BloodWitchInferno (2 page)

Son of Satan

She awoke from the morning light streaming through the
window, her muscles stiff and her skin sticky. Disorientated, she looked
around. How had she ended up naked on the attic floor?

“You are a powerful one, my blood-witch,” the demon said,
breaking through her fog.

She scrambled to sitting, memories of the night before
flooding back. He watched her, his head propped up on one hand. In the daylight
his sharp, irregular features were more defined, the red undertone of his skin
obvious and the horns curling over his head gleamed. He wasn’t human. She
stared, the real-life magical being in front of her. She had done it, become a
true witch. And then she had sex with him?

“This can’t be real,” she groaned.

“Did I not please you?” he asked. The veins in his neck
throbbed.

She blushed. “Yes, you did. It’s just that I don’t normally
jump in bed with strange…” She was going to say “men”, but looking at his
horns, paused. “Strangers,” she finished lamely.

“What did you expect, performing a Calling?” he asked, his
eyes lingering on her breasts, making her want to cover up. The remains of her
shirt lay crumpled in the corner. She started toward them.

“Where are you going?” he asked, his voice low and brutal.

She froze. He looked like a coiled snake poised to strike.
With her head clear of the spell she was suddenly fully aware of just how
powerfully dangerous this demon could be. Not just some plaything as he’d been
last night.

“To put on my shirt,” she responded.

“You would leave me trapped for a shirt?”

“What do you mean, trapped?” she asked.

He stared at her. She didn’t move, unsure of what he could
do to her.

“You have no idea what you’re doing, do you?”

She tensed, annoyed, as he started to laugh.

“If it’s so funny then I might as well get it.” She started
walking.

He sprang up. “That would not be a good idea.” Although he
made no move to grab her, this time the heat smoldering behind his eyes wasn’t
lust, it was darker, deadly.

“Why not?” she challenged, but stopped again.

“Because, then you would have trapped one of the sons of the
prince, and that would make the prince very angry. You do not want to do is
make the Prince of Darkness angry.”

“You mean you are the son of—” The blood drained from her
face.

“The one and only Satan, Lord of the Underworld, Son of the
Morning, the Great Dragon himself.”

Mira swallowed, her throat dry. “I conjured up the son of
the Devil?

“You Called a son of the Devil,” he corrected her. “I am
Karnon. You are?”

“Mira. And why did we, you know?”

“Do what?”

“Have sex like nothing but a couple of animals!” she burst
out.

He stared at her in astonishment. “You Called me.”

Mira didn’t know what to say.

“For such a strong blood-witch you know very little about
your craft.”

“I know plenty!” she lied.

“The Calling is the ritual of passion. A blood-witch can
call a demon for her pleasure and for conception, and he must
obey
.”
Karnon stressed the last word.

“You mean as a sex slave?” The thought of it disgusted her.
Had she forced someone to have sex with her? Not that she could picture anyone
forcing Karnon do to anything.

“No, well it’s not supposed to be like that. Usually the
blood calls a match, in power and in passion, and it’s enjoyable for both
parties. They are taken by a higher power and lose themselves in the act,” he
said, his voice sultry.

She looked away, heat stirring inside her.

“Things have changed though. The Calling has become less
popular since the Great Betrayal,” he said.

“Great Betrayal?”

His expression made her wish she hadn’t spoken. She had
already revealed how inexperienced she was. She calculated the distance to the
salt line from the corner of her eye.

“Why would someone of your strength, who calls a demon, not
know our history?”

Instead of answering she leapt out of the circle. He roared
and jumped after her only to be slammed back by an invisible wall.

Chest heaving, she stared at him as he slammed his fists
against air, battering the space between them. Eventually he let his hands drop
to his sides. Once certain he couldn’t reach her, she pulled on the remains of
her clothes.

“Blood-witch,” he spat.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “But I had to.”

He growled and paced the salt line.

“Please, stop,” she said, the comparison of a trapped lion
too vivid.

