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  “This isn’t the way,” Zane said.

  “You wouldn’t know. You are too weak to use your gifts.” She laughed. “You were supposed to be the ones in this circle, but your conscience keeps you from doing what you were made for.”

  She turned towards me. “You should have completed the binding and made her your Coven mate.”

  “You are too blind with power to see what’s right in front of you,” Zarrick said with a smile. “That Demon will kill you.”

  “He will give me a kingdom where Witches are in charge and no one will challenge it.”

  Zander took a step towards her. She held out her hand and he froze in place. “This will be completed.”

  I felt the power of the circle rise through me. I screamed as it raced faster and harder through my blood, through my veins. The pain came in large doses intertwined with the magick. I fell to my knees and held my stomach. In my mind I was ripping apart, but knew I was still sitting in the heap of myself over my sigil and waiting for the Demon that wanted to kill me to appear.

  My ears rang and my head pounded as the power burst from my body. The release was welcome and the pain subsided some. My skin burned with the power still inside me somewhere.

  I opened my eyes to the ground around me charred and burned. The green that once surrounded me was now black and smoking from the magick I’d just released. The circle was a burned spot in the ground and everyone around it was ash.

  My eyes slid to the sigil at my feet. It still glowed an orange red. It was just like my dream and that meant that I wasn’t alone in this circle.

  I turned slowly to see the Demon I’d tried so hard to ignore. The one that wanted to have me to rule his new world. The first thing I noticed was his eyes. They were brown with red flicks. It wasn’t scary to see, but I knew there was power behind them. More power than any human or Witch could hold. His dark hair was slicked back with no hair out of place. He wore a grey suit with a red pocket square perfectly in place. His face looked familiar somehow. I’d seen him before, but couldn’t place where.

  My eyes focused on something behind him or more accurate someone. Zane was standing in front of Zander and Zarrick with his hands up. A soft blue shield in front of the three of them.

  “You are the usher of Gods. The killer of men. You are the power that consumes all things.” He reached his hand out to take mine. “You are mine.” He took my hand.

  I felt it before I saw the light that flashed between our hands. The power forced his hand back with a sharp snap.

  “What is this?” He demanded. He glanced at Alda who was still kneeling.

  “She is bound to this Coven and should be free from their connections,” Alda said standing.

  Zarrick’s laughing caught everyone’s attention. “I’m sorry. It’s just so funny.”

  “You did this,” the Demon spat.

  “That’s what you get when you leave a beautiful woman in my house,” Zarrick said looking at me instead of the Demon.

  I realized I could tap into Zarrick’s powers just as though they were my own. I closed my eyes and thought of him and all the things about him I loved. His wicked smile and his ability to get me to do things I never thought I’d do. I thought about the night we shared and how much I cared for all of these men. I wasn’t just their pet or someone they wanted for power. I was more than that.

  I opened my eyes and held my hand up. The earth responded with rumbles deep inside. It cracked between myself and this Demon I’d just let into this world. The power traveled from my feet to my hand and built like an earthquake.

  I looked the Demon in the eyes as the power flooded through me. He smiled and exploded into fire just before my power reached him. It hit Alda’s house, blowing the wall in and destroying her home.

  “This isn’t possible,” Alda said.

  “Anything is possible with Cat,” Zarrick said as he grabbed Alda. She pulled away from him and waved her arm, disappearing in front of him.

  “Damn it,” Zander said.

  Zane was there first with his hands on my shoulders. “Are you alright?”

  I nodded, but wasn’t truly sure if I was nodding because I was okay after the Demon or the power surge.

  “Now that you’re a part of the Coven, the real fun begins,” Zarrick said as he walked to me.

  “You knew somehow, didn’t you?”

  He shrugged. “I had my suspicions.”

  “You could have shared them with the rest of us,” Zander said with a bite of anger.

  “She’s safe isn’t she?” He said.

  “We still have a bigger problem.” I looked around us at the burnt circle and the destroyed house. “The Demon still came here. I let it happen.”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Zane said. “We’ll worry about that later. You need rest.”

  We made our way through the busted building and to the car. Zane was right. I was tired and my body felt like it had been hit by a train. All I wanted to do was sleep.

  Eighteen

  I opened my eyes to two men laying on the floor of my bedroom. The light was streaming in from the sun and everything felt surreal.

  “Did you get enough sleep?” Zander said from my chair across from me.

  I smiled. “I think so.” I rubbed my arm. It still ached but was bearable.

  “Good. Magick of that magnitude can be pretty draining,” he said glancing at the men on the floor. “They didn’t want to leave you alone. Frankly, neither did I.”

  “So you had a campout in my room?” I smarted off.

  “Get used to it, Sweetheart,” Zarrick said sitting up. “You won’t be alone now.”

  My breath caught at the thought.

  “Have you looked at your eyes?” Zane said with a smile.

  I shook my head.

  I turned my head and looked in the mirror across from the foot of my bed. Sure enough, my once dark eyes had a blue hue to them. Even my hair looked a shade of blueish purple. I smiled.

