The Rose Witch (The Coven: Old Magic Stand-Alone Novel Book 1) Read online

  I spun and sprinted across the little meadow we were in but he appeared out of nowhere right in front of me. I slid to a stop and leapt backwards – and crashed into his chest. He lifted me off my feet again. I cursed and threw my head back into his nose. He sighed and dropped me. I kicked my legs and tried to run but he was already there in front of me.

  “NO,” I screamed. I couldn’t get away from him. He was everywhere. He was shadow and darkness.

  I knew it was futile, but I spun and tried again to flee. I only made it three feet before he had me in his hands, dangling in the air. I sucked in a deep breath to scream and my breath left me in a rush. He smelled amazing. He smelled like smoke, but the good kind. Like sitting in front of a bonfire or a fireplace. It was intoxicating. Just one breath of him and my fight melted away. The fire raging from him burned my chest. His hands gripping my elbows sent heat rushing up and down my arms.

  He carried me a few feet into the brightest patch of moonlight, casting him in a blueish light. Those black wings made of smoke swayed in the air behind his back. Then he sat me on my feet but kept his hands on my elbows…then he spoke. His voice was rough and raspy, like crackling wood and smoke. I didn’t know the words or the language. It was foreign and strange, unlike anything I’d ever heard. Yet there was something familiar about it.

  I looked up into his face and my chest tightened. He was beautiful, frighteningly so. His lips were perfectly defined and when he licked them I actually moaned a little. His jawline was sharp and covered with stubble up to his high, sharp cheekbones. His dark brow furrowed deep and it brought my gaze up. And then his glowing gold gaze found mine and I melted in his arms.

  He was the prettiest creature I had ever seen…and that was just how their magic worked. He was an incubus. He had to be. His entire appearance was a tool to lure women in and then weaken them. He’d put his hands on me and I was no match for his kind of dark magic. With every breath his smoky scent seeped deeper into my bones, infesting my mind and soul with his darkness.

  To my utter horror, I arched my back and pressed into him. My body was acting on its own volition. My body was melting and I liked it, like a fuzzy blanket next to a fireplace on a cold winter’s night. I wanted to snuggle into him and lose myself. Heat radiated off of him in waves. He slid his hands up my arms and I shivered. His fingers went to the clasp of my dress behind my neck. Something in the back of my mind still had free thought and it was screaming for me to fight back.

  But I couldn’t.

  It was like his magic had detached my mind from my body. My brain sent all the messages to fight, to disengage, to flee…yet my body was mush.

  I just prayed whatever he wanted with me would be quick and painless. I wanted his magic gone. I wanted my free will and mind back. Then I’d learn how to protect myself from this happening ever again. His thumb brushed over my throat and I gasped.

  His eyes widened.

  Just do it already. Get it over with so I can fight this power you have over me.

  He cursed, then stepped forward and pressed his body flush against mine. His arm wrapped around my waist and his hand burned into the small of my back. I sagged into him just as darkness coiled around us — and then the forest was gone.

  We were in some kind of dimly lit room. My body snapped back to attention. No, no, no, no, no. GET OUT. I cursed and shoved his chest. He frowned and stumbled back a few steps. It wasn’t much but it was just enough distance to be free of his hypnotism. I had to get away. I had to get out. But this was some kind of castle or dungeon. The walls and floors were all made of gray stone. Black candles lined the floors and furniture. Little golden flames flickered in my peripheral vision.

  He took a step forward and I leapt backwards in a panic.

  “What do you want from me?” I heard myself cry out.

  He spoke again, those same words as before. And then he was on me. My feet were swiped out from under me. I crashed down but his big, hot hands grabbed me before I slammed into the stone. But then his knee landed between my legs, pinning me to the ground beneath him. He lunged for me and I freaked out. I threw my hands up and pushed my red smoke right into his face. I pushed with everything I could manage. It swirled around his face, but he just shook his head and leaned forward, sliding right out of it like it was nothing at all. I hadn’t hurt him.