He froze. She blinked, surprised. Curious, she said, “Stand
on one foot.”

He lifted a leg. It was funny, except for the murderous
expression on his face. Not willing to play with him anymore she pulled on her
underwear and finished buttoning up her shirt.

“Do you have to do everything I tell you?”

He nodded, glowering, still standing on one foot.

“You can stand on both feet. Do you have to tell me the
truth too?”

“Yes.”

“If you are lying, jump up and down.”

He did not move.

“What was the Great Betrayal?”

“A couple decades ago demons disappeared into your world.
When the elders investigated they discovered the demons had been trapped by a
coven of witches who used them in experiments to increase their power. We call
it the Great Betrayal.” Karnon’s jaw clenched.

“Why was it a betrayal?”

“Because demons and witches are brethren.”

“What happened to the witches?” she asked, her voice barely
above a whisper.

“Other witches stripped their power and demons banned them
from entry to Hell, thus condemning them to walk the Earth forever.”

“Do all blood-witches go to Hell?” Mira hoped her
grandmother had gone on to a better place, not a fiery pit of the damned.

“They pass on to other planes but they go through Hell
first, as do the humans. Hell is a crossroads, not a punishment for the damned.
The Greeks better understood it. Hell, the place, is not what mortals believe
it is and we demons are not devils. We are the guides through the crossroads,
as you blood-witches are guides on this plane.”

“So there are no evil demons?”

“There are, just like there are evil humans. Your demon
guide is assigned to you based on your soul’s true nature.”

“Then there is no Hell?”

“True hell is being stuck here for the rest of eternity,
without being allowed to pass on to other planes.”

“How many other planes are there?”

“That is beyond my knowledge.”

Mira paused to consider the information. If her mother was
performing a Calling spell when she disappeared how had it happened? Trying to
speak in a neutral tone, she asked, “Does it happen the other way around?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do demons ever trap witches?”

Karnon would not meet her eyes. He nodded.

At last she had an answer. “Speak,” she demanded. “Tell me.”

“I have heard of it happening,” he admitted. “Especially
after the Great Betrayal. A sort of revenge. But the incidents are few. It
requires a powerful magic.”

“How do they do it?”

“I only know one way but there are others. The demon
performs a Calling with the witch’s blood.”

Mira rose up to her full height, which wasn’t much as she only
reached Karnon’s chest. Her mother had been kidnapped, taken by a demon. She
had to find her.

“If I go back with you will you hurt me?”

He stared back at her, the anger in his eyes replaced by
surprise.

“Will you hurt me?” she asked again.

“No.”

Satisfied, she picked up the spell book from where it had
been left, searching for the word to send him back.

“Why do you want to come with me?”

“My mother disappeared when I was six years old, during a
Calling. I saw the spell page she was on before my grandmother pulled me away.”

“Why now? Why didn’t your grandmother do it?”

Mira considered. “My grandmother didn’t allow magic in the
house after that. She was scared. But she’s gone now. So I performed the spell
to find my mother.”

“To have the kind of power to Call one of the sons of Satan
usually takes years of practice. If you did it in one try you may be the most
powerful witch in a century. Your bloodline must be of the Lady.” He stopped
and his expression turned troubled. He cursed. “In the hands of someone who
would use her, a witch from your bloodline…” he trailed off. “Do you understand
if I took you back to Hell a demon could capture you and drain you of your
power?”

“Would I survive?” she whispered.

“You would, although it would not be much of a life, as your
life energy and witch’s power would be drained constantly. You would be like
the demons who had been trapped here, living a half life. Aware of where you
are but unable to do anything about it,” he said, his voice gentle.

Mira almost hoped her mother had already passed on. But if
she hadn’t, then it was up to Mira to save her. It was her fault her mother had
stepped over the salt line. Her fault her grandmother had given up her love of
magic. Her fault her family didn’t survive. If any hope at all existed that she
could make amends, she would.

