Flames of Chaos Read online

  He moved to the box, opening it before he held the candle up and exposed the wire. Rats. Not figuratively, but literally. The wiring had been chewed apart, exposing wires that had touched together and shorted out because of it. I expelled the air from my lungs and then screamed as something ran over my bare foot. I spun around, backing up until I was against Knox’s frame.

  “The little witch fears rats too?” he purred against the shell of my ear.

  “They’re rodents and carry the plague.”

  Lips brushed my ear, sending heat swirling through my entire body until every nerve ending exploded to life within me. “You’re right, you’re not normal. Aria the witch, afraid of the dark and rats,” he murmured before I felt his nose touching my hair, inhaling it. “You smell of blood and roses.”

  I turned my head, staring at him. “I thought you didn’t like witches?”

  “I don’t, but you don’t smell like a witch. You don’t act like one or wield magic as you should. You’re a puzzle, and I like to tear puzzles apart.”

  “You figured all that out in the little time you’ve known me? You don’t know me. You know nothing about me.”

  “You don’t like the dark if there are walls around you, boxing you in. Your shampoo is rose-scented, and you add your own concoction to it to enhance the scent. You don’t pull from nature to wield magic, you just fucking use it without thought. Your eyes are turquoise, but when you’re turned on, they’re more blue than green. When you’re angry, they’re more green than blue. I’d hate to look into them when you cried because they’re the kind of eyes that expose a soul and everything within it when you’re wounded. You’re five-foot-three, almost the national average for women but a smidge shorter. And you have pretty titties with little pink nipples that get hard at the sound of my voice when it is lowered. You’re also a virgin. I know that not because of what your sister said, but because you reek of the need to be bent over and made into a woman.”

  “They do not!” I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest. “And I do not.”

  “Prove to me that they’re not hard right now.” His voice escaped his throat as a mix of lust and gravel that had my nipples hard enough to cut glass.

  “Most of that stuff I have told you myself,” I said, changing the subject as his eyes lowered with a smirk covering his mouth.

  He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I still know it, and it is true.” He looked around the room and paused as he took in the skeletal remains on the ancient altar. “Family?”

  “Hecate’s mate,” I admitted softly since it was widely known he was in here. Or, we assumed it was who was in the basement, powering the house. Supposedly, it was Mom and Aurora’s father. “The lore says that he sacrificed his life to protect his line. Some say it is Merlin himself, but I don’t buy it. Hecate is the reason witches shed their inhibitions and rut like wild animals, never sticking to one male more often than not. She wanted to ensure her line never died out, so she spelled the blood to fuck like rabbits.”

  “And you?” he asked.

  “I don’t throw myself at men.” I was uncertain of why I was divulging anything to him. “I am an anomaly, according to my sisters. It may be whatever I am from my father’s line, but then I have no idea what or who he was.”

  “Because you’re still a virgin,” he chuckled darkly.

  “That’s really none of your business, and just because my sister said I was, doesn’t mean I am.”

  “You are definitely a virgin, Aria. I can smell it on you. Your pureness, the scent of an untouched woman, is very rare. You fucking reek of it. This town will eat you alive, like a lamb to the slaughter.”

  “They’ll try,” I agreed with his assessment of the town absently before locking my gaze to his. “And they’ll die. I am no lamb. I have the blood of a goddess coursing through my veins. Whatever my father added to my genes, it’s powerful. Do try to leave the state of my pussy off your tongue, and out of your mouth. Keep that in mind when you are watching me, Knox.”

  “Why did you and your sisters really come back to Haven Falls?” he countered, catching me off guard.

  “It wasn’t by choice. This is the last place I ever wanted to be. My sisters are here, so I am too. Are you done interrogating me, because my sisters are home?” No sooner had I said it then the sound of laughter and chatter sounded upstairs. “Next time bring whiskey if you plan to act helpful to interrogate me, Knox. You’re the king, you should know that getting a maiden to lower her guard and expose her secrets takes more than being shirtless and disarming her with a smile. You want me to spill secrets, work for it.”

