Some Like It Wicked

Aria’s mind whirled as she tried to take in the influx of information.

“But why come here?” Turning, she looked Declan square in the face. “If you left to ensure my safety, that seems like a waste of effort.”

The men looked at each other, and Aria found herself wanting to smack their heads together. It was as if they had their own nonverbal language.

“I had one of my premonitions,” Declan’s voice was low and determined. “And it drew me—us—here.”

Hope was a wild thing curling inside of Aria’s chest. Could it really be?

“So...in theory, we destroy this spell creature, and we can...can...” she couldn’t spit out the words.

Declan’s face was set and serious.

“I think there’s more than a spell creature, Aria.”

Aria frowned and looked from Declan to the werewolf, who had finished his steak and was now guzzling what appeared to be a pint glass of orange juice.

Realization clicked. “You think the Capitol has found you. That they tracked you down after you escaped.” Panic rose in a dark cloud, and she tried to stand. “Lori!”

Two large, masculine hands gripped her, one hot, one cold, pulling her back down to the table. Two pairs of hard eyes—soldiers’ eyes—stared at her.

“Lori will be safer if we’re not there.” Adam spoke flatly. “And you’ll be safer if we are.”

They were talking in circles, and Aria had had enough. She’d had one hell of a day, her emotions were a mess and a demon was stalking her.

“Spit it out already.” She slammed her hands on the laminated tabletop. The movement jolted her glass, and cold water sloshed over the side, wetting her hand.

Declan raised an eyebrow at her. She glowered back.

“We’re not leaving you. Not until the Capitol has fallen.” Aria’s mouth fell open as she looked from one alpha male to the other. Anger rose, hot and fast, as she realized that they had planned this all out for her, just as Declan had made life-shattering decisions for her three years ago.

Fury painted her vision red.

Standing, she hissed when Declan laid a hand on her wrist.

“Touch me again, and I’ll give you a hex that will make your cock fall off.” Though she was certain that he would follow her, she climbed right over him and out of the booth, stomping her way to the washroom that was located at the back of the restaurant.

She slammed the door shut behind the small, single stall room and leaned back against it, her heart pounding a rapid tattoo in her chest.

“This sucks.” Aria had never been one to cry, not if she could help it. But this—there was nothing she could do about this.

Declan had tried to save her with his leaving, but she couldn’t get past the fact that he’d made the decision for her. A decision that wasn’t the one she would have made herself.

She knew her lover, and suspected Adam wouldn’t leave Salem’s Hollow—wouldn’t leave her—until she was safe.

She’d be damned if she was going to tie them to her like that when they already had each other, though if she was honest with herself, she wanted them both, wanted them willingly back in her life.

Sometimes Fate was a bitch.

Once she could breathe again, she crossed to the cracked porcelain sink. The pipes groaned and the water spurted out, tainting the air with the scent of minerals. Rinsing her face, she ground her teeth and understood what she had to do.

Closing her eyes, Aria inhaled deeply and pictured the creature she had seen earlier, the gray, ethereal shape. She focused her intentions, and at the same time channeled her energy into her fingertips.

She wasn’t afraid of a shadow creature. Wasn’t afraid of the Capitol. They were the organization that ruled over the supernatural creatures of the world, true enough, but she refused to believe that they couldn’t be beaten.

Especially not with rage filling her blood.

“Come and get me, asshole.” Aria’s voice echoed off the walls as she invited the creature to her. “If I can’t handle a little shadow demon, I don’t deserve to call myself witch.”

It took a moment before the whoosh of energy came, before she registered the out-of—place scent.

Decaying roses.

Her muscles tensed as she raised her head but saw nothing in the mirror. She didn’t trust her eyes—she could sense the demon.

She whirled, pressing her back to the sink. The thing hovered just inside the door, the size of a large man. She again sensed the lack of awareness from the creature.

Something wasn’t right. If the Capitol had sent something to get Declan back, or to hurt her in hisplace, surely they would have sent something more than this. This demon was dark, but it was as if it had been cued for one purpose only—to kill her and restore the balance altered by Lorelai’s spell. As it slid slowly, threateningly toward her, she tried to channel her magic.

Focus, she told herself. She would take care of this, of what she was suddenly sure was indeed a by-product of Lorelai’s spell, and deal with whatever shit the Capitol threw down after.

She’d accepted the need for balance, even if it meant giving up Adam and Declan. But she wasn’t the one who was going to die to accomplish it.

As she’d done outside the motel, she pictured the demon disappearing. A few sparks danced from her fingers in the direction of the creature, but the stream of power that she was trying to reach for eluded her.

Tendrils of fear began to wind their way around her muscles as her bravado disappeared and she realized that she might very well be in trouble.

“Fuck this.” Taking a precious moment to close her eyes against the threat, Aria tried to pull her magic toward her again. A short burst exploded from her fingers, slamming the creature back against the bathroom door, but it wasn’t deterred and just kept coming.

Blast, slam. Blast, slam. Aria could feel her energy draining, and it became harder to channel even the small bursts of magic.

She tried again to pull her power to her, and with her heart in her throat realized that she was drained. She had nothing left.

The creature reached for her, its arms outstretched, and Aria feinted to the side to avoid its grasp. Her foot looped behind her ankle, and she fell hard onto the tiles of the floor, jarring her spine painfully.

She shrieked as the demon turned and bent, those fingers inches away from brushing her skin.

The door exploded open, half of the door frame coming with it. A massive silvery wolf leaped into the small room, its muscles bunching with power. It flew at the demon, jaws open wide, lethal-looking teeth glinting in the neon light.

Declan was in the room a fraction of a second later. Aria was in shock as he drew a dangerous-looking blade from the hilt of his cane. His movements graceful despite his injury, he swiped the blade through the air once, twice.

As the possibility of losing him again slapped her hard in the face, Aria was faced with a hard truth.

I still love him.

Before the demon’s shadowy head separated from its body beneath Declan’s blade, Aria felt power blast through her. Raising her hands, she sent a wall of her magic careening toward the demon. It slammed into the creature—through it—and the thing floated upward before bursting into eerie amethyst flame.

The rest of its form quickly followed suit, tingeing the air with the smell of flowers.

Declan was at Aria’s side, lifting her into his arms before she could even process what had happened. With his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, he kissed her over and over again.

Something was wrong with that, but her mind was too full of Declan, and she couldn’t think what.

“Thank you.” She managed to mutter when her lips were finally free. “I...I was running out of steam.” It galled her that she hadn’t been able to handle the demon on her own, but she had her life, so she wasn’t about to complain.

“If you hadn’t run away from us...” Declan’s words were a growl. Remembering why she had run, Aria