into another argument with Lucifer. For one, it would negate this blissful feeling she was still experiencing.
She couldn’t help herself, though. All she could remember was the principal’s odious gaze. She went back to the fact it had reminded her of a crow that was just waiting to peck a lamb’s eyes out. “We’re kidding ourselves if we pretend that the principal was a good guy. He was there during my years. I bet you he was behind the fact that nobody properly investigated those murders. Hell,” Felicity’s voice dropped down and became fragile yet hard at the same time as if it was metal that was just starting to set, “you helped me find out about the blood contract at the heart of the school. Jane had a very credible theory that if the school had been created off the back of a blood contract, then key figures throughout its history had probably been creating more blood contracts to sustain it. It makes sense. They would underpin Broadstone’s power. I doubt it’s just the elite students who run around making blood contracts for themselves.”
“But the principal was still a man and still requires the same compassion one sentient being should have for another.”
This was probably where she should splutter, point at him, say the word demon, and leave the conversation at that. She just shrugged. “I just have to get back to the fact that the principal would have known what he was dealing with. Anyway, can we just agree to disagree?”
“No. You do not think this way, Felicity,” he said darkly.
He was completely at odds with the guy who’d hugged her several minutes ago.
Though a part of her desperately wanted to go back to that guy, she was getting kind of het up. “How do you know what I think? You crafted me, anyway.”
He turned away from her sharply, and the quality of the move made it clear that he wasn’t getting some privacy as he plucked his phone out of his pocket. He was bitterly disappointed in her.
He ignored her as he messaged someone.
She continued to get a little irater with every passing second until she let out a huff. “Look, I’m sorry, all right?”
“You are not, but I realize it will take you longer to change your mind.”
Hold it together, girl, just hold it to frigging together, she snapped at herself hard.
She couldn’t afford to argue the entire night with Lucifer. For one, he wouldn’t let her – it was clear he had something to do. For another, she just had to sleep. If she ended their interaction with an argument, all she would do was think about it for the rest of the night.
“Fine, I’m sure the principal deserves some kind of basic human dignity. But can we just go back to why this is our problem?”
“I have already told you – it means that forces at Broadstone are moving.”
She finally heard what he was saying. She frowned. “What forces?”
“The Hamiltons were part of the old guard. Now you have defeated their daughter and reduced their credibility and power, the old guard will be weakened. I would wager that someone set Belinda up to this knowing that she would fail.”
Felicity frowned hard. She could only think of Jake. Then she thought of Brown. She shook her head. “What are you saying? That someone put Belinda up to this knowing full well that I would defeat all of her blood contracts and weaken her family?”
“That is precisely what I’m saying.”
Felicity curled her hands into fists. Here we go again – she was being used. She shouldn’t have to tell you that every single time she found out another person was using her, she got cumulatively angrier.
Lucifer flashed his gaze over to her. There was a worried edge to it for some reason. If she’d been smart enough, she would have realized that it was at her growing anger. But as that rage billowed through her, the first thing to go was her intelligence.
“I can’t believe those bastards keep using me. The Kings,” she spat, “will have to pay for what they’ve done. Wait, can I do the same thing to Jake King that I did to Belinda?” She snatched hold of that possibility as if she was literally wrapping her hands around Jake’s throat.
“He will not challenge you again for several months. In fact, I imagine he fought you first knowing that he would lose precisely so that he wouldn’t be forced to fight you again.”
Felicity made a face. “That doesn’t mean that I can’t fight him, right? What’s to say that I can’t challenge someone? I mean, I’m part of Magnum Optimus—”
“As per the rules of Magnum Optimus, you have just begun, so you must wait an entire year before you can choose to challenge anyone.”
“That’s a bullshit rule. I am getting rid of it. I want to go straight to Broadstone,” she pointed a finger stiffly to the side, “find that creep, and rip his blood contracts right out of his damn veins.”
“That cannot happen, Felicity.”
“Why not?”
“The Hamiltons were fundamentally greedy. They kept most of their strongest blood contracts for themselves and did not share them with their daughter. That left them vulnerable. They should’ve thought that through, but they never did.”
Felicity just stood there, thinking that through.
If she bothered to control her rage for a few seconds, she would realize from the little she knew of psychology that bullies like Belinda didn’t just wake up and start to terrorize others one morning. They were created, usually by intolerable family or social conditions.
“The Hamiltons always viewed their daughter as weak. They gave her enough blood contracts to get by, but they kept the most powerful for themselves. That has now come back to bite them. Jake King, on the other hand,” he added quickly as he held her gaze, “does not have that weakness. His parents have given him some of their strongest blood contracts.”