  His fingers brushed my throat again. The collar of my dress tugged against my body. He was going for my dress clasp to undress me. Not today, incubus. I thrashed as wildly as I possibly could. I kicked my legs like a toddler having a fit. I swung my arms like I was trying to swim.

  He growled and jumped off of me.

  I sat up straight just in time to watch him storm off down a stone corridor. He cursed in the distance over and over. I gasped. My whole body trembled so hard I heard my bones rattling together. This was it, my moment to escape. I had to get out before he came back and finished the job. Before he had his way with me then killed me. I scrambled back to my feet.

  The world wobbled around me. My vision blurred. I stumbled and crashed into a stone wall. I scrubbed my eyes, then opened them and looked up. Then I spotted it.

  A painting.

  On the wall.

  My breath caught in my throat.

  I had no idea what the painting was of, but the archway made of stone was definitely a passageway. Tegan’s words replayed in my mind. She’d said to be careful and test it safely. But then she’d also handed me over to this incubus on a bloody silver platter. She set me up. She couldn’t be trusted. Now I didn’t even know if her spells had helped me or not.

  But I had no other choice. That painting led somewhere. I pushed my shoulders back and took a deep breath…then sprinted as fast as I could straight for the archway painted on the solid stone wall.

  Chapter Eight

  Chloe

  Bright light flashed around me. Cold air swept over my body like I’d jumped into a frozen lake. I gasped and stumbled forward, blinking my eyes and waiting for my vision to settle. Everything was dark and blurry. The air was sharp, the kind of ice-cold that stung the skin everywhere it touched. And I only wore this gown.

  I took a step forward and my feet sank into cold slush. I cursed and hissed. But then gravity took over and I fell forward. My hands and knees landed in — I gasped. Snow? I balled my fists and felt the cold, powdery substance seeping through my fingers. Where the bloody hell am I? I looked around, desperate for any kind of clue as to where I was, but all I saw were thick pine trees covered in snow. Moonlight shined through the branches, making the white snow seem almost blue.

  A bright golden light ripped through the darkness.

  I jumped and crashed onto my back, then hissed as the snow touched all my bare skin. The light. It looked like someone shined a flashlight through the forest, a huge flashlight. It was either a person or a car. Had to be. Either way it was life. It was hope for getting help. But I needed to hurry.

  With a violent curse, I leapt back to my feet and trudged through the snow, the long golden skirt of my dress trailing behind me. Little cold droplets hit my cheek and I gasped. It was actively snowing. That was why everything seemed blurry. I grinned as this reassured me. Part of me had wondered if I’d hurt myself or if he’d put some spell on me. But it was just snow.

  I stomped through the snow, forcing my way around a few trees – then I stopped. Up ahead, just beyond the line of this forest I was in, a cute little train station sat buried in snow. The building was white with soft green accents. On the wall, written in big bold black letters was the word HIMMELREICH. I gasped. That was German. I was in Germany. How the bloody hell did I get to Germany?

  But then I saw it, idling right beside the cute little building, and my heart stopped.

  A bright red train sat there looking like a cardinal in the snow. Golden light poured out of the windows and I could see people sitting inside. Some even sleeping. Hope surged inside. I could do this. I could get there. I bent down and gripped the skirt of my dress
in my hands, then charged forward.

  Within a few feet, the snow grew shallower and the ground more sturdy.

  Somehow, no one was watching this side of the train. No one was expecting a runaway to hop on from out of the forest. When my hands gripped the cold metal handles I almost cried. But I held it in. I wasn’t on the train yet. I climbed my way up the steps and then pushed my way through the door that separated cars and stumbled inside the car.

  Warmth wrapped around me like a fuzzy blanket. I sighed as every nerve ending in my body tingled from the heat waking them up. The train whistled again and I jumped out of my skin. To my surprise, not a single person sitting in the seats of this car even looked up to see who had joined them. Which was a relief because my gold feather-bodice gown did not blend in.

  All the way down at the far end of the car, there was a row of seats without anyone in it. I hurried down the little aisle and slipped into the row. The cloth was itchy against my bare skin but it was warm. And it was safe. I glanced over my shoulder to confirm just how far the door was. If there was an emergency, I could make a run for it.

