A Demon’s Book Of Shadows (Witches & Demons #1)

23. Lucy

23

Lucy

Rain fell in thick cold sheets around me as the sky turned gray. I was sitting in the library, waiting for Jeremy to appear for tutoring. Lightning ripped across the sky and the children’s room was filled with the bright electrical light, blinding me momentarily.

Something wasn’t right. The library was completely empty. My breathing shallowed as I felt the sensation of someone watching me.

I walked through the stacks, picking out books I thought Jeremy would like. When I pulled the books off the shelves, they had no titles, nor images for me to read. All of the books had the image of a gnarled black tree on their covers.

With my stack of books in my arms, I returned to the table. That’s when the rain came pouring down. Fear twisted in my stomach. If Jeremy had walked from the country into town, he would have gotten caught out in this rain. I needed to go find him.

I took one of the books with me. I could take it to him.

As I raced through the stacks, my foot caught in a hole. I tripped, falling into a tunnel. The scent of damp earth filled my nose. I’d lost the book with the tree on the cover. My fingers scraped against gritty dirt and other items as my hands broke my fall .

Shimmering white items lay everywhere. I touched one of the slender items no bigger than my finger. They were bones, finger bones. Black feathers drifted on the air, settling atop them.

I grabbed one of the feathers, and a great gust of wind carried me forward, blowing me through the tunnel. The gust was so powerful, it stirred the bones in the tunnel. Larger bones appeared. Legs and arms and rib cages poured out of the earth. No skulls emerged. These skeletons were missing their identities.

I climbed out of the death tunnel, kicking as the scent of fresh air broke my focus. The clap of thunder echoed above me as I emerged. A stone archway glistened over my head.

Roots threaded through the stones, their tangled masses growing atop the archway. They thickened and connected to the trunk of a giant black tree. Grabbing one of the roots, I hoisted myself up and climbed until I perched atop the archway.

The earth leveled out, revealing a wide open field before me. The purple storm clouds continued to flash with explosive bouts of lightning.

A figure stood in the field not far from me. Their face was turned away, blackened hair whipping out from their side as they turned to face me.

The figure was a woman. Her skin was as white as the lightning flashing above. Tears streamed from her eyes. They fell to the ground, pooling into a river that changed direction as it rushed for me .

The water from her tears surged over the ground, catching my feet. It took all of my strength not to fall backward as the water rushed forcefully.

A hand emerged from the water, reaching for the roots. I tried to reach for the hand, but the water swept it away. Who was there? Who had been swept away by the water? Was it the woman who had tears streaming from her eyes, or someone else?

Something was in the tree. A monster with multiple arms maneuvered through the branches, its arms and legs bent unnaturally.

One of the branches cracked.

A sickening thud followed.

I raced toward the sound. No . Somebody had fallen.

A hand gripped my shoulder. The woman with the white face pulled me back. I fell away from the tree, fading as the branches overpowered me.

A little girl rushed forward, crying as she dropped to the boy on the ground. She sobbed as the woman tried to comfort her. The scent of roses filled my senses as the roots from the tree of shadows took me under.

The scent of coffee jolted me. I sat up on the sofa, blinking into the dull sunlight draping through the window.

Amon stood in the kitchen, his back turned toward me. He was shirtless. Black markings covered his neck and shoulders.

A tattoo of a monster was there—its large, cavernous mouth belonged to that tree.

Amon turned, facing me, coffee mug in hand. “What did you see? ”

The smell of that place—the wind, rain, and lightning. I needed to get it out of my skin and hair. The Bone Threader had been hiding in that tree.

I scrambled to my feet. “I’m going to be sick.”

I tore down the hall, racing for the bathroom. Once inside, I slammed the door behind me and dropped to the floor. Whatever was causing this, magic, or illness, it had completely messed with my emotions.

“Lucy, what’s wrong?” Amon’s voice sounded from behind the door.

Clutching the toilet bowl, I prepared to wretch.

A hand came to my back. It took me moments to realize it belonged to Amon. How he got inside the bathroom with the door closed, I had no idea.

Amon’s hands reached under my arms, helping me to stand. He closed the toilet seat, then set me atop it. I shivered uncontrollably.

