Nail in Her Coffin (Devil's Witch Book 1)

“Why don’t we find somewhere for you to sit down, this way,” the officer says with authority while turning his back on the crowd, he ushers me down the dim hallway.

The humming music behind us, he opens a door with a black nameplate on it.

The windowless room must be somebody’s office, probably the fire chief’s. A large desk sits across from us, papers are cluttered all over it and a giant leather rolling chair is seated behind it. A rack of fire coats hangs on the wall by a large red emergency box next to the door.

The music and sound of the party doesn’t reach back here, especially when he shuts the door.

A wooden bench is situated along the right side of the room and we sit down on it.

“I thought you might get a headache, ma’am.”

Unsure of what to say, I stare at my lap. I kind of wanted to be alone, so the officer wouldn’t get weirded out by my agony. It’s not like I can tell him why I’m hurting.

“I heard about ya from the coven. Some necromancer revived ya, bet none of ‘em really cared about how that affected you. Must be lonely, havin’ no one understand,” he says while glancing down at the neckline of my shirt.

His soft gaze flicks to my lips making my face turn red.

With a stern face, he adjusts his police vest, looking away from me. He spreads his legs out, leaning back against the fire coats hanging behind us.

“Sometimes I think everyone would be better off if I was still dead,” I laugh dryly, but I don’t know why I’m admitting anything to him.

Maybe it’s his badge that makes me trust him or the beer I just drank.

Something warm playfully taps the bare flesh of my waist where the bottom of my shirt has risen up slightly. My nerves calm down a little when my stomach stops hurting, but when I look down at the source of the tapping on my skin I tense up seeing it’s his fingertips.

When did he slide his arm around my waist?

My mind doesn’t question it any further though, I’m too busy enjoying the attention he gives me. Much because, lately, I have been feeling lonely. I’m tired of pretending to like this new life I’ve been given, I want the necromancer to pay for making me and the others suffer. I feel like I’m doing nothing to contribute to finding them, I’m done depending on the coven.

“I think quite the opposite. I’ve been doin’ some independent research with my own unit. We have cause to believe ya have been set up by the coven, we think Patricia Gild revived you and is blamin’ the Silvets. Did ya know she is the owner of those townhouses that burned to the ground? We think she’s collecting insurance and hidin’ the money in that cellar the McCasters own up on their ski resort.”

“R-really?”

“However, y’all won’t allow us access to the portal to investigate the scene of course. The McCasters have refused to cooperate. So ya can understand our frustration.”

“Well, I g-guess...no one has told you since you’re humans and p-probably won’t understand,” I whisper, taking in his words.

“Understand what?” he probes in a whisper.

My face warms when he leans in a little closer to me. I don’t see what the harm in telling him is, the coven should have informed them about everything already anyway.

“It’s not a cellar, it’s a portal. No one has opened it up for over a decade. It’s kind of like the gateway to Hell,” I explain shortly.

“Even if I believe ya Valerie, the others will want proof. Don’t ya too? What if she is scheming against you?”

The coven must have told him my name too. Hearing him say it makes me smile like an idiot, but I force my smile to fall before he sees it.

Get a grip! He’s just doing his job! My mind scolds me.

“I suppose I could show you,” I begin to say. I want to ask him what his name is, but I’m pretty sure I’d just end up embarrassing myself.

I really hope Patty is not up to something so shallow.

He stands to his full height. “I won’t let you regret it ma’am,” he finishes, offering me a hand to help me stand up.

It’s like every time I touch the officer’s hand or he touches me, the pain on my stomach evaporates. It’s probably because of the butterflies swarming in me distracting me from the searing heat. His touch is magnetic and whether I intend to or not, I find myself leaning into it.

“Oh, a-are we going now?” I ask with worry, placing my hand in his steady one.

“We don’t have to,” he says in a low voice, looking down at me with a smirk. I blush, thinking of what he could be implying. “But I scanned the crowd for them, their entire family is here. We may not have a better chance,” he adds smoothly, seeing my hesitation.

“I can’t...” I mumble, thinking I came here with Stella.

She may not read any text I send her until after the party is over.

The policeman strolls casually around the fire chief’s desk and sits down on the chair. His gaze roams around the room lazily. Then it lands on me and slowly scans over my face. I’m not sure what the officer is thinking, his face is all serious again, full on ‘cop-mode’.

“We could be friends, help me...help you,” he offers carefully, chin resting on top of his folded hands.

“I don’t know.”

He glances at the door briefly looking distracted, focused on something else. A pleased look crosses his face then and he stands up. With his hands folded behind his back, he approaches me.

Silently, he strides behind me.

I can hear the smile in his voice and my breathing hitches at his close proximity. “Trust me ma’am, I’m not your enemy,” he whispers a breath away from my neck. He presses his chest against my back, then he grips my arms. Unsure of what he’s doing, I bite my lip to hold back my sigh of bliss when his touch once again makes the burning sensation on my curse mark stop.

I catch sight of his strong jawline in the corner of my vision. Flustered, I flinch away at the officer’s nearness. Why is he doing this to me? Is he going to arrest me?

Regaining some of the little composure I have left, I glance around the room seeing the pages on the fire chief’s desk raise into the air. It must be my magic and I take a deep breath, feeling my long white hair begin to float off my shoulders.

“Okay,” I agree in a shaky voice, wondering if he can notice my magic getting out of control.

Something on the floor suddenly glows blue. I glance down at it and find we are standing in a large circle, that spans the whole room. The jagged black lines inside it are etched out, carved into the hardwood floor making the same demonic symbol that’s on my stomach. The lines glow blue, with my magic and we stand right in the center of the six-pointed star.

I swallow bile, my heart racing.

I can feel my magic roaming over the floor, making the hexagram glow with life. This policeman is making me lose my control. I wanted to get out of this room so bad, I ended up making this thing! The same hexagram I sent the rats through.

The cop chuckles behind me, when he should be terrified because for all I know we are headed to Hell.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I say in panic. Any moment, a coven member could walk through the door and kill me on sightseeing me use magic like this.

“You’re making your own portal. Don’t be afraid of yourself, embrace your powers,” he coos gently behind me, but underneath his tone there’s a hint of command.

Maybe he has a death wish or something, either that or he’s just as insane as Patty. How does he know this is a portal anyway? I’ve never seen a witch use something like this to transport until I used one exactly like it yesterday with the rats.

My heart goes into overdrive when the air turns into static and gets hotter. A red trail of magic, that definitely is not mine, traces over the hexagram symbol we stand inside of. It eats away my blue magic, staining the hexagram in a blood-red glow. The officer slides his arms around my waist as if to protect me, but it won’t do any good if we end up in Hell. How he can remain so calm is beyond me.

When the room around us turns into complete darkness, I feel the ground get softer and the air colder, turning frigid. An invisible breeze passes by me and the darkness gives way, revealing the tall pines of the woods around us.