  “Hey, we brought beer and candles! I don’t think we impressed the other families, either. Most are outside, glaring at us,” Valeria shouted down the stairs. “Ew, there’s blood everywhere.”

  “Rodent blood,” Luna disclosed in a bored tone. “Lots of it, too!”

  “They sound fun.” Knox didn’t look away from me, even though I’d just called him out.

  “They’re the life of the party,” I muttered, watching him closely.

  “Are they now? One might think you would be with your inability to stay upright sober.” Bright blue eyes watched me as my gaze narrowed, and a smile covered my mouth softly. I wasn’t stupid; I could see him using his phone to snap photos in the darkened basement.

  “You can put your phone away now. The house won’t allow you to snap photos of the altar. It protects itself from intruders and spilling secrets. Goodnight, Knox.” I turned, heading up the stairs without a backward glance as he followed behind me.

  I accepted a beer from Luna as Knox breached the doorway, causing all chatter in the house to silent instantly. Every eye turned from his naked chest to where I sat with my bottle of Corona perched at my lips. He nodded to them, turning to me.

  “There are no electricians in Haven Falls. The nearest one is two towns over, but your little altar might be an issue since he’s human. Brander, my brother, is good with wiring. I’ll send him over in the morning, so you stop killing the power for the entire fucking block. Goodnight, Aria.”

  “Night, Knox,” I stated, staring at the muscles that rippled in his back with every step he took toward the door. When he vanished from sight, Luna snorted and patted me on the back.

  “Girl, you better let him pluck that cherry. You don’t see men like that these days. If you’re not going to fuck him, let us know. He’s yummy.”

  “You can have him,” I stated. “I’m going to bed.”

  Chapter 6

  Brander showed up before the sun even appeared in the sky. I opened the door, staring at him as I cleared the sleep from my eyes. We’d spent the entire night in the front room, getting drunk. Not because we’d been afraid of the dark, but because we spent most nights drunk together to ignore our personal issues. It was just easier.

  The truth about witches was, we liked to party a lot. We liked to be loud and let loose. It was just easier to ignore the intense strain magic had on us than dealing with it. We compartmentalized it, stowing it away until it became too hard to contain, and we ended up letting it out at the worst time possible. That could be dangerous, considering we were supposed to keep our existence secret from the humans.

  It was residue from being created, being manufactured into the most perfect magic casters this realm had ever known, or would ever know. Hecate herself was a party-driven goddess. She’d enjoyed living life fast and hard, and held back very little from the realms she’d lived within.

  “You must be Brander?” Sleepily, I covered my mouth to protect him from my morning breath as I yawned.

  “I am. I hear your wires got chewed, and you need some assistance?” I’d changed last night, unwilling to sleep in the dress I’d bought for my homecoming. In hindsight, that had been a terrible idea because Brander’s heated gaze slid down my body before looking over my shoulder into the front room where limbs mixed in a mess of bodies, whistling low in his throat. “Lord have mercy, how many of you are there?�
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  “Sixteen; eight sets of twins.” Crossing my arms over my black Snitches Get Stitches tank top, I studied him.

  Brander didn’t look a damn thing like Knox, other than being the same ungodly height. Where Knox’s hair seemed to absorb the light and become lighter or darker based on it, Brander’s was jet black and shined with a blue hue that made his blue eyes stand out more, if it was even possible. Brander’s skin was lighter, as if he didn’t spend his time in the sun and instead preferred the indoors. He had similar tattoos on his arms, but each one had been done in a different color of ink. The top he wore was dark blue, hiding little of the sleek build that pulsed beneath the fabric. I stepped aside, indicating he should enter.

  “The electrical box is this way.” He narrowed his baby blues on me, and I noted his hands were empty. “Did you bring tools?”