Amon’s eyes met mine, silver flecks of light shining in their ebony depths. “What did you see?”

“A tunnel of death. It was right under that black tree. The tree grew on top of the entrance to the shadow archives.”

Amon’s eyes searched mine as I tried to remember what I’d seen. The branches of that tree reflected in his dark irises. I could smell the Bone Threader’s rancid breath on my neck as he descended the tree.

“Your magic must be responding to something. What else do you remember?” he asked.

“There was this woman standing in a field. When she turned to look at me, tears flooded from her eyes. They formed a rushing river that changed direction, flooding toward me.”

“The water changed direction?”

I nodded, shivering.

Amon’s brow knitted. A few feathers prickled from the thick black hairs, softening his expression. “You might have seen Changing Woman. She was the spirit my mother looked to for guidance with her magic. What happened next?”

“I saw someone climbing in the tree. Then I remembered the story you told me about Melrose’s brother, and how you couldn't remember how he died. . .” My stomach caved in. “It happened when I was there. He was in the tree. I heard him fall, hit the hard ground.” I grabbed his hand. “Amon, I heard his bones shatter.”

Amon squeezed my hand. “Lucy, it’s okay. It was just a vision.”

A face flashed before me. A face I had seen before. The white eyes. The wide smile. They belonged to the same spirit.

I squeezed Amon’s hand. “Her brother wasn’t the only one climbing that tree.”

“You saw another spirit in the branches?”

“I did.” I pressed my face to Amon’s neck, breathing in his scent to replace the stench of the wendigo’s breath. He smelled like ink and rainstorms. “The shadows in that archive are hiding something the Bone Threader doesn’t want us to uncover—something tied to Melrose and her brother’s death.”

“Both Melrose and her brother? ”

I thought back to the tunnel with bones, but no skulls. The skeletons were missing their identity, because something had stolen them. All I could see was the tree Jeremy had drawn at the library, and the word I had helped him to write with my magic.

I pulled away from Amon’s neck. “I think I know who Jeremy’s true identity is. I think Jeremy is really Melrose's brother.”

Amon’s eyes widened. “This is huge. Lucy, if you’re right, you just made a huge discovery in how we can defeat the Bone Threader.”

“How?”

“You’ve discovered the Bone Threader’s identity—the soul of the last victim he consumed. Identity is a wendigo’s biggest weakness.”

I began shuddering from head to toe.

Amon stood and turned on the shower tap. “Your body is in shock. We need to calm you down.”

Steam filled the room as he helped me into the shower. I was wearing my clothes. And he was wearing shadows ?

He helped me under the tap, positioning me beneath the stream of hot water. I soaked it in, thinking about Changing Woman’s tears as the river flooded toward me. She was directing me to see something in the vision, a different side to the story behind the spirits from Amon’s past. What the Bone Threader had tried to hide from Amon was the truth behind their death.

His hands stroked my shoulders and spine, his touch igniting me. His words from the shadow archives came back to me, hovering over the cusp of my ear. “ You would be surprised at how much life you can find in magic that deals with death . ”

“Are you doing better?” he asked, keeping his hands above my waist as he continued to stroke my back. He rubbed small circles, his touch convincing the tension in my muscles to leave.

Amon’s body had done something in the steam. He wasn’t feathers, or skin, or the bones I had seen. He shifted between a man, a bird, and a stream. My heart fluttered. Demons were such intricately beautiful beings.

“Why do you change form so often?” I asked, touching one of the tattoos that snaked down his forearm toward me.

“It depends on my mood,” he replied, gruffness in his voice.

“What is your mood right now? I’m having a hard time reading it.”

“I’m starting to think that reading isn’t the only thing you are good at, that maybe, I’m,” his voice was clouded by the steam. “Lucy, I want to know what makes your heart sing. I want to worship you.” His eyes met mine, dangerous flames licking from their ebony depths.

His hands lit me on fire.

“Don’t stop.” I grabbed for him, but my fingers met hot water. “Stop hiding from me.”

“I’m not trying to,” he growled, frustration ringing in his voice.

