Shamelessly Spellbound (Spells That Bind Book 2) (28 page)

With the dampening spell, and Gryph unconscious, I was
fucked when it came to fighting a werewolf. At least, that’s what I’d thought
before realizing the dampening spell was designed to work on witches, not
demons. That meant I wasn’t completely helpless. The problem I had was that my
demon and witch magic were intertwined. I would need to feed my demon side,
which would bring out my demon form. Much as I hated my demon form, I had no
choice.

“Poor little slut,” Sage mocked. “Looks like you lose.”

“Trevor is my warlock,” I insisted calmly. “Nothing you can
do will change that.”

Sage laughed, but I could feel her anger sizzling through
the air, and I drew it toward me, feeding on her negative energy.

“Did you honestly think he wanted to be with you?” Sage
taunted. “If it weren’t for the demon potion I slipped Trevor at the reception,
he would have never even considered screwing an ugly cow like you.”

“Trevor didn’t drink that potion, and we both know it,” I
shot back. “He wanted me because I’m his witch. We took an affinity test, and
our magic is perfectly matched. He wants to marry me. The only way you could
ever get Trevor is with a potion.”

Her anger was swirling around like a black cloud, and I
continued to draw the hateful power into my body. It was so potent that I felt
my claws sliding through the tips of my fingers. My hands remained curled at my
sides so Sage wouldn’t see them. Most people didn’t even know that my body held
both demon and witch forms. My demon form wasn’t scary. It was actually
annoyingly cute, but it was definitely going to be a surprise to Trevor. I just
hoped it didn’t freak him out to find out about it this way.

“Even when Trevor thought you were in danger, he called to
tell me he loves me,” I added.

“No! No! No!” Sage screeched. “He’s mine!”

“Sage,” Trevor began in a weak voice. “I don’t know where
you got this idea, but I’m not yours.”

“Lies!” Sage shouted. “That demon bitch ruined everything!”

She was preparing to lunge at me, and I was almost ready. My
claws were fully extended, and I was sure my eyes were pale blue and glowing
with an unnatural light. I knew my skin would soon have a pearlescent glow, and
my hair would be a pale shade of pink. I was the first to admit that my demon
form looked a little like a
Fraggle Rock
character.

“Would you stop with your hysterical fits?” I spun to face
the man who’d spoken.

Stunning was the only word to describe the demon. He stood
more than six and a half feet tall, with black hair flowing down his back. His
obsidian eyes sparkled, and his nearly hairless, toned body was on display as
he stood before me in nothing more than boxer briefs. The curl of his full lips
proved he’d noticed my appraisal. “That’s right, my sweet. Look all you want.
I’m gifting you with my true form, and you’ll soon have an eternity to enjoy
it.”

My snort of laughter made his eyes narrow. “Try not to be
too humble, asshole.”

“Humble?” He seemed genuinely confused by my words.

“Stupid slut!” Sage spat out. “Haven’t you figured it out
yet? You’re my payment to him for helping me get Trevor. I thought he could do
much better, but for some reason, he wants you.”

“You are both out of your minds,” I scoffed.

I heard the demon’s voice, speaking in my mind this time.
“I
can kill her for you, but not until you’ve agreed to bind yourself to me.”

If anything, his voice was even smoother and more seductive
in my mind. Before Trevor, I might have been tempted by this demon, even
knowing he was evil. That’s the power a demon could have over you. They could
make you want them, make you forget all the horrible things they’d done.

“Can you imagine the wicked things I could do to your
body?”
he purred in my mind.
“I will also rid you of this bitch.”

“No,” I said out loud.

His seductive voice floated through my mind again.
“I
can’t kill her until I have what I want. As soon as her heart stops beating,
I’ll be returned to my lonely prison, and I have no intention of going back
there without you. You can’t save yourself, but you can save the warlock."