  “You’re in the club now,” Zane said with a slight laugh. “I think this is also yours.” He held up the Oleander Necklace and smiled. “I saved it from Alda for you. It still works to protect you.”

  “Except from us,” Zarrick said with his wicked smile.

  “We still have to bind this coven,” Zander said. “Zarrick had his time, now it’s mine.” He gave the other two a death stare and they groaned.

  “Why do you get her all to yourself?” Zarrick said not moving.

  “The New Moon was last night. Don’t we have to wait,” I teased.

  “The Full Moon and New Moon are three days long,” Zander said with a smile.

  “And we honor every one,” Zarrick said with a wicked smile.

  The bed moved with the entry of Zander and I raised my eyebrows at Zarrick. He didn’t move.

  Zander pulled me to him and leaned over me. “I’ve waited a long time for this, but you have to say one thing before we begin.” His ran his hand down my thigh and his thumb toyed with my panties. “You have to say yes,” he whispered in my ear.

  There was no hesitation.

  “Yes.”

  ***

  Caleb sat in his circle with his eyes closed. He had felt the shift in the energy when the Demon had taken form. He knew the power was shifting. While the rest of his Coven slept, he reached out with his mind, reached out for help from the one person that could give it to him.

  “You thought I’d hide at a time like this,” the man said before Caleb opened his eyes. “I am a part of this Coven from the time it was created to the time of its end.”

  “I have never forgotten that,” Caleb said, not moving.

  “You want the power the Demon can give?”

  “I want the power to end Zarrick and everything he loves.”

  “That includes the woman,” the man said watching him at the outskirts of his circle.

  “I would like to do more than that. I’d like to induct her into my Coven, but to do that the others have to die,
” Caleb said locking eyes with the man.

  The man’s red and brown eyes watched him until a smile formed on his face. “Then you will have all the power you need.” The man put his hand on Caleb’s shoulder. Caleb felt a hot burning sensation as the power surged into him. He closed his eyes and fell to his knees.

  The power was all consuming. It extended from his shoulder to every part of his body. It burned into his skin and flesh until it sizzled and dissipated.

  Caleb caught his breath and opened his eyes to the man. He took a step back and watched Caleb. “Now you have more power than all of them combined.”

  Caleb glanced in the mirror at his feet and looked into his eyes. He could see the power as they flashed red before him.

  Bound

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  I breathed deeply as the hot air hit my face. I concentrated, but it wasn’t enough. The screeching of the fire alarm interrupted my deep thoughts and my eyes flew open. The smoke poured from the oven and I cursed under my breath.

  I opened the oven door and pulled out the burnt cookies with a sigh. I didn’t even look as the kitchen door opened and Zarrick came flying through.

  “What in the hell is going on,” he half yelled as he took in the fact I was holding a tin with burnt cookies stuck to it.

  “I give up,” I sighed. I threw the cookies in the trash and put the pan in the sink. Zarrick just laughed at me.

  “You are one of the most powerful witches in this generation and you’re mad because you can’t make a plate of cookie?”

  I just stared at him.

  He smiled and I his blue eyes twinkled with amusement. He pulled me to him and I could smell the scent of earth and sweat. He’d been training. I let him hold me next to his muscular body for a moment longer before pulling away, slightly.

  “What do you guys think fighting is going to do for you against a Demon?” I knew it was a blunt question, but after everything that had happened recently I wasn’t so worried about being blunt. We’d just let a Demon out to destroy the earth and I was its prime target. I would think they would want to concentrate on magick, not punching each other in the face.

  “There might be a time when we don’t have access to our magick. It’s good to know how to protect ourselves,” Zarrick answered.

  “When am I going to learn how to knock you out?” I teased.

  “You do that every time we’re together, love.” He smiled. “Don’t you have a magick lesson with Zander?”

  I groaned. While I knew, it was important to learn as much as I could to control my power, I didn’t enjoy learning how to see things in a totally different way. It gave me a headache.

  “Yes, I’m going.” I turned from him and walked from the kitchen. Zander liked to do his lessons on the balcony. He said it made him feel more connected to the energy. I liked it because there was normally a good breeze when the rest of the house threatened to overwhelm me with the scorching heat.

  “I hope you came prepared, today,” Zander said from his seat at the iron table on the other side of the balcony. He didn’t look up as I came through the double door and I sighed.

  “What are we doing today?”

  “We are looking into your capacity to use earth magick,” he said shutting his book. “The rest of us have our magick tied to other elements. It would seem that you should too since you were drawn to this coven.”

  “Wait, no. I had a choice and picked yours because I decided I was in love with the men of it,” I said with a smile.

  He cocked his head and smiled back. “True, but now that you’re here we have to figure out your element. That is the best place to start. I know it wasn’t fire as we already tried that.”

  “Even though I turned a dude to ash when Zane saved me,” I remarked. He didn’t look amused.

  “There are several reasons for that,” Zander said. He was a lot taller than me, but he never made me feel small or silly when I was a smart ass. He just made me feel protected. This was the first time since we’d met that I wasn’t sure what he was thinking. I still didn’t know the full extent of his power.

