The Princess & Her Alphaholes by Renee O’Roark

Chapter Nine

Paradox

Krinessa

When I straighten myself enough to be decent, despite now having no knickers and a far too short and tight dress, I climb from the car and gasp. We’re no longer in Haven. At least not any part of Haven I’ve ever seen. “Where are we?”

“Orion, next town over from Haven. There’s a witch who lives here who should be able to trace your mother using your blood.” Kane smirks as he looks me over from head to toe.

I wriggle my bare feet before asking, “Are we walking far, cause I don’t really go without shoes much.”

“Oh, here we go, Princess is going to hurt her delicate feet walking a few feet to the driveway.”

“Fuck you Gad. I’m not some delicate flower and I’d have shoes if you assholes would give me back my stuff.”

“The reason we never gave you back your stuff is because you can’t run if you don’t have shoes or clothes suited to running.”

I round the SUV as I reply to Gad’s stupidity, “Thank you, captain obvious. I figured that one out all on my own.”

“Would you two just kiss and make up already, I’m sick of the bickering.” Rafe snaps as he walks off towards the house across the street.

“That’s disgusting.” We both growl at the same time.

Kane tsks, “Seriously? What is wrong with you two? You clearly like each other, just get back to the car and have hot angry sex. Finding Gabriella can wait fifteen minutes if it’ll get the two of you to stop arguing.”

My face flushes red as I shake my head. I blink and Rafe marches back towards me, “Oh no babe, you can’t refuse us anything remember.” He grabs my arm as though he’s going to drag me back into the car.

“Come on before the witch decides not to help us.” Gad growls storming across the road. I wrench my arm out of Rafe’s hand and jog after Gad. Right now, he’s the lesser of two evils and he’s the only one of these damn demons who doesn’t seem to want to jump my bones.

I’m not sure what I was expecting when the guys mentioned a witch but it definitely wasn’t the beautiful model who answers the door. She’s stunning with her long auburn hair, big hazel eyes and a body that makes my curvy one look fat. I practically deflate looking upon her.

“Greetings Gadriel. Blessed be.” The witch doesn’t even have to reach up to his cheek, she’s almost the same height as him. Her cupid bow lips linger far too long to be a casual peck. My hands claw at my sides, clenching into fists then back to claws again.

I want to rip her head off. I want to scratch her face to pieces and make her as ugly on the outside as I’m feeling on the inside right now.

Am I jealous?

What the fuck? I don’t even like Gadriel. He’s annoyingly bossy. He’s a stuck-up know-it-all. A pain in the ass. An asshole! I don’t like him, I’m not jealous. Nope. I’m just pissed cause those demons put the idea of sex with Gadriel in my head. It’s not jealousy. Nope. Not at all.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Krinessa.” The witch literally purrs the words interrupting my thoughts. I can’t speak, too afraid that the venom in my veins will spill out into my words. I simply nod as she ushers us all inside her house.

Even her house is beautiful. I groan silently.

It couldn’t be any cleaner. I feel like I should be wearing a body condom just so I don’t touch anything. I tug on the hem of my dress, hoping my nakedness isn’t being reflected by the shiny tile floors.

The witch leads us into a dining room that screams money; Dark mahogany table and matching chairs with actual silk cushions that match the silk runner laid down in the middle of the table. Even the gold vase in the centre is obnoxiously perfect with a single red rose bud.

“Please have a seat; I’ll be right back.” She doesn’t look at me as she speaks, only has eyes for the guys.

I don’t want to dirty up her cushions. I feel like a kid who’s wondered into a china shop and is too afraid to touch anything for fear of punishment. The guys don’t seem to have that problem though, they pull chairs out and sit like it’s just any normal house. I hover by the doorway, unsure where my place would be even if I could bring myself to sit. No one says a word as we wait for the witch to return.

She sashays into the room like she’s modelling the items she’s carrying. Gadriel’s eyes follow her every move as she lays bowls and herbs out on the table, but what hurts more is that both Kane and Rafe also watch her closely, hunger evident on their faces. It’s not a hunger for food, that’s for sure.

It’s almost as though I’ve been forgotten standing here in the doorway. I’ve never felt this insecure and unsure. Not ever. I’m tempted to slowly back out of the room and run away, but at the same time, I really want to see if we can find my mother. She’s got a lot to answer for and one way or another, I’m determined to get the answers.