No one wanted to be stuck in a demon prison. When I’d gone
through a short rebellious phase in my teen years, my dad had taken me on one
of those scared straight tours. Only, I didn’t get to see the human prisons, or
the much more civilized witch prisons. Instead, I’d gotten a tour of what
demons considered Hell. No two prison cells were the same. Each could change to
create the most frightening thing the demon inhabiting it could imagine. While
some had been comical, like the demon forced to endure hours of his mother
telling him how disappointed she was in him, some had been truly horrific, like
the one where a demon’s skin was flayed off daily. Summoned demons always came
from these prisons. If the person summoning them wasn’t powerful enough, they
could be possessed by the demon they hoped to control.

The demon before me was an incubus of some sort, but not the
traditional type. Most incubus and succubus were fairly weak. This demon was
strong, and I was certain he fed on death magic. His version of Hell would
involve no sex, and I’d guess they made it impossible for him to masturbate.
I’d seen one such demon with hooks in place of his hands.

“I’m gonna have to pass on the demon prison,” I told him,
sure there was a way to rescue Trevor without sacrificing myself. With any
luck, my father and Demetrius would be here soon. I’d told Demetrius I was
going after Trevor, because I was positive he had tracking spells on most of my
possessions.

“I promise you won’t suffer much,” the demon spoke out loud
this time.

“Because of my father,” I finished for him.

His laughter flowed through my mind before he answered out
loud. “Yes, I am also hoping your father will make my time imprisoned more
pleasant, if for no other reason than to make his daughter more comfortable.”

“Gee, you make it sound so tempting,” I remarked dryly,
which earned me a scowl from the demon. “What’s your name, demon?”

“Zahrel,” he replied and then waited for my reaction.
Apparently, I was supposed to know who he was. “You’ve never heard of me?” He
sounded almost hurt.

“Nope,” I replied. “Clearly, you’re some low-ranking demon
scum who hopes to use my father to gain power.”

This part of my impromptu plan was a little riskier because
I was trying to get the demon to react with anger, but not attack me. I was
also hoping he didn’t know I was feeding off the negative energy in the room.

Zahrel’s face remained calm, but his anger swirled around
me, and I drew it into my body. “I’ll teach you manners soon enough,” he
snarled before speaking into my mind again.
“This is your last chance to
save your warlock. If you come with me willingly, I’ll kill the crazy werewolf.
If you refuse, I’ll give her the power to bind him to her for all eternity.
Your precious warlock will be little more than a mindless slave.”

With the power flowing through my body, I had a choice to
make. I suspected Zahrel wanted an excuse to kill Sage, so I had no doubt he’d
follow through if I gave him what he wanted. Looking over at Trevor, I realized
I would do anything for him.

“I love you,” I told Trevor.

“No!” Trevor shouted. “Whatever deal he’s trying to strike
with you, don’t agree.” He had caught on to the fact that Zahrel was speaking
to me telepathically, while Sage had not.

“Deal? What is he talking about?” Sage demanded, moving
toward Zahrel. Her face contorted with rage, and I was suddenly drowning in the
power of their negative energy.

It felt like boiling water was filling my lungs and lava was
flowing through my veins. I would have screamed if I weren’t so consumed with
the power overwhelming my body. I could no longer hear the arguing in the
background. The power insulated me so much from everything around me that I
suddenly felt Trevor’s magic, the part that resided in me. As my power glided
along his, I knew what to do. My own power wove through the threads of his
inside of me, and then I sent it shooting out of my body. Black and crimson
threads slammed into Trevor’s body, making him arch off of the bed and scream.

Every pore of my body felt like it was on fire as Melina’s
power flowed through me, swirling around mine in an intricate knot. Both our
powers were joined, violently completing our bonding. The pain was all
consuming at first, but soon, it melted into a warm buzzing sensation, making
me moan with pleasure.