“Would you do it? Would you drain me?” she asked, staring up
at him.

An unfathomable emotion flashed over his face. “No, I wouldn’t
drain you.”

He wasn’t telling her something. She didn’t care. He couldn’t
hurt her and he couldn’t drain her.

“I will send you back,” she said. “But you are taking me
with you.”

Karnon stared at the witch in front of him with her wild
hair, upturned nose and bright chocolate-colored eyes. The silky curves of her
body still crackled with the energy of the night before, although she seemed
oblivious to it. She had commanded him inside the salt circle and he had to
obey. At least it seemed she wasn’t planning on trapping him here or draining
his power. She probably didn’t even know she could drain him right now.

Taking a witch back with him to Hell, that was crazy. It
wasn’t done anymore. It was unsafe for both her and for him. Many demons at
court were looking to boost their position, and the power this witch had would
be a seductive lure. With her inexperience she would be an easy target. Karnon
didn’t relish the idea of spending all of his time watching over this naive
witch. Then again, the demons of Hell hadn’t seen a blood-witch in decades.
Maybe it would be good for them. To see her as a person with a soul and not an
evil, faceless being. Hell had not been the same since the Great Betrayal.
Maybe this witch could be the salve to begin the healing process.

But he had never been good at diplomacy. His older brother
would be better. He had to convince her to stay.

“It’s too dangerous. You could be caught and tortured,” he
said. Her expression turned stubborn and he had the sinking sense nothing he
could say would dissuade her.

“I want to find my mother,” she said. “Help me find my
mother, please.”

He winced. She had spoken the words in a command, in essence
put him under contract. He would be forced to search for this missing witch
himself instead of launching an investigation through the proper channels. He
sighed heavily. There was one way he could make it easier. He would add a spell
on the other end, bind her power to his. She would never know.

“Okay.”

“You will not hurt me?” she asked.

He resisted pointing out she had already asked him that. “No,
I will not.” He reached out a hand. “I need blood.”

Her eyes widened and she swallowed convulsively.

“I’ll be right back.” She picked the ritual knife off the
floor and disappeared down the stairs.

Karnon kept the panic at bay with deep, even breaths. He was
trapped but somehow he trusted this wide-eyed witch.

She returned with a small vial, her pinkie bandaged.

“You will bring me to your world and help me find my mother.”
A command, not a question. She was learning.

Slowly she stepped inside the circle and handed him the
vial.

He couldn’t help but admire her courage.

She took a deep breath. “Return!”

Nothing happened. Karnon still couldn’t believe that a witch
this inexperienced had Called him.

“You have to will it, with your power. Like last night.”

She nodded and closed her eyes, taking in deep breaths. He
detected the power, the electricity growing inside her. The strength of it awed
him. Maybe this witch was just what Hell needed. Strong enough to impress,
sweet enough to win hearts.

Mira opened her eyes. They glowed golden and the command
came from deep inside her throat.

The world went black around him.

She stared at the empty pentagram and wondered how long it
would take for him to keep his promise. He couldn’t hurt her, she reminded
herself, calming her fluttering stomach.

The world wrenched around her.

Flames licked her skin. Delicious, like butterfly kisses
across her body. She opened her eyes. She stood in an obsidian cave with
glowing red rocks creating dim light. As her mind scrambled, her body took
over. Waves of heat rolling through her flesh dampened her fear. She wasn’t
Mira, she was an elemental being saturated with desire. She wanted to please,
she wanted to obey, she wanted to give pleasure. Her insides thrummed.

A movement caught her attention and she locked on to the
figure. She tried to move forward, to reach him, to touch him, but she couldn’t
move outside the circle. Confused, she strained against the invisible bonds.
Her limbs would not respond. Baring her teeth, she growled. She wanted his
flesh, his tongue in her mouth, his cock inside her.

“You cannot move until I release you,” Karnon said, purring
from the back of his throat. He paced back and forth in front of her.