Pretty Hot (The Fallen Gods Book Five).
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to places, events or real people are entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 K.A. Knight, all rights reserved.
Written by K.A. Knight: Edited By Jess from Elemental Editing and Proofreading.
Formatted by Kaila Duff.
Cover design by Temptation Creations.
“The difference between a good life and a bad life is how well you walk through the fire.”
Carl Jung
Kyro
I’m sunbathing, enjoying the warm day. The sand is hard under my back, and my shades are in place as I soak up the rays, recharging my magic. The water laps against the shore, children laugh, and women talk. It’s a beautiful day on the beach of this small town I find myself in, having been drawn here on my explorations of the coastlines of the south.
It’s a tiny town, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t fun to be had. I lift my head and lower my shades as a blonde runs past, her tits jiggling as she goes. Fuck, I love the sun. It makes everyone lose their inhibitions, not just their emotions, but their clothes, and if there is one thing I love more than the sun…
It’s naked skin.
I go to lie back down when a scream splits the air. Rolling my eyes, I look around to see who dares to ruin my perfect day of sand, sea, and tits. The others on the beach sit up and stare, and when the scream comes again, they rush to grab their phones and start to dial the police, especially when a kid runs into their midst, crying about a blackened body.
Interest piqued, I stand and follow his finger. It’s in the trees near the beach, and not fifty steps in, I find the body he was talking about and whistle. Oh, she’s dead all right. Her eyes are gone, and her mouth is open on a silent scream—it’s a grisly sight—but it’s the black veins covering her entire body that have me frowning.
“Well, well, what do we have here?” I murmur, letting my power flow out a bit. I taste her and frown harder—a witch.
A dead witch on the beach I’m on? Can that be a coincidence?
She looks like she’s been sucked dry. Not like when my brother does it to people to wear their faces, but as if her very soul was pulled from her body, leaving nothing but darkness and an empty shell behind. I’m just reaching to see if she still has her heart when I hear yells.
Turning my head, I spot the police coming my way and sigh. Great, the humans. I stand and grin at them, but they take one look at the body and decide I must have done it. Idiots. They pull their guns and aim them at me, shouting orders.
“Listen, humans, I didn’t—”
But they ignore me.
Fucking humans. The police continue to point their guns at me as I smirk with my hands held out to the side. “Hello, boys, ’fraid this wasn’t me—” I try again, but they rush me, turn me, slam my hands behind my back, and cuff them together while I roll my eyes.
Tilting my head, I catch the woman watching me from behind the rocks. Her long blue hair is tied up in a bun with wisps of it blowing in the wind, reminding me of the water not too far away. Her eyes are an incredible shade of hazel, and when the light catches them, they burn.
Fire and water.
Well, hello there.
With a glance at the police trying to pull me away, she ducks back into the outcropping, and disappointment fills me as I’m led to their car. I crane my neck back, trying to catch another glimpse of the mysterious beauty watching me be arrested.
Who was she?
My cock is hard from just one look at her, and my heart is hammering.
Death and desire, what a fun day this is turning out to be.
“I hope you boys have good food in those cells, I’m hungry,” I comment conversationally as I’m pushed inside the car with a resounding click.
The vision of that woman sticks in my mind as I’m driven to the local station, and I know when I get free, I’m going to hunt her down and discover if any other of her body parts would burn for me like those magnificent eyes.
I’m coming for you, my blue rose.
Cassandra
Rushing over the cobbled streets, I pant as I run. Locals give me a wide berth, staring in confusion as I pass, but they soon forget me, the buzz surrounding yet another murder taking precedence. Sliding around the corner of the coffee shop and down the small, rickety lane that houses our occult book and supply shop, I push open the door.
The bell chimes above, and Salem meows from his perch on the glass counter to the right. The door shuts behind me, and I gulp in air, looking over my shoulder as if that man could be chasing me. It’s impossible, but my heart won’t calm down.
Two glass cases run the length of the room, filled with crystals, jewels, and jewellery. On the back left wall are all the books you will ever need to be a witch or to study witchcraft—some date back to the beginning of our people. To the right are jars filled with spell ingredients. Lights hang from the ceiling, as do flowers, which rub against my cheek as I enter, making me sigh as they ground me. The usual scents of the shop—incense and whatever spell is being cooked in the back—assault my nose.
A maroon velvet curtain with gold trim separates the front of the shop from the back, where the real witchcraft takes place. Sometimes, we get tourists or curious locals in here, but this is mainly for our coven and their supplies.
Oh, and I work here.
Salem meows again, and I roll my eyes. “I know, I know, I’m in trouble. I was just—”
He stretches and flicks his tail at me, and I scowl. “Don’t start, buddy, I still feed you.”
He turns his back on me and hops down. What an asshole. I tell you, you get turned into a cat a millennium ago as a punishment, and it really makes you cranky.
“Cassandra, there you are!” Allegra exclaims as she bustles into the front of the shop. “Where were you? You’re supposed to be working—and look at the state of you!” She sighs, noticing the sand on my feet, which makes me wince. In my haste, I forgot to clean them. I should have been here minding the shop, but instead, I was following this tug.
There was this pull low in my belly, which led me to a man and another body, the fourth this month. For our small little town of Indigo Falls, it’s unheard of. There has never been a murder, never mind four. The police are baffled and don’t know what to do. Usually, they only arrest thieves, and even then, it’s typically over something stupid like biscuits from the shop. No, here the witches run things, and the humans know that, even if they don’t understand what or who we are.
Our magic keeps the whispers contained to our town. When they leave, they forget all the strangeness they saw here. It keeps our town happy and our identity sealed away, because out there in the world, monsters lurk just waiting to kill witches. Those who have turned dark give us a bad name, changing until hatred for us is all they know.
I ignore her complaints, even as I smile sadly at her. Allegra is the only one to ever give me a chance, a job. I’m not what they would call a powerful witch. In fact, I can barely do any magic at all. It means the coven mainly ignores me and looks down on me. Not Allegra though. Ever since I was a child, she has watched over me. When I finished school, she gave me a job, allowing me to earn the money for a home and a better life. I know I’m letting her down, but I can’t help it. I feel it.