She pressed her lips together and rolled her tongue across her teeth. “Then why didn’t he use them against me—” she stopped abruptly.
There was little point in questioning that. The answer was damn obvious.
“Because his goal was to use you against Belinda and the rest of his enemies. As I already said – he would’ve gone into that battle with you knowing that he would lose.”
Felicity started to stalk across the room. Screw this a million times over. In every direction she looked, she was being used.
But then she looked in Lucifer’s direction.
His expression was soft again.
It led her partially out of her anger. Her gaze locked on his arms. Her back instantly re-created the sensation of his fingers pressed against it.
She let out a stuttering breath. She hid it, because it was way too intimate.
She pushed her fingers through her hair. She grabbed a few strands, pulled them over her shoulder, and pressed her lips together.
“This is where you ask what we do next,” Lucifer said softly.
“You read my mind.”
“I do not need to read your mind, Felicity. I simply know you.”
She wanted to shiver on the term simply. Yes, he did know her, but he didn’t know all of her. He didn’t know her in the kind of complex ways she wanted him to.
She settled for shifting her jaw around rather than breathing a word of that.
She stopped in front of the window behind her bed. “Do I get to sleep here tonight?”
“You are required to sleep here tonight. You went through quite an ordeal, Felicity. I wasn’t lying to you back in that basement corridor. A few minutes more, and you would’ve died.”
Maybe that’s where she should have shivered and acted all overcome. She shrugged. She continued to stare at the view. Then she flopped onto her bed.
She often flopped onto furniture around Lucifer. It never made her feel uncomfortable. It never made her feel like she was deliberately leading his eye in the hope that she’d be able to lead his hands, too.
She should probably roll over – especially considering her face was smooshed up into her pillow and she could only just breathe, but she didn’t.
“Tomorrow, Felicity,” he continued their conversation when it became clear that she was too chicken to, “you continue to learn about Magnum Optimus, you continue to search for the blood spell, and you keep your friend safe.”
On the term friend, Felicity couldn’t contain herself anymore. She finally rolled over. She frowned at him. “Aren’t you angry?”
“By what?”
“That I’ve made a friend.” She didn’t call Jane an associate. She was way beyond that. All she could remember was the tender conversation they’d had in the magical book.
Lucifer crossed his arms again. He didn’t need to to indicate that he was angered by that comment. She was so attuned to even his slightest micro-expressions that all she would have required was the twitching movement of the left side of his lips. “Why would I be upset by the fact you’ve made a friend? It’s good for you.” He emphasized the word good.
“But… I told her a little bit about myself. Not my name,” she said as she lifted her hand quickly in a stiff movement. “But she does know that I’m not an ordinary student. She kinda thinks I’m a spy working for someone who wants to stop the murders.”
“You are a spy working for someone, and you are there to stop the murders. If you so wish, you can tell her your name, too.”
Felicity had been pushing her hand through her hair. She stopped as if the strands had turned into teeth and they’d grabbed hold of her fingers.
“What?” she spluttered. “You can’t be serious.”
“Why would I not be serious? You have decided to trust her. And you’re a good judge of character, no matter what you think,” he added definitively.
“Good judge of character?” She didn’t pick up on his tone. “You’re mad, right? I trusted Damien, and I—”
Lucifer dipped his head to the side. “And you were stupid enough to trust me?”
Usually when he challenged her, his expression was hard and obvious. Now it was blank.
She swallowed. She went to turn away, but she realized that would be a stupid move. She stared at him directly. “No. This has nothing to do with you. I just… I’m a lousy judge of character. If I tell Jane, she’ll probably turn out to be some agent working for the principal or something.”
“Unlikely, considering the principal has disappeared and is likely dead.”
“Sorry? He’s dead?” Felicity’s voice shot up.
“Yes. If I had to wager, I’d assume he was fed to the blood spell. As you investigate it tomorrow, keep that in mind. Now—” he looked at her steadily, then let his gaze tick toward the middle of her bed.
Now what?
Felicity’s body forgot all of the horrors it had gone through today. It became so alive with nerves and expectation, it was like the rest of her life had been leading to this point and it was about to climax.
Lucifer didn’t jump into bed with her. He nodded pointedly at her pillow. “Rest. I will come in and check on you multiple times to ensure you’re healing correctly. I will not send you back there unless you have your power back. I feel tomorrow, like the previous few days, will be challenging for you.”
With that – without a good night’s kiss – he walked out.
Felicity just kind of stared at the door for several minutes. A glum frown marched across her lips. Finally, she turned. She kicked off her shoes, pulled off her blazer, walked over to her dresser, and grabbed some pajamas.
