The Shifter and the Witch

Hannah

After leaving my note for Lucy, I teleport from Deklan’s kitchen to Savina and Calia’s mansion. A second after disappearing from Deklan’s kitchen, I appear in their entranceway. In front of me is a curved staircase leading up to the second floor. To my right is a large sitting room, and to my left is a small library.

Savina and Calia have several homes on the human plane. All of them are cloaked from scrying and other means of locating, just as Malek’s penthouse was.

Thanks to my acquaintance with the females, I know this is the place they stay at most.

Besides their homes topside, they have a place in the demon plane, but they’re rarely there.

It’s been a while since I visited Savina and Calia, but I remember the layout of their house. There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs, along with an entertainment room. The kitchen, living room, dining room, and another bathroom are all on the first floor.

Quietly, I make my way through the expansive home, checking every room for my targets. A full sweep of the house turns up nothing. They aren’t home. Knowing them, they’re most likely out finding a boy-toy to share or an innocent life to take.

That’s fine. I can wait for their return.

I retrace my steps through the house and enter Savina and Calia’s bedroom, cross the darkened room, and go take a seat in the cream-colored Victorian chair in the corner. As I settle in to wait, I can’t help but think about all the horrendous, unspeakable things I've done, and my stomach rolls.

I never would have done those things if Savina and Calia hadn’t altered my mind. Those demons are in for a world of pain when they get home.

I’m not afraid that Savina and Calia will try to manipulate my mind again. It’s one thing to freeze and manipulate a child’s mind, especially a child who hasn’t developed their own powers yet. It’ll be much harder for them to freeze and manipulate me now, as an adult.

No. This is going to be a straight-up fight to the death. One I don’t plan on losing.

It’s just before dawn when Savina and Calia finally appear. As I expected, they’ve brought a male home with them. He’s Savina and Calia’s go-to flavor: tall, dark, and handsome.

Savina and Calia look the same as ever. Their trim, elegant bodies are covered in skanky clothes. Their enviable features are over-embellished with heavy makeup.

Preoccupied as they are with each other, Savina, Calia, and their boy-toy don’t notice me sitting in the corner. I let my presence be known, clearing my throat and getting up out of the Victorian chair. The three of them startle, and their heads whip toward me.

“Hannah?” Savina asks when she sees me. The demon's brow furrows, and her eyes narrow. “What are you doing here?”

I feel ruffling going on in my mind and know that Savina’s searching through my thoughts. The ruffling stops after a moment, and she sighs. Apparently, she’s not pleased with what she’s seen.

That’s right. I got my mind back.

“Well, that’s a shame,” Savina murmurs, turning to face the male she and Calia brought home.

“Leave,” she orders him.

The male is obviously happy to escape a suddenly tense situation and immediately obeys. He grabs his jacket off the bed and throws it back on, then does up the fly of his pants and heads out of the bedroom.

Calia gets off the king-sized mattress and moves over to Savina’s side.

“What’s going on?” she asks.

While Savina has the ability to reach into the minds of others, Calia doesn’t.

“She has her mind back,” Savina informs her.

A smirk comes to Calia’s lips. That smirk flips my switch. I amuse her, do I?

All the anger and all the pain that I’ve been struggling with since waking up after the mind restoration comes roaring forward, and I let it flow through me. I welcome that hot, feral feeling. I use it to power me. Throwing up my hands, I blast Savina and Calia at the same time with my power. They both fly back. Savina goes into the wall, while Calia goes into a bedside table.

Now the smirk is on my face.

The demons weren’t prepared for that. The idiots probably expected more banter.

I didn’t come here to talk. I came here to kill.

I send one energy ball at them after another as they try to get back up. Savina deflects them all. She regains her feet and counterattacks. She shoots what I know are deadly poison-tipped darts at me. I send those darts into the wall and brace to deflect whatever she or Calia throws at me next.

Calia gets back on her feet and comes at me with her hands glowing red. I know what that glow means. If Calia touches me when her hands are glowing like that, she’ll boil my insides.

Calia doesn’t know it, but she’s doing just what I’d hoped she’d do. I wait until she’s almost on top of me, then teleport behind Savina, grab her, and quickly teleport back into Calia’s path. I shove Savina into her friend's still-glowing hands.

The scream Savina lets out is blood-curdling.

“No!” Calia screams.