  “I need to peek at the mess first. See what I’ll need to get the job done.”

  I nodded, realizing it made sense for him to look at what was wrong before dragging his tools around. At the kitchen, I frowned at the dried blood and observed as he moved past it without blinking despite there being a fair amount.

  It still made no sense why there was fresh rodent blood in the house when we arrived. I also couldn’t explain the creature that had vanished without leaving a magical trail or a thumbprint in the air when we had arrived. I’d been unable to sense anything, other than the scent of cinnamon, which had been so faint I hadn’t been sure it had been there.

  Once down the staircase, I stepped aside, noting his eyes slowly took in the heavily lit altar that was being prepared for tonight.

  Homecomings meant increasing the power to the altar, strengthening the connection from it to the house, which would protect us if the need arose. The skeletal figure had been refreshed, dusted off, and bathed in fresh, clean water. Quartz and Amethyst stones now circled the surrounding floor, with candles placed in the pentagram to strengthen the spell using the five-pointed star.

  On the altar, next to the skeleton, were shards of Moonstones for protection and obsidian crystals for grounding magic and adding power, as well as protection for energy. Smaller, polished rocks in an impressive array of colors were styled into symbols, as a single piece of vellum sat rolled into a scroll in the skeleton’s hands.

  Tilting his head to the side, Brander looked at the altar before turning back to look at me. “The fuck you guys into?”

  “It’s strengthening the house.” I ignited the sage that sat in small rose quart bowls. “Sorry, that may stink a bit. Are your senses heightened? I can extinguish it if they are.” I was fishing, searching for any clue that would fill me in on what Knox was.

  “I don’t mind a little sage now and then, little witchy.” Shrugging, he moved to the box to study the wiring.

  Standing behind him, I stared at the damage done to the wires. “There’s no way a rat did that kind of damage.”

  The wires weren’t exposed, they were gnawed through, tied together to short the entire house the moment someone flipped the breaker. I had somehow narrowly escaped being electrocuted last night. Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic since I’d had rubber soles on my boots, but someone had dripped blood from the kitchen to the electrical panel. Gauging from the appearance and damage to the panel, they’d drained a giant rodent right in front of it, creating a pool of blood for some lucky asshole to stand in as they flipped the breaker.

  “No, a rat couldn’t have done this. This was done by a human. You see how the wires are braided? They intended to knock out the power to the house, but I’m guessing something stopped them before they succeeded in doing so. The nasty pool of blood, right there? That would have fried the poor bastard who flipped the switch since the power isn’t off at the main breaker, it’s just been redirected. This won’t be an easy fix. See here?” Brander pointed at one of the wires behind the box. “They cut the power to something, probably a room. You will need some serious rewiring considering the age of this box.”

  “How much will that run us?” I asked, chewing my lip absently.

  “Knox said to fix it.” Rubbing his thumb over his mouth, he calculated the materials cost in his head. “Probably about three something, or so.”

  “Three hundred dollars?” That wasn’t as bad as I had thought it would be.

  Laughing, he shook his head. “No, it’s going to run you about three thousand or so. Not too much, considering the amount of damage.”

  “No, that’s not bad,” I swallowed hard, hating the way my stomach flipped with the idea of finding that much money without touching the Hecate account our mother used. If we used that account, she’d know right where we were. I could overdraw a different account, but I had no idea where I’d get the money to pay it back. The shop hadn’t made money since Amara vanished, and no deposits had been posted since she’d arrived here. It was another reason we’d come back. “I’ll get it.” Brander’s lips curved into a dark smirk with my words.

  Giving the skeleton a once over, he started up the stairs. “I’ll be back tomorrow to pick up the money.”

  “Thank you.” Glancing one more time at the box, I started up the stairs after him. Reaching the kitchen, I looked at Brander before I spoke. “Is Knox home?”

  “Yeah, he’s the prick who woke me up and sent me over at the asscrack of dawn to assist you ladies.”

