Witch Road to Take

Book One

April M. Reign

Witch Road to Take

Published by AMR Publishing

Copyright ©2013 by April M. Reign

Smashwords Edition

www.aprilmreign.com

Cover Design by: April M. Reign

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or
by an electronic or mechanical means, including information storage
and retrieval systems, without the permission of the author, except
by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are
the product of this author’s imagination or are used fictionally.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely
coincidental.

For current information on new releases visit:

www.aprilmreign.com

Quest for the Keys: The Mystical Witch Series

Bound to Darkness: The Turning Series

Unleashed: The Turning Series

Vampire Vengeance: The Turning Series

HASH – Human Alien Species Hybrid: The Imprint
Series

HASH – The Secrets of Startech: The Imprint
Series

I.O.U.: The Mancini Saga

Snap Shot: The Mancini Saga

Christmas with the Mancinis: The Mancini Saga

Dominic: The Disciples of the Damned Series

The Vypers: The Disciples of the Damned Series

The Slayers: The Disciples of the Damned Series

Friend or Foe: The Disciples of the Damned Series

Beyond Today

Dividing Destiny

Enticing the Moon

Trial by Fire: The Mystical Witch Series

Still Born: The Mancini Saga

War: The Horsemen: The Disciples of the Damned
Series

HASH – Queen of Ceren: The Imprint Series

Vampire Cursed – The Pendant: The Turning Series

Dedication:

To my fantastic readers

Agustin Loya, Eve Paludan, my beta readers and my
family. I always appreciate your support and encouragement.

"This book is amazing! April has shown us yet again
what a talented writer she is. I fell in love with Dhellia and her
friends and cannot wait for the next book."

Heather McCowan – Reader

“Dhellia is definitely a must read!! It's captivating
and intriguing from the very beginning. April has a way with her
words that she is able to pull you in from the beginning and keep
you stuck in that book to the very end. I can't wait for the next
book in this series!!!”

Courtney Delollis - Reader

“April M Reign's latest, Dhellia Has A Conscience. A
brilliant plot with a superbly written host of misfit characters
who are perfect for each other. It's a story that you never want to
end, but fortunately, there is more to come.”

Nic Taylor, author of A Plague of Dissent

"Author April M. Reign nails the perfect balance of
noir and humor with DHELLIA, the princess of the underworld who
battles evil from within it. A fast-paced and fun adventure for
paranormal fans!"

Eve Paludan, author of GHOST FIRE

“Dhellia is the paranormal fantasy novel of a young
woman who just happens to be the offspring of Lucifer. This
fast-paced, entertaining page-turner will leave you wanting
more.”

Agustin Loya – Reader and Book Cover Designer

“This book is fast-paced and flows wonderfully. When
I first started it, the concept amazed me. I have no problem
thinking that the daughter of the devil being rebellious, but the
fact that she is rebellious against her father threw me for a loop.
I think this is a perfect beginning and I am very excited to know
that there is more to come.”

Jennifer Thomas – Reader

“A hilariously fun paranormal fantasy that is
fast-paced and full of twists and turns. I loved all the characters
and their relationships with each other. Dhellia is sassy yet
confident and I can’t wait to see what she does in the next
book.”

Desiree Dyers – Author of Paying the Price
Series

'Dhellia' is the fabulous new book from one of my
favourite authors, April M. Reign. Dhellia Hunt is a brassed-off,
kick-ass, red-headed fire-cracker who just happens to be the
Princess of Hell. Dhellia, along with her new friends - Jonas, a
vampire who is allergic to human blood (yeah, really!!) and a
statistics mad wizard called Gavin - & her dark, brooding
half-demon brother are an interesting, if eclectic, cast of
characters who take us on a laugh out loud, fun & adventure
filled journey that has a cliffhanger of an ending... I can't wait
for the story to continue in book 2, Dhellia: Quest for The
Keys.

Tracy Meighan - Reader

The claws of Father’s
hellhounds clicked against the asphalt somewhere behind me. That
sound was enough to drive me crazy. It provoked the same shudder in
me that a dentist’s drill caused in a human.

I could hear them—no matter how far away
they were, I could hear their sharp claws digging into the solid
ground of the dimension they navigated. The sound of their labored
panting prickled my senses and sent shivers up and down my
spine.

I had been running from those beasts for
three months, and the only time I had been able to lose them was
when I’d showed up in a densely populated city. Where there were
many people, there were crimes—where there were crimes, the
hellhounds would lose their focus on me and salivate on their
playground of sin.

I had lost them in Bangkok and again in New
York City, but today, I resigned from being their quarry in
Father’s relentless pursuit. Now, I simply waited for the
hellhounds to catch up with me. It was time to turn myself in—time
to stand up to my father and tell him that I wanted him to treat me
like an adult. After all, in two weeks, I’d be twenty-one years
old.

I kneeled on the roof of the tallest
building in Los Angeles and waited. While I watched the sun set
behind the horizon, the sky turned orange and then black. The
tingle in my body told me that Father’s hellhounds were finally
closing in on me.

I’m Dhellia Hunt, the daughter of Lucifer
and Adana. I’m twenty years old, and this is my story.

The view from the
top of
the U.S. Bank tower gave me access to observe the entire city of
Los Angeles. The twinkling lights of homes and buildings,
streetlights and stoplights were nothing more than mere stars on
Earth as viewed from this height.

