The Fallen by Kate Martin

Author:Kate Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Outland Entertainment
Published: 2023-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

— CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE —

The laughter coming from the workshop beneath the manor had escalated from annoying to irritating. Carma had put up with it for nearly a week, but now she was finished. Done. There would be no more.

Dressing gown wrapped tightly about herself, she made her way outside in the dead of night. She had been awake, thinking, planning. Decisions needed to be made, and she had to make them, no matter how much she wished it otherwise.

Staring into the flickering flame of the single candle that had lit her room, she had realized what needed to be done. The very thought alone put a bad taste in her mouth. Her plan was most likely suicidal. She would try, regardless.

But first, she had to deal with the witch.

“Dorothea!” Carma stormed down the steps into the workshop, nearly stumbling on a number of vials that had been smashed along the way. The room was brightly lit, fires burning in every corner. Fires, not lamps. Dorothea’s long scribing table was caked with wax and blood, and bowls filled with dark liquid had been lined up along one side. The witch stood before that table, stark naked, hands covered in blood, laughing.

“Blistering godflesh, what the hell are you doing? Are you mad? Trying to kill us all?”

Dorothea’s laughter cut off short. She snapped her head around so quickly Carma was surprised she didn’t break something. Clarity blazing in her grey eyes, she dropped her bloody hands to her sides. “The residents of this place are not so easy to kill.”

“You could still burn the entire place down around us. Put out those fires immediately.”

“I cannot.”

“Why not?”

Dorothea’s lips curled in something that might have been a smile, and it chilled Carma’s normally hot blood. “Because I am not done playing with the naughty little witch.”

“The naughty little—stop this immediately. He has Bri. Do not anger him.”

“He is a child, and he must be taught that there are consequences to the kind of magic he seeks.”

“Let nature dole those out,” Carma said. The last thing she needed was any of the game pieces shifting too far too soon.

“So careful,” Dorothea said, though she swept a hand over a labrynth on the table and the fires went out, plunging the room into a dimly lit darkness. “You always were a cautious one. Your recklessness an act.”

Carma bristled, feeling her power creep across her skin, changing her form slightly, and bringing her claws to her hands. “Just because we are alone does not mean you can speak truths.”

“Do not worry. I do not know your truths any better than Alec. I simply have different information from which to glean my conclusions.” Walking around the length of her table, she dragged a finger along the edge, small sparks of magic jumping between her flesh and the wood.

“You are clear tonight. Why?”

“Because I must be.”

“Have you found Picadilly yet?”

“No.” Dorothea stopped, fingers working against the table top a moment, then going still once more. “I have locator spells all over Hell, but they have detected nothing.

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