Before she got back into bed, she briefly stared at the view again.
The view was responsive to her magic – as were most windows in The Devil Man. With nothing more than a well-placed spell – as long as you were coded to The Devil Man – you could make the windows reveal anywhere in the city.
She narrowed in on where Broadstone really was – not that it occupied the same space as the city.
She frowned at it.
Her jaw hardened. It should have been in exquisite anger. It kind of was. But more than anything, it was in anticipation. She brought her fingers up. She pressed them together as she made a fake gun, and she pretended to fire it.
“See you tomorrow.”
3
Felicity was back. Yet again she’d snuck in before the girls had woken.
Lucifer had already set a clone spell in her bed. Felicity didn’t bother to disperse it until she was safely under her covers.
She had all of about five minutes to stare at the ceiling before the other girls started to rouse.
Here we go again, Felicity thought.
Nope, this would be different, wouldn’t it? The principal would be gone, Belinda would be hamstrung, and presumably, Jake would be out there planning his next move with Felicity.
This would be the day from hell. Oh yeah, and she had potions class in the morning. She hated potions class.
She got up with the other girls.
Jane, despite the fact she was usually good at not letting her relationship with Felicity show, continued to stare at Felicity openly. It was damn clear she had a million questions to ask.
She wasn’t the only one.
When Bethany checked her phone before heading out the door, she came to such a skidding stop, it was a surprise she didn’t fall over and headbutt her bed.
Felicity licked her lips and tried to tune in to Bethany’s emotions.
It wasn’t that hard, to be honest. Bethany was so damn surprised, Felicity imagined that every single person at Broadstone would be able to hear her pounding heart.
So Bethany would have just found out what happened to Belinda, then?
“Can you get out of the way?” Abigail – the other girl in this dorm room – snapped at Bethany as she took up position in front of the door.
Bethany didn’t get out of the way. Slowly, she turned and stared at Felicity.
“What?” Felicity asked as she ticked her head to the side. “Is the school waking up to the fact that I had a fight with Belinda last night? And I won.” Maybe this was where Felicity should’ve taken pleasure in that statement. She didn’t.
All she did was look at Bethany’s gaze. It was so conflicted. It was terrified on the one hand – yet there was just a flicker of relief there, too.
“What? You defeated Belinda in a fight?” Jane asked in a spluttering voice that was clearly full of concern for Felicity.
Felicity just nodded, her hands on her hips. “Yes, yes I did. And there will be consequences for Belinda today. That’s not a threat.” Felicity lifted her hand. “It’s a fact. Now—” she looked steadily at Bethany.
Bethany shrunk back. She started to shiver. “I—”
“Just keep your head down,” Felicity said. “Try not to fall prey to any of the other elites. If they ask you to do things—” Felicity looked right at her. Maybe she’d taken a leaf out of Lucifer’s book, because she could tell that her stare was powerful enough to stop anyone in place. “Find someone to tell. For the love of God, don’t become another errand girl.”
With that, Felicity walked out.
Bethany’s gaze was on her. Her fear had quickly turned into relief. She stared down at the message on her phone, then shrugged and threw her phone onto her bed.
Most kids – especially those on short leashes like Bethany – wouldn’t be caught dead without their phone.
Jane was behind Felicity as they walked out of the door.
Jane had a chance to open her mouth. Then the stares began.
It seemed that every single girl had gotten into the corridors in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Felicity when she exited her room.
“What the hell is going on?” Jane pressed close. “Did you really defeat Belinda last night?”
“Yes, I did. Right now she’s probably getting in trouble with her parents.”
“She’s not getting in trouble with her parents,” Bethany interrupted. She hurried to catch up.
Though Bethany didn’t exactly look comfortable as she spoke to Felicity, at least she didn’t look as if Felicity was about to eat her.
“What are you talking about?” Jane asked. She was a lot warier than Felicity. Fair enough, Bethany had probably hounded Jane before Felicity came along.
“She’s been kicked out,” Bethany revealed. “That’s what the message said.”
Felicity stopped.
She’d expected – based on what Lucifer had revealed – that things would unravel quickly for Belinda, but being kicked out was a step Felicity hadn’t been able to imagine.
“And her parents have lost everything,” Bethany said, leaning in to try to be conspiratorial. It was pretty hard. With all the girls in the corridor, unless they applied one seriously powerful protection spell to the conversation, everyone would still be able to hear.
Felicity just stood there. She didn’t let anything show.
Lucifer had been right a thousand times over, apparently. The Hamiltons hadn’t just lost their prestige – it sounded as if they’d been kicked right out of the magical community.
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