The Secret Life of a Witch 3 (Mystic Willow Bay, Witches 3)

I jerk back from Max, my gaze zipping to the center of the room where a massive, rainbow-tinted portal is spinning.

“What the hell?” Max mutters, rising to his feet. He briefly stares at the portal before his fiery gaze targets me. “What did you do?”

“You think I made a portal?” I ask, then shake my head. “Newsflash, Max, I’m not as powerful as you think.”

Shaking his head, he moves in front of me. “I don’t think you opened a portal.” He crosses his arms and fixes a glare on me. “What I do know is that no one, including witches, should be able to find this location. Yet, somehow, someone’s created a portal to it.”

I think about meeting Ryleigh in the dream and how she thought she knew the location of Max’s lair. But I’m not about to tell Max this when he hasn’t told me if he’s found a way to drink my power.

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you, other than I didn’t do anything.” I give a nonchalant shrug. “How could I when I’ve been stuck here?”

His eyes narrow into slits. “There are other ways of communicating with someone. And considering the power you have, I’m betting—”

“Get away from her!” Hunter’s demanding voice rings through the air.

The sound causes conflicting emotions to stir inside me; hurt, anger, and elation to name a few.

I turn my head toward the portal, and my heart leaps in my chest at the sight of Hunter standing in the opening with his wand drawn and pointed at Max.

Chapter Five

Hunter is here to save me! Hunter, the guy I trust!

Or, well, used to trust.

My elation goes down a notch as I realize I might not be able to trust him anymore.

“Demon, step away from her,” he says, inching cautiously into the room.

He’s wearing the same outfit as the last time I saw him: black jeans, a matching shirt, and boots. I wonder if he’ll ever go back to dressing like the Hunter I knew before all the secrets came spilling out. Then I wonder why on earth that is the first thought that crosses my mind at this moment.

Seriously, get your head in the game, Eva!

I move to shove Max so I can run to the portal and escape, but he sidesteps out of the way.

Then I spring to my feet, ready to make a run for it. Sure, I’m not too thrilled to return to Mystic Willow Bay and deal with the truth, but being held captive in a demon’s lair by a demon who may or may not want to slurp me dry of my questionably strong power isn’t a better alternative. A demon wanting power is never a good thing.

But neither are you, Eva. You’re a demon and a succubus and a witch and demon feeder.

While I’ve never heard of such a combination, they all share one thing in common—they have a lot of power. So, if Max is telling the truth … I shudder.

What if he’s telling the truth, though? Think about the stuff you can do!

An almost violent shiver rolls through my body at the possibilities.

“Eva, go through the portal now!” Hunter cries, reaching for me.

I start to run toward the portal, but Max grabs my arm and hauls me back toward him.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he hisses, sounding very unlike the Max I’ve been talking to.

“You said you weren’t going to keep me here forever!” I cry, throwing my weight forward.

He snakes his arms around my waist, holding me against his body. “Hate to break this to you, sweetheart, but all demons lie.”

My heart thrashes inside my chest. “You were lying to me?”

“Not about everything.” He kisses the back of my ear. “Just about letting you go.” Another brush of his lips, and this time, a very not so good shiver vibrates through my body. “Like I would ever give something like you up. Besides, if you go back, you’ll be in danger.”

I laugh hollowly, feeling stupid for ever believing he’d let me go. He’s a demon!

“Like I’m safe here?”

“Safer than you are in Mystic Willow Bay,” he whispers in my ear, moving backward as Hunter runs at us with his wand poised to cast a spell. “Now that word has gotten out about you, every demon and hybrid in the underground is going to come after you.” He backs up around the bed. “There’s a reason I told you to stay away from The Illuminating Horror House of Truth. Because there are demons plotting to capture you and use your power. For what, I’m not sure. But trust me when I say it won’t be good.”

“How can they even use my power?” I make my body go limp in an attempt to get him to stop moving. “I thought it killed them?”

“It does. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a way around it. Trust me; I know.”

He knows, as in, he’s found a way?

Panic flares through me, potent and scorching.

I need to get out of here.

“Let her go!” Hunter shouts as he chases after us.

Max laughs as he continues to drag me deeper into his demon lair bedroom. “Or what?”

Hunter screeches to a stop with his wand out in front of him, the tip sparkling silver. Then he opens his mouth and starts to chant a spell. “Alofor—”

Max cuts him off as he begins to yell the incantation to a petrifying curse.

My panic doubles, knowing that if Max gets all the way through the curse, Hunter will die. Just like Ryleigh.

Wait a second. This is the second time I’ve heard Max throw a petrifying curse. It’s not a very common curse, either. Most demons use the torture spell to kill their victims.

Did Max kill my sister?

Chapter Six

Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God! What if he did?

I want to ask him, demand to know the answer, but Hunter and Max are in the middle of a spell and a curse that is potentially going to lead to disaster. I need to stop them—well, Max, anyway—before he kills Hunter.

Do something, Eva! You may be mad at Hunter, but if he dies, a part of you will die, too.

I look around the room for something to grab and hit Max with, but the only thing within reach is the bed. Therefore, I do the only thing I can think of to do. I open my mouth and out comes the most bloodcurdling scream I can make. I hold the sound for as long as I can until I run out of breath. The moment the noise dies, the two of them start right back up again.

Panicking, I lean forward and lift my leg to kick Max in the shin. However, he jumps back while holding me and somehow continues on with his curse.

The tricky little demon!

I open my mouth and belt out, “Max, if you don’t …” I trail off as a figure appears in the spinning portal.

Moments later, Opal stumbles out of the circular opening and into the demon lair. She has her wings out and a don’t-fuck-with-me expression on her face. Definitely not the shy, quiet Opal I know.

Again, another lie.

But

I have hardly any time to get all wounded and sulky as Opal flings her hands forward and throws shimmering violet faerie dust all over the room, which might not sound too scary in theory, but just a handful of it carries enough power to collapse an entire house. And it also happens to be potent to demons. Which makes me wonder why it’s never done anything to me.

Strange…

As the shimmering dust showers through the air, Max lets out a string of curses, his hands falling from my waist.

“Damn faeries!” he growls as he races backward, trying to escape the faerie dust rainstorm. But a few glittery fragments land on his cheeks.

He gives me a worried look before his eyes roll into the back of his head, and then he collapses to the floor.

I step toward him. “Is he …? Is he dead?” I don’t know how I feel about the idea, but a part of me—a very disturbing, unsettling part of me—isn’t very happy about it.

“No, he’s just passed out.” Hunter moves up beside me, his arm brushing against mine.

When I glance up at him, he’s not looking at Max but at me. His eyes are wild, as if a frenzy of emotions are pouring through him. The out-of-control look throws my equilibrium off balance.

Hunter never looks out of control.

“Are you okay?” he asks, his voice hoarse, his eyes huge as he frantically looks me over.

I bob my head up and down. “Yeah, I’m fine—”

He crashes his lips against mine, giving me a brief but passionate kiss. When he pulls away, he appears a drop calmer. But whatever calmness I had in me goes peace out as confusion floods my body.

He kissed me.

What. The. Freakin’. Giggling. Sprites.

He carries my gaze, his eyes searching mine. “I was so worried about you. I thought we were never going to be able to find you. If it wasn’t for Ryleigh, we wouldn’t have.”

“I know.” A sudden thought comes out of nowhere and bitch slaps me across the face. “Wait, how did you communicate with her?”

“We had a telepathic expert come in and read her mind.” He laces his fingers through mine and holds on tightly. “I knew that, when Ryleigh was alive, she could dream travel. I had a hunch she might try to get into your dreams to see if you were okay.”