  I sighed and relaxed into the seat, leaning my head against the window. My whole body tingled and pulsed with energy. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. Tears threatened to pour but I was holding them in. For now. I just couldn’t believe the day I’d had.

  Tegan tricked me. She set me up. She took me outside and handed me over to him.

  It made no sense.

  The Coven was supposed to protect its civilians. Why did she do that?

  I had more questions than I had at the beginning of the day and not a hope to answering them. I didn’t even have a cellphone. Or money. Or clothes. Shit.

  Just take a deep breath, Chloe.

  You got here through a picture, you can get out of here through one.

  The train jostled and rocked backwards – then lurched forward. My stomach turned. I curled my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. My eyes burned. Hell, my whole body was still on fire from that man’s touch. I’d always heard stories about incubi and succubi. I’d just never entertained the idea they were real.

  Then again, I hadn’t suspected witches to be either…and here we were.

  As the train rolled along the track and the soft hum started to lull me to sleep, I tried to think of my game plan. There were no paintings on the walls of this train but I clung to hope. There was plenty of wall space. If I could just get my hands on a marker or something I could draw the front gateway of Lancaster Estate…maybe that’ll work.

  Or maybe the next train station would have some painting on its wall.

  Or at least a phone.

  I took a deep breath and then let it out. I had a plan. It was weak but it was something. The incubus had no way of knowing where I’d gone. The only reason he’d found me was because Tegan had summoned his hellhound. And I was definitely not bloody doing that again. This would be fine. Totally fine. Perfectly, normal, safe, and fine.

  “Fahrkarte?”

  Shit. I knew that word. Fahrkarte. That was German for ticket. Bollocks. The few times I’d been on a train in Germany, no one had checked for a ticket. Of all times for that luck to fail me. I didn’t have a ticket. I’d never rode on a train without one. Edith once did and she’d told me they made her get off at the next station. I figured I had at least that much going for me. But this was Germany. They took their public transportation seriously. Which meant I was about to be in trouble.

  “Fahrkarte?” The deep voice of the controller said to the row right behind me.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and pretended to be asleep. If I wasn’t awake, maybe he’d have to assume I had a ticket. And if he woke me – well, I doubted he’d throw me off the train in the middle of a forest in the winter. I just needed to ride this long enough to get to a new station.

  “Fahrkarte?” The man said right beside me.

  I didn’t move. I didn’t breathe. Maybe he was like a T-Rex and he’d not see me sitting there.

  “Fräulein,” the controller said and tapped my shoulder with his warm hand. “Fahrkarte.”

  My stubbornness clung to the hope that he’d give up and leave me be.

  “Fräulein.” He shook my shoulder a bit harder.

  I gave up. I pretended to be startled as I glanced around and then looked up to him. Fortunately, I spoke a little bit of German. Well, I could read and write it, but speaking it in conversation was a different story. This was a man with a thick handlebar white mustache and thick brow – not a book.

  “Fräulein?”

  “Hallo.”

  He frowned and looked at me like I was a monster. “Fahrkarte.”

  Ticket. I cleared my throat. I could do this. Think, Chloe. How do you say ‘I don’t have a ticket’? Words came to mind and I just hoped they were right. I licked my lips. “Ich habe kein Fahrkarte?”

  He sighed and shook his head, then lifted his little machine up to look at it. “Wenn sie kein Fahrkarte haben, müssen sie die geldstrafe bezahlen.”

  My eyes widened. That was a lot of words. It took me a second but I was fairly sure he told me if I didn’t have a ticket I had to pay a fine. Normally, that would have been fine. Normally, I kept money on me at all times. But this wasn’t normally. I had nothing.

  “Es tut mir lied, ich habe kein geld.” Which meant, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t have money’.

  His face fell. “Sie können hier nicht bezahlen. Sie müssen in Hinterzarten abreisen.”

  “Oh.” I nodded.