My eyes opened, and I felt almost invincible. The magic was
dark and angry, and it was hard to control. I’d been in too much pain from my
concussion to appreciate Melina’s demon form before. Looking over at my witch,
her skin glowed. Delicate horns, the same shade as her skin sat on the sides of
her head, and her eyes were now blue. Her hair was pale pink. At the end of her
hands, she had long pink claws. She was still beautiful, only in a different
way. Despite the danger we were in, I had to bite back a smile as I realized
she looked like the offspring of Jessica Rabbit and a Muppet.

“What have you done?” Sage demanded of Melina, taking a
threatening step toward her.

Gryph had managed to stumble to his feet while everyone was
distracted, and he lunged clumsily at Sage, taking her to the ground. While
Sage was distracted, I used the extra power Melina had infused into my body to
break the ropes holding me down. My head still ached but not nearly as much as
it had five minutes ago.

Zahrel was too arrogant to consider the possibility that
Melina might be more powerful than him. “Come along, my little demon. This
display is cute, and I’m impressed with your resourcefulness, but you must
realize that a half-demon has no hope of winning.”

In the background, I heard the struggle as Gryph fought with
Sage, but I kept my focus on Zahrel. This demon was the biggest threat to us.
With Melina’s dark power flowing through my veins, I knew I could kill Sage
with little effort. A shudder ran through my body at the thought of ending her
life. The power of the kill called to me.

“Fight it,” Melina snapped at me. “You don’t want to kill
anyone.”

Her words brought me back from the edge, and I realized she
was right. It wasn’t her power making me crave the kill so much as the dark
energy she’d consumed to build her strength.

“Why not give in to it?” Zahrel purred. “With the demon
magic in your body, you’re much more powerful than the puny warlock you were
mere moments ago. I sense it flowing through you. My magic. Her magic. It’s
almost like we’re one.” With him dressed in only boxer briefs, it was
impossible to miss Zahrel’s erection. “The wolf is right about you being a
pretty warlock. You’d make a very nice accessory to the décor in my prison.”

Melina laughed. “Accessory? Was that supposed to entice him?
You must be the most inept sex demon ever.”

Zahrel snarled at her, and his pretty façade faded, his skin
becoming mottled with black and red patches. “I’m done playing nice with you,
bitch.”

“Don’t talk to her that way,” I snarled.

Zahrel’s eyes flashed with rage. “You both need to learn
some manners.”

Zahrel’s power lashed out at me, and I felt it across my
chest like a whip biting into my skin. Rivulets of blood dripped down my
stomach. Melina’s eyes landed on my blood before she launched herself at
Zahrel, tearing at the flesh on his belly with her claws. At first, Zahrel
seemed shocked by her move, probably expecting her to attack with her magic.
That distraction gave Melina time to thrust her claws into Zahrel’s testicles.
I cringed because I’m a guy, and no guy ever wants to witness something like
that.

Zahrel howled in pain and grasped Melina’s hair, forcing her
head back. He pulled back his fist, preparing to strike her. With Melina’s
demon magic insulating my witch magic from the dampening spell, I was able to
cast a binding spell on Zahrel’s fist. The spell was weak, but it held long
enough for Melina to remove her claws from his nuts and jump back.

Lunging forward, I knocked Zahrel back to get him further
away from Melina.

“Look out, Trevor!” Melina called out.

In the time we’d been distracted with Zahrel, Sage had
managed to get another tranquilizer dart into Gryph. Melina rushed toward Sage,
and I expected her to shoot Melina. Instead, she raised the gun, pointing it at
me. I lunged to the side, but the tranquilizer still hit me in the arm.

“No!” I screamed, or maybe I just imagined screaming. It was
hard to tell as the world spun around me. All I knew was that I’d failed my
witch.

I swiped at Sage with my claws, but she quickly danced out
of the way, and Zahrel caught me around the waist from behind, lifting me until
my feet dangled several inches off the ground. When my claws dug into his arm,
Zahrel squeezed so tightly I had trouble breathing.

“Enough of this nonsense,” Zahrel snarled close to my ear.
“I gave you a chance to save your warlock. Now, I’ll have to drain him of
enough power to make it impossible to escape the wolf. He’ll spend the rest of
his days miserable.”

