“Using your magic isn’t smart,” Snoe said.
Vanessa glared at him. “You said if I back you, you would stop the man I love from marrying that bitch.”
Snoe sighed. “And I will, but you raising your hand against me isn’t really making me want to help you.”
Vanessa scoffed at Snoe. “Don’t get too high-and-mighty over there without my support. You’re one elder too short to really succeed.”
Now, how stupid would Snoe have to be to leave that up to chance? He’d always prepared, just in case someone thought highly of themselves. It was also the one thing no witch leader had ever done.
“Come in,” Snoe said, knowing all too well Morri had heard everything. Vanessa had been excluded form the elder’s meeting. Snoe didn’t really trust her enough, the sight of Morri was a surprise that had Snoe grinning.
The vampire princess walked in; her pale skin and platinum hair should have been an easy give away to what she was. But if that wasn’t enough her white glowing eyes did.
“Fuck,” Vanessa said. She raised her hand, but Morri was there in a flash. The sound of bones breaking echoed in the room followed by Vanessa’s scream and the wet sound of flesh tearing. Snoe had heard it too many times now not to know that distinctive sound.
Snoe sighed. “Vanessa, it seems our partnership has come to an end. It was bound to happen once you found out what I had planned for Dash.”
Vanessa’s watery eyes met Snoe’s. Snoe’s face was the last thing she saw as Morri brought down a sword, hacking Vanessa’s head clean off.
Blood sprayed up, splattering all over Morri’s face and the table. Parkins and Dimitri looked at him. Snoe stared at Vanessa’s lifeless eyes. He felt nothing toward the dead woman or the sight of her blood. But when he thought of Dash’s face when he found out Vanessa was dead, well, that had Snoe grinning.
“Thank you, Princess Morri. You will be taking her seat as one of my elders.”
Morri licked the blood on her hands, her fangs showing.
“Someone preserve her head. It would be a nice gift. What kind of guest would I be if I didn’t bring a gift?”
Getting back into the Blake estate was difficult, but with the hustle and bustle of the wedding planning, Snoe had slipped in along with Blade against all his demon wolves’ suggestions. Snoe sneaking in was already a risk, and taking seven demon wolves with him was out of the question, but Blade was needed for the occasion.
He could still picture their worried looks.
“Master, which way?” Blade asked.
Snoe peeked around him. “Just down the hall and to the left. It’s her private room.”
Snoe and Blade made their way to Hilde’s room. With her being away, it was now or never. They came upon the door, and Blade slipped in first. Snoe kept his eyes trained for any of the servants, but so far Chase was doing his job keeping them occupied.
“Come on in,” Blade said.
Snoe went into the room, and it looked the same. Once upon a time, it had been his mother’s room, but there were no remnants of her in the room. He made his way to the far wall where he remembered the hidden door was. Memories from his childhood fluttered through his mind. One particular memory was when Hilde had first come to stay with them. She’d been given the room, but Snoe had still been very attached to it. He would sneak in often and hide under the bed. Once, he’d seen Hilde make a door appear on the wall and descend downstairs.
Snoe moved the picture off the wall.
“Who are you?” a servant asked.
“Shit,” Snoe said.
Blade had her before she could scream.
“Don’t kill her,” Snoe rushed out. He caught Blade in time. He just covered her mouth. Snoe turned back to the wall as he pulled out the four charms Parkins had created for him. They hummed with stored magic. Because Snoe didn’t have enough of his own to open the door, he was going to borrow some of Parkins. Snoe placed all four charms on the wall and pushed a little of his own magic into them to get them started.
Magic erupted in front of him, and the outline of a door appeared and formed into a full door. Snoe pushed it open.
“Bring her down. I need to pay my debt, anyway, and we will be busy come the day of the blood moon,” Snoe said.
Blade dragged the servant down the stairs behind Snoe. It was a winding staircase that felt as if it went on for ages until they reached the bottom. Snoe touched the wall and found a light switch. He flicked it on. There was an old bookcase full of vials, filled most likely with poisons, and a table with a large black cauldron. Was she stuck in the stone ages? No witch used cauldrons anymore. In fact, making potions was outdated when a simple charm could do the job faster and better. Except with poisons.
Snoe grabbed a book and flipped through it, looking for a spell that would put everyone to sleep. If he used charms, they could sense the magic and counter it, but with a potion, it would be undetectable, especially if said potion was eaten unknowingly.
“What are you going to do to me?” the servant asked. Snoe ignored her.
“Found it. I’m going to grab what we need,” Snoe said. He went through each vial, picking out the ingredients the book mentioned.
¼ Tbsp Frog heart
2 Tbsp Tears of a virgin
⅔ cup Acid rain
⅓ cup Ground Wolf Fang
10 Petals of Oleander
3 ½ Tbsp Honey
“Honey—really?”
Snoe shook his head but still grabbed the jar of honey that sat on the shelf. She was low on tears of a virgin. Snoe looked at the woman on the floor.
“Hey, have you had sex yet?” Snoe asked.
She looked shocked and crossed her legs. He refrained from telling her she wasn’t his type. She was obviously a new servant to the house if she didn’t know his face.
“Answer honestly,” Snoe said.
“No,” she cried out.
Thank fuck. Snoe grabbed an empty vial and passed it to Blade. “Collect her tears.”
He turned back to the shelf and finished grabbing the remainder of the items. They were able to get everything they needed. Snoe took out his phone and snapped a picture of the directions. It wasn’t easy to come by such a book; most were locked up, and the fact that Hilde had loads of them blew Snoe’s mind. She was even more fucked-up than he thought originally.
Snoe checked the time. They were still good. Soon he would have his revenge. He drew the demonic circle, and the marking on his hand burned as he summoned Ezyrah. A cloud of smoke formed in the middle of the circle before Ezyrah, with his black hair pulled back in a ponytail and sporting his mask with a single teardrop, appeared.
“Aw, payment,” Ezyrah said as the girl shrieked, but it died out quickly as Ezyrah took her soul.
“You are getting close to your revenge, little witch,” Ezyrah said.
It was both exciting and nerve-racking. “I am. Soon you will have my soul.”
“I look forward to it,” Ezyrah said.
Usually, he left or made a move on Snoe, but neither happened. Snoe looked to his right, where Ezyrah seemed to stare at something behind him. Snoe moved over to the draped area and pulled the thick curtain down, uncovering a large mirror.
“What is this?” Snoe asked.
“A gateway to the demon realm. It’s how witches communicate with us without offering a deal,” Ezyrah answered. He sounded almost pained. Snoe might have been hearing things. Nothing ever affected the demon lord.