  He’d told me I couldn’t pay on the train, that I had to get off at the next station. He’d probably meant for that to be a bad thing, a punishment. But that had been my goal anyway, so I just nodded and accepted his bored chastising. He didn’t yell or cause a scene, just handed me the paper with my fine. I took it and shoved it in my dress, nestled against my chest and the gold material.

  He grumbled and moved on to the people seated in front of me without a second glance.

  I sighed and fell back against my seat, then turned to look out the window. Anything to distract my mind from replaying the day’s events. And outside was beautiful, with the snow-covered forest that reflected the light of the moon. The snow sparkled like crumbled crystals or shards of glass. Germany’s Black Forest was known to be breathtaking, I just wished I was seeing it under better — a shadow shot through the trees right toward me.

  It was big and black and moved like smoke.

  No, no, no, no, no. This isn’t happening. He can’t find me here.

  I looked up ahead and gasped.

  There he was. Standing in the snow with his black smoky wings at his back. Gold eyes glowed like little suns in the dark. Beside him, at half his height, was the hellhound. Its red and gold eyes scanned the train as it moved closer to it.

  SHIT.

  I slid down into my seat, dropping onto the floor so he wouldn’t see me. My heart pounded in my chest as I counted to thirty. My ears burned as blood rushed to my face. My fingers trembled. He didn’t see me, he didn’t see me, he didn’t see me.

  Twenty-eight.

  Twenty-nine.

  Thirty.

  With my heart lodged in my throat, I pushed myself back up just enough to peek out the bottom edge of the window. I glanced left and right, right to left…but he wasn’t there. It was just trees and snow. I cursed and rested my head against the window. Was he even there at all, Chloe? Or are you just paranoid?

  I climbed back up into my seat and looked up — and screamed.

  The other passengers jumped and spun toward me. The controller cursed and hurried over, but I wasn’t paying them any attention.

  All I saw was the incubus standing just inside the train car, blocking the door I’d come in from.

  I jumped up and lunged for the door behind me, but just like before he appeared right out of thin air in front of me. I slid to a stop, grabbing the seats to steady myself.

  He held his hands up and his gold eyes sparkled. “Wa
it—”

  Sharp pain seared into my chest like someone stabbed me. I choked on a gasp and stumbled back. Every ounce of oxygen in my lungs vanished like a popped balloon. My hands trembled as I swatted at my chest. The pain spread, shooting down my spine and my sternum. My vision blurred. My legs gave out and my knees slammed into the floor. I couldn’t breathe.

  The incubus scowled, his gold eyes latched onto my chest.

  The train controller lifted me off my knees and sat me on the seat beside me. A woman whose face I couldn’t see because my vision was too blurred knelt in front of me, spraying water in my face. I blinked and it was Tegan. But then I blinked again and it was some other woman. My mind was shutting down from the lack of oxygen. The woman splashed me again and the pressure lifted off of my chest. I gasped, sucking in big gulps of air.

  I looked up at the incubus and found his face pale, like he was going to be sick. He was trying to get to me but the other passengers had crowded around me.

  A loud shrieking sound ripped through the chaos of the train and then all of the windows exploded. Shards and slivers of glass rained down on us. Everyone screamed and dove to the floor, covering their heads with their arms just as a large object shot over our heads. I looked back up and my jaw dropped. That hellhound had a giant bat-like creature pinned to the ground. Black wings flapped and thrashed. Black blood burst from under the hellhound’s teeth. The smell of maple syrup hit me like a brick wall. I gasped and choked on the smell and the pain tripled.

  WAIT.

  Maple syrup.

  DEMONS.

  Something loud slammed into the roof of the train, denting the metal above me. The train wobbled and swayed side to side and then six more of those giant black bat-demons leapt through the broken windows and into the train car. All I heard was the shrieking of the other passengers and the heavy thumping of my pulse.

  The train’s wheels screamed.

  And then we were airborne. I tried to grab ahold of something but the pain had my body on lockdown. Gravity took over and threw me straight up into the air as the train car flipped upside down. The world spun. My stomach turned. Lights flashed like strobe lights at a rave. I couldn’t distinguish one thing from the next. Everything slipped into slow motion.