Her hands stop glowing red, but it’s too late. All it takes is a touch, and her victim’s insides start boiling.

Calia catches Savina as she crumples. She falls to her knees with Savina writhing in pain in her arms.

“No,” she whimpers. “Savina.”

After a few moments of agony, Savina’s eyes close, and her head lolls back over Calia’s arm. In another moment, her body turns to ash, and Calia’s arms are empty.

“No!” Calia screams again.

I tsk at her histrionics. “Don’t be so dramatic,” I sigh. “You’ll be with her again shortly.”

Growling, Calia raises her head and glares up at me.

“You BITCH!” she roars.

I smirk at that. Pot meet kettle, Calia.

When Calia gets up and lunges at me with hands that are glowing red once more, I teleport across the room, raise my hands, and start letting an energy ball grow until it’s the size of a beach ball.

Calia quickly locates me and comes at me. I teleport again and then throw my energy ball. There’s a bright white flash as Calia’s incinerated. The only thing left of the demon is a pile of dust on the carpet.

Slowly, I step forward as the last particles of dust settle. I stop a couple of feet away and stare down at the small mound of dark grey ash that was Calia.

I can’t believe that it’s done. Savina and Calia are dead. They can’t hurt anyone ever again.

So, why don’t I feel satisfied?

Why do I feel lost as I stare down at Calia’s and Savina’s remains?

***

I only get away with not telling Lucy about how I killed Savina and Calia for a week. At breakfast one morning, she asks me about the two of us going after the demons. Calmly, I look over at her and get ready for her to blast me.

“You don’t have to worry about Savina and Calia,” I tell her without preamble. “I already took care of them.”

Her expression evolves from surprise to disappointment, to anger.

“What do you mean, you already took care of them? You went after them without me?” she asks, her voice incredulous. “What the hell were you thinking, going after them alone?”

***

Lucy

When Hannah tells me she went after Savina and Calia alone, I’m stunned.

“What do you mean, you already took care of them? You went after them without me?” I ask. “What the hell were you thinking, going after them alone?”

Hannah responds calmly to my questions, which only annoys me.

“I thought it best that I face them alone,” she replies simply. “This was my fight.”

I sputter at that.

“This was my fight too, Hannah,” I tell her. “They had that Zolark kill mom.”

Hannah shakes her head.

“I know,” she says. “But they manipulated my mind, Lucy.” Her voice turns hard. “They turned me into a demon. This was my fight. I had to be the one that killed them.”

Well, shit.

I understand why Hannah needed to be the one to kill Savina and Calia, but I’m still angry with her for putting herself in danger the way she did. And I’m disappointed I didn’t get a piece of Savina and Calia. I’d wanted to deal them some serious pain for what they did to my mom and Hannah.

“You shouldn’t have gone after them alone,” I repeat. “I could have at least gone with you. I could have hung back and just been your backup if you needed help.”

“It’s done,” she states. “Savina and Calia are dead.”

“Hannah,” I say and then shut my mouth.

I’m too pissed off to talk to her right now. I can’t believe she risked herself the way she did. All I can think is that she’s lucky she wasn’t killed. She could have easily been.

And I would have lost her a second time.

***

Deklan

A couple of weeks after everything went down with Malek, I go visit Tuk’s grave. The cemetery where he’s buried is a short drive from my place.

After pulling over to the side of the gravel path, I park and get out. I cross the grass, passing several headstones, before reaching his. Hands shoved into the pockets of my jacket, I look down on my friend’s resting place.

“Hey, Tuk,” I murmur, staring down at the letters carved in the rock that spell my buddy’s name.

I take a big breath and let it out slowly as I stare down at my friend’s burial marker.

“I finally got him,” I announce. “Malek’s dead.”

It seems unnecessary to share that. I figure Tuk already knows, wherever he is. Something else I figure Tuk already knows is that I’ve claimed a mate, but I share that news too.

“I’m mated.”

My lips turn up at the corners at the thought of Lucy, and the grief in my heart eases a little.

“You’d like her,” I tell my friend. “She’s smart, brave, strong, selfless...” I chuckle. “... sassy, funny, beautiful.”

Yes, Tuk would have liked Lucy. And Lucy would have loved Tuk. The two of them would have gotten along like a house on fire.

“I wish you two could have met,” I murmur.

Unfortunately, I guess some things aren’t meant to be.