  “Thanks, Brander…?” I paused before tilting my head innocently. “I don’t know your last name.”

  “I didn’t offer it,” he shrugged, smirking, and left the house before I could question him more.

  Great, more shit to deal with for coming back to this place of hell. Like we weren’t having enough issues coming home?

  Chapter 7

  I explained the situation to the others, and instead of listening to everyone complain about the lack of power in the middle of summer, I made my way to my room where I washed in a bucket of cold water from the creek out back to freshen up, since there apparently was no water either. Two hours later, I stared into the mirror, impressed that I looked even somewhat alive. No coffee had been brewed, no breakfast had been cooked, and the little water I’d gotten from the creek was ice-cold this early in the morning.

  As if this homecoming hadn’t been a mental fuck of ungodly proportions, it had also been the most inconvenient, sour event of the last twelve years of my life. I picked up my phone, staring at the red battery that flashed on the screen’s corner, and set it back down.

  On the dresser was a bottle of three hundred-year-old scotch, which had once been wasting away in the cellar. It was the one bottle I’d been saving for a celebration, but considering the clusterfuck we were in, I doubted that would happen anytime soon.

  I couldn’t change the situation, but I could be thankful for the asshole that was extending an olive branch, even if it was laced with thorns. Knox had been right; we couldn’t call in an actual electrician since the altar couldn’t be moved no matter what happened to the house. We had built the mansion around the altar. Add-on after add-on had been built until Freya and Aurora were happy with the result, which to a sane person was a mess.

  The altar had been the central power source of the house before they added electricity. Instead of placing the electrical panel away from the altar, they’d damn near placed it on top of it. The floors were mazes of doors and hallways. Trying to find your bedroom drunk? Damn near impossible to achieve. It wasn’t unheard of to end up in your sister’s bedroom on the floor because you ended up lost in the maze.

  I slipped on soft black sandals and took one last glance at the black skater dress I wore, checking my reflection before grabbing the aged bottle of scotch and heading downstairs. Fifteen minutes of zigzagging through the doors and hallways, I paused in the front room. No one had moved yet, not even Aine, who had Luna’s foot in her face.

  Exiting the house, I paused briefly to take in the people who sat on their porches, watching me. Welcome to Freakville, population unknown.

  I closed the fron
t door behind me, whispering a spell to seal it against harm before I started toward the largest house on the block. Okay, I wasn’t sure it could be considered most impressive since it was gated and appeared to be larger than the entire block, which was saying something since all the houses here were huge mansions. It sat back further, hidden behind gates and shrubbery, unlike the others.

  At the gate, I pushed the intercom button and waited, staring as the gate opened without a single noise. I walked up the driveway, noting the articulate landscaping and fountains that made up his yard. Parked in front of the house was the dark SUV he’d showed up in last night, and beside it sat a Bugatti Chiron Sport, which cost more than I’d made in my entire life. It wasn’t shocking that it was a pretty ocean-blue in coloring, or that it said King One on the license plate.

  I grabbed the metal knocker and pounded three times before stepping back. A man in a black tux opened the door before I’d even made it the full step back. He had keen gray eyes, and his graying dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, away from his face.

  “You’re unexpected,” he said, annoyed by my presence.

  “I came by to apologize to Knox about last night, and to thank him for his help,” I offered in the way of explaining my unannounced presence.

  “Who is it, Greer?” A cultivated feminine voice asked.

  “A guest for the master.” Clearly annoyed, he stepped back, pushing the door open so she could see me.

  “I see,” she stated.

  The woman had midnight-colored hair that hung in soft waves to her ass. Her eyes were outlined in dark kohl, and ruby red lips pursed with something more than disdain as she took me in. Her outfit, if you could call it that, was a sheer nightgown that left little to the imagination. Emerald green eyes studied me before settling on the bottle of scotch and then turning as power exuded into the room.