The Santa Ana winds blew my long red hair
off my face and whipped it at my back. Winds like the Santa Ana’s
were the natural process that cleansed the polluted air of its
toxins—in some corner of my mind, I also wanted that wind to
cleanse the toxins from my existence. In my case, the toxins in my
life were my origins of evil.

I gazed down on the city below—the city I
had come to love and in which I now waited patiently for Father’s
faithful beasts to stand before me with his message.

I was no stranger to the big city, nor was I
a stranger to Father’s hellhounds. Both could be evil, yet
intriguing, if I took the time to appreciate what they individually
had to offer. Nevertheless, I wasn’t here to evaluate humans, nor
was I here to evaluate beasts from Hell. I was here because I was
tired of running—I was tired of dodging my father in order to have
some freedom.

I had run away from home against my father’s
orders to remain under his watch—and his thumb—and although I was
twenty years old, my father’s orders were the final say. His rules
were somehow my constitution, though I disagreed with everything he
tried to impose on me.

Tonight, I’d confront my father and demand
my freedom to navigate between both worlds. It was time for me to
be able to spend part of my time on Earth and the other part at
home, which I called “downstairs.” After all, in two weeks, I’d be
twenty-one years old and that alone should guarantee me some
freedom. At least, that was my desperate hope. And these days, hope
was all I had to fortify me.

The flap of a leather jacket and the smell
of rawhide indicated that my brother had arrived. Damien stood to
my left and although I didn’t need to look over to know it was
him…I did.

I hadn’t seen him in three months and to my
pleasure, he looked the same—brooding and serious with
cherrywood-colored hair that was long enough to sweep across the
collar of his jacket.

His left foot was perched on the ledge of
the building and his tight fists lay at his side as he gazed into
the tableau of twinkling lights that the city of Los Angeles served
up like dreams. Although he hadn’t looked over at me, Damien’s lips
twitched into a slight grin. I figured that he knew I stared at
him. He was a sophisticated male demon with sorrel-brown,
penetrating eyes and a complex psyche.

My brother—my protector—was mysterious in
any form, whether human or beast. Damien was a man of few words,
but his body language spoke for him. Three years my senior,
Damien’s wisdom far exceeded mine. He was a soul catcher and soul
catchers were the pick of the litter. It took strength, speed and
endurance to do the kind of work that Damien did. Father trusted
him to catch and bring confused, disoriented souls to trial. He was
perfect for the job and an asset to the family business. So far, I
was not.

I glanced away from him and back at the city
below. The brisk breeze whipped my hair through the wind. I closed
my eyes and listened to the ticking time bomb of
their
clicking claws slowing down as they approached me. The hellhounds
were here.

I was ready.

I slowly circled around to face them. They
hid in the shadows, but I could smell their pungent unwashed canine
body odor and fetid breath. I took one step forward and stopped,
firmly planting my feet on the ground like a cement statue. I
refused to let them bully me the way Father had intended. They were
my subordinates, even if their orders came from the master of the
underworld. I was Lucifer’s daughter—they needed to respect my
position, even if I was a fugitive from hell.

Slightly nervous, I glanced over my shoulder
to pull strength from my brother, but he was still gazing out at
the city below. From his side profile, the veins in his neck
pulsated with an eagerness to thwart Father’s hellhounds and
protect me as he had always done. Like molten lava, I could see the
anger creep through his body. Soon, it would surge. I had no doubt
that I was safe with my brother beside me.

When I turned my head and glanced back in
front of me, Father’s largest hellhound stepped out from the deep
shadows. Wolf stood firm on all four legs. He was six feet tall and
seven hundred pounds of mass destruction. Black thick fur stood
ruffled on his hunched, rounded back. His steady growl, which
started at his gut, revealed razor-sharp fangs. But it was in his
yellow beady eyes, narrowed at me, that I could see his raw
irritation. He circled to my left.

Zombie, his female counterpart, and Father’s
prized hellhound bitch, circled to my right. She was a foot shorter
than Wolf, but her bite was worse than her bark. She glared at me
through yellow, slanted eyes, and I watched the foaming saliva drip
from the tips of her fangs, landing like a corrosive acid on the
rooftop.

When we were kids, we’d named Father’s
precious hellhounds with names we could pronounce and understand.
The names stuck with them in the way that any human’s pet’s
nickname would. They answered when called by these names, but
Damien and I were the only individuals who called them Wolf and
Zombie.

I stood with both my feet symmetrically
apart, ready for them to attack. Although they could not speak,
they were able to communicate with us through telepathy and so, I
asked the first question.

“What do you two want?”

Wolf took a step forward. “Dhellia, your
father has sent us to bring you back.”

“And if I refuse to go?” I knew that
Father’s mutts would never take a chance of being at the short end
of my father’s wrath. They’d drag me back to Hell before they’d let
me walk away into the night.

“You have no choice.”

“I don’t belong downstairs. My home is here
with the humans.”

Wolf took another step toward me. “These
chew toys are not worthy to be in the presence of royalty. You,
princess of darkness, mock your father with such treachery.”

“You’ve no right to talk to me this way.”
I’d never been a treacherous person and I’d stand up and protect my
honor at any price.