Goddess, I wanted the hidden parts of Amon. All of him. Right now, no exceptions. But why couldn’t I seem to gather him?

“Amon,” I breathed. A moan escaped me. Even though I couldn’t press my hands against his chest, he already found my breasts. “Don’t stop what you are doing. ”

As his shadows thickened around my legs, the waves of Amon’s body against my own began to pulse. I became trapped in an endless sea of mist, pleasure, and shadow. My clothing dissolved from my body as Amon's darkness explored me.

“Tell me what you want,” he breathed, the hunger in his voice echoing.

This can't be real. This must be a fantasy .

Pinned against the wall, I had no place to run. Every time his shadows slid to a new spot, my body ignited. My hips gyrated as Amon’s silky shadows explored my breasts and belly. I rocked my body closer to him, trying to find a rhythm.

His tattoos uncoiled from his arms, their cool touch burning my skin. The shadows morphed their form, shifting between serpents and hands.

I jolted as one of the serpents raised its eyeless head. A forked tongue flicked out toward me.

“Don’t worry, they don’t bite,” Amon said, holding his hand out and allowing the serpent to coil between his fingers. “My serpents are meant for one thing only—pleasure.”

He lowered his hand between my legs, joining the other hands as multiple fingers slid over my opening. My back arched as the fingers pulsed, stretching me. Tension wound in my belly as he inserted his fingers. What I assumed were the serpents teased and circled my clit, bringing me to the edge of release.

“Relax into me,” Amon said as the fingers slid out of me.

I closed my eyes as the steam from the shower and his voice broke over me. His hands gripped my hips, propping me onto the tile ledge. The shadow serpents caressed my belly and thighs as they coiled around my legs.

Amon’s face appeared out of the shadows, his drenched hair stuck to his forehead. He buried his face into my neck. “This is when you tell me what part of me you want next.”

Oh, fuck. I have options ?

“You’ve seen what my shadows can do. They can do more, much more. What more do you want?”

I wrapped my arms around his neck, tugging him close to me. “I just want you right now.”

He planted a kiss onto my neck, resting his face against me. “I wish I could say that I was that simple.”

I found his cheek, kissing him as his stubble rubbed against me. His lips found mine, and I savored every flick of his tongue. He pushed his tongue into me like the fingers had earlier, and I was reliving the fantasy of being filled by so much more of him as he stated.

The shadow serpents coiling between my legs slithered up to my chest, gliding between us. Were they jealous?

Something hard pressed against my opening that wasn’t the head of a serpent.

“You feel so good,” Amon grunted. “I want to burry myself inside of you. Would you like that?”

My mind blanked. I thought I was on the pill. I hadn’t stopped taking it after I broke up with Jason, right?

I kissed his neck, tasting the salt on his skin. “I want to, but I can’t yet. ”

Amon withdrew himself from my aching pussy.

I reached out, touching what had to be his cock. Amon was huge . My fingers grazed the head, trailing along his thick length. Where did he end? I wish I had a condom or something to keep going where we both wanted this to go. But Amon respected that I wasn’t ready to take all of him as he suggested, even if my body ached for him.

Oh, it had to be a tongue—no—was it more than one?

The nipping and sucking dipped below my navel, hovering inches away from my slick. I withered against his shadows as they continued to please me.

A hand clasped around my throat as teeth scraped across my jawline. “Just wait until you feel me inside of you.”

“Fuck,” I said, opening my eyes.

“Exactly,” he replied. “ Tell me you want me ,” a voice lower than his interrupted. The steam was so thick, I wondered if it was changing the sound of his voice.

“Turn around,” he demanded.

“ She’s too afraid of us to do so ,” another voice said. “ She must do as she is told if she is to trust in her magic .”

Amon held me, possessively so.

“Who was that?” I asked, trembling from my own arousal.

“My shadows want you as much as I do,” he breathed, the desire in his voice as scorching hot as the steam. “You are safe with me. I won’t let them have you. You are mine , Lucy Crow.”

I moaned as his fingers glided over my slick, expertly flicking and circling over me. His body evaporated, but the pleasure remained. The water pulsed down my front, creating an explosion of ecstasy.