  “Right, like I’m connected to a Demon.”

  “I don’t think that’s it. Zarrick may not have done what I would like, but he did connect you to him to protect you.”

  “You’re just mad it wasn’t you,” I teased.

  He walked to me and pulled me to him. “Maybe.”

  I put my hands on his chest and grabbed his shirt pulling him as close as he could without knocking me over. He bent down slightly and kissed me with a deep and passionate kiss. I loved the way he kissed me and made me feel safe and warm. His touch was a bit rougher than the others, but he never hurt me unless I wanted him to. He pulled away and bit his lip.

  “We have to train now. We can play later,” He played.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “I want to see what kind of earth magick you may have. Maybe this is where we should start,” He said. Zander pulled a small dying Oleander plant on the table. He’d carefully potted it, but still it refused to grow. Its pink petals were wilted and brown and the once green leaves were barely holding onto the stem.

  “I want you to heal it,” he said.

  I looked at him and laughed. “I don’t think anything can heal it.”

  “Try,” he said. “Close your eyes and think about the plant growing and getting stronger.”

  I closed my eyes and listened to him as he spoke about the plant getting stronger and healthy. I listened as he reminded me this was the sign of our coven. I felt the air around my hands vibrate and warm. My breathing came in heaping doses. It was as though I was giving a part of myself to this plant. I could hear my heart echoing in my ears as a hand touched my elbow. I opened my eyes and glanced at the owner of the hand. Zander had a smile on his face and nodded towards the plant. I shook my head as I saw how it had taken on a life of its own. The delicate pink flower had broken the pot it was in and was now three times the size it was. It was full and even had three more buds on the stem.

  “It seems you have a lot of earth in your magick, but you also had a lot of fire and air,” Zander said.

  “What does that mean?”

  “I’m not sure.” Zander pulled a larger pot from around the table and began filling it with dirt. “For us, we have always been assigned one element to work with. We can do a small amount with all of them, but one is where we have the most power.” He carefully picked up the newly healed Oleander and placed it in the large pot. “You have gained power from all the elements we’ve tested so far.” He glanced at me and smiled. “That makes you unique.”

  I grimaced. “Or it makes me a target.”

  “It may, but we are all here to protect you,” Zander said. He pulled the newly potted plant into the corner and wrapped his arm around me.

  “All except Zane,” I muttered against his chest.

  “He’s on a mission for the Council.”

  “One you won’t tell me about,” I said. I pulled back from him and met his gaze. “Why all the secrecy?”

  “I honestly don’t know what he’s doing either.”

  I raised my eyebrows and sighed. I knew better than that. Zander always knew what everyone was doing. It was part of his magick. He felt the changes in energy on the air. It was odd, but it was also comforting in its own way.

  “Zander, we have a visitor,” Zarrick said from the doorway.

  Zander and I both looked at each other and then followed Zarrick down the stairs to the open entry area. It was more vibrant than when I’d first gotten here. The flowers were brighter reds and pinks and the tables seemed a little more suited for the area. The entry area was still the largest in the house, with its open windows and the only room with breeze.

  On the far end with his back towards us was a man I recognized from the council. He wa
s sipping a tea. No doubt Zarrick had gotten it for him to make him feel less stressed. I hadn’t even gotten close to him yet and could feel the urgency of the visit.

  “Zander, it’s good to see you,” he said with a slight smile. He took a final sip from his tea and set it on the table beside him. His wrinkled hands brushed the inside of his coat in anxiousness and he settled his dark eyes on me. “There is a meeting tonight.” He ran a shaking hand through his grey blond hair. “I’d like you all to come.”

  “What is the meeting about?” I said. I already knew it was probably about me and the Demon that had escaped because of my magick. I just hoped he realized it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t agree to bring him back and I certainly didn’t have any control over what Alda did.

  “The Demon has made some moves over the last few weeks,” he said.

  “He hasn’t come for Cat,” Zarrick said from behind me.

  “I imagine he’s waiting for you to be unprotected.”

  “That isn’t going to happen,” Zander said.

  I tried to hide my smile, but I couldn’t. The idea that I was finally protected and had not just one man to be there for me, but three made me feel like I could take on the world. Even if it may be the hardest thing she did.

  “It’s a council issue and I would like you to go,” the man said.

  “Matick, we haven’t had the best luck with the council. Why would it be different now?” Zarrick crossed his arms as he spoke.

  “Because I’m the one in charge,” he said. “He stood and looked at me and then Zander. “I just want to hear what everyone has to say and go from there. This issue affects us all.”

  “We’ll go,” Zander said out of nowhere. I glanced at him and wrinkled my brow, unsure. He looked at me and then back to Matick.

  “Good,” he said. “The meeting is tonight.” He didn’t look at us as he walked through the door and left us to figure out what to do next.

  “You do remember what happened the last time we went to a council meeting about me?” I shook my head as I spoke.

  “That’s why Zane has a plan b,” Zander said.