“You said you’d make him truly mine,” Sage whined. “You said
he’d adore me.”

“Stupid wolf,” he scoffed. “Their magic is bound. He’ll
always crave her unless they both agree to sever the bond. Didn’t you notice
her binding their magic just now?”

“No,” Sage insisted. “This can’t be happening.”

I laughed. “Tell me, Sage, what do you think about the fact
that Zahrel offered to kill you if I agreed to bind myself to him?”

“He wouldn’t do that!” she insisted, but I saw the doubt and
knew she didn’t trust Zahrel.

“He did,” I replied, even though speaking was nearly
impossible when Zahrel’s claws extended, pressing into my belly.

“Shut up!” Zahrel shouted.

Both Zahrel and Sage were too distracted to notice that we
had newcomers, and I was doing my best to keep it that way.

I snorted at Zahrel’s command. “You picked the wrong witch
if you wanted someone biddable.” I screamed as his claws twisted inside of me.

The pain was so intense, I was about to black out when the
silver-tipped arrow from the crossbow pierced the side of Sage’s neck. She
shrieked, and her flesh sizzled on contact with the silver. With Zahrel’s claws
still embedded in my body, I could feel Sage’s heartbeat slowing when she fell
to the ground. As her life force faded, so did the power of the summoning.

When Zahrel’s form faltered, I collapsed to the ground, and
then I heard Zahrel scream. Turning my head slightly, I saw him thrashing,
snared in my dad’s power. My dad stepped forward with Demetrius at his side. I
almost giggled at the sight of Demetrius holding the crossbow because I didn’t
know anyone who used a crossbow. I was willing to admit that I might have been
a little delirious from blood loss.

“Release me,” Zahrel demanded, and although he was still
trying to sound arrogant, he sounded very much afraid.

“Release you?” my dad scoffed. “Did you really think you
could get away with harming my daughter?”

Before my eyes, my father changed to his demon form. The
transition was something one couldn’t look away from. My father’s demon form
was surprisingly human-like, in many ways. Standing at nearly eight feet tall,
his face might have been that of an angel, complete with eyes as blue as a
summer sky. Full lips curled into a pleasant smile. His golden skin had an
iridescent glow, and his hair resembled fire flowing down his back.

Not surprisingly, Zahrel quaked with fear. “I was summoned,”
he whined, not sounding nearly as arrogant as he had only moments ago.

“Which is the only reason you aren’t dead,” my dad stated.

“Or worse,” Demetrius muttered. “For the record, I voted for
doing much worse to you.”

Zahrel wisely held his tongue, but I heard Sage’s weak voice
from the ground. “Trevor is mine. I command you to destroy his whore, Zahrel.”

“I should give you the companion you want,” my dad said with
a chuckle, before sending his power swirling around both Sage and Zahrel. As
the black and orange demon magic moved around the room like a vortex, I felt
dizzy, but the blood loss probably had something to do with that.

When the magic settled, I saw that Sage was still there, but
I could tell from her lifeless eyes that she was dead.

“Is Zahrel back in his prison?” I asked, surprised I hadn’t
passed out yet.

“Yes, I sent him there with Sage,” my dad explained,
shifting back to his human form. “Should we toss a coin to see who has to carry
the naked warlock?” he asked Demetrius.

Demetrius sighed. “I’ll carry him. We both know you always
cheat when we do a coin toss.”

“Sage is still here,” I argued.

My dad chuckled. “Her body is. I sent her soul to Zahrel’s
prison. Sadly, her soul will remain incorporeal.”

Demetrius laughed. “Poor bastard will have to jack off to
take care of his incubus needs.”

My dad flashed an evil grin. “I gave Zahrel spiked palms, so
I doubt he’ll find much relief.”

I might have laughed if I weren’t in so much pain. As my
father lifted me from the ground, I gave up my struggle to remain conscious.