Pulling my big girl panties on, metaphorically considering I’m not currently wearing any, I cross the room and stand directly in the guy’s line of sight, right next to the witch. “So, what does all this entail?”

“Well, it’s fairly simple. You stand here while I bleed you dry.” The witch cackles.

“What?” I back away, glancing at the guys for help. They’re still frozen, staring at the place the witch was last. I whirl on the spot, trying to figure out where the fuck she went. My heart leaps into my throat as she appears out of nowhere right in front of me. “You didn’t actually think three strapping demons would walk you in here without killing you, did you?”

My mouth opens and closes but no sound comes out. The bitch laughs at me, “You seriously thought they brought you here to help. Oh, you poor pathetic human, you actually fell for their seduction.”

The bitch waves her hand and a ball of fire appears in her palm. Again, I open my mouth, this time to scream, but still nothing comes out.

“It’s always the same old story, hapless human lured in by the sexiness of demons, exchanges her soul for youth and longevity.” She throws the fire ball while laughingly saying, “Sad, pathetic humans.”

My body reacts before my mind catches up, I dodge to the left, but the fireball curves following me. It hits me square in the chest. I swat at my dress, sure that I’m going to burst into flames, but the fire just vanishes, leaving no sign it was ever there. The witch looks shocked for a second before she snaps out of it and throws another ball of fire, this one bigger, but the same thing happens.

Something comes over me. I step forward, no longer running scared. My lips pull up into a smirk, knowing full well that the bitch can’t hurt me with her fire. She throws ball after ball but each one is absorbed into me, filling me with a sense of strength that I’ve never felt before.

I step closer, watching as the witch’s hazel eyes widen impossibly.

One single touch is all it takes. The demons leap to their feet as the witch’s face starts to practically melt, her surreal beauty sliding off, being replaced by the signs of age. Wrinkles form on her skin starting with her brow, then cascading down her entire body until she looks like nothing more than a mummified husk.

I watch the whole thing play out as though in slow motion as the witch’s body turns to dust and falls apart.

“Well, that was creepy.” Rafe laughs, “But we have everything we need for the spell, waste not want not….” He trails off as he moves around the table, leaping gracefully to avoid the pile of dust that was once the witch. “Come here babe, just need a drop of your blood and we should be good to go.”

“Are you fucking kidding me, that bitch said you brought me here to drain me dry.”

“She lied. The spell only requires a drop of blood. We’d have done it ourselves but gathering the ingredients would have taken us weeks. Most witches have them on hand so we cut a few corners and well, now we don’t have to pay the witch to do the spell, we can just do it ourselves and be on our way.”

My jaw is hanging. They’re not even asking questions about what happened, just went straight for what they want with no care for anyone else.

“Is it normal for humans to kill witches with their bare hands?”

“Nope.” Gadriel grunts.

“Is anyone going to explain to me what the fuck just happened then?”

“Nope.” He grunts again.

“Fine, then I’m not giving you any of my blood.” I back up and realise my mistake when I back myself into a corner.

“Just fucking tell her Gadriel, I know you’ve figured it out.” Kane moves over to Rafe, reading over his shoulder and adding things to the bowl.

“I don’t want to.” The whine in Gadriel’s voice has my head snapping back to him.

“Just fucking spit it out, we’ve only got another fifteen minutes or we’ll have to wait a whole month to perform this spell.” Rafe’s practically begging as he continues to add ingredients to the bowl with a measuring spoon.

“Fine. There’s only one creature in all existence who can kill a witch like you just did.”

“And that creature is?” I prod, as I inch closer to Gadriel.

“A Cabaris.”

My mind is muddled, I’m sure I heard him wrong, so I blurt out the only thing that makes sense to me, “Cerberus like the mythical three headed dog?”

“No, a Cabaris.” He pronounces it Cab-a-riss. “Lilith’s vessel.”

“Vessel for what?” I’m right next to him now, but he’s not looking at me like I’m some kind of bug under his shoe, he’s now looking at me as though I’m something special. Rare.

“No time for that explanation now, we really need to get this done.” Rafe grabs my arm, leading me over to their side of the table. He pricks my finger with a knife before I can protest, then drips the blood onto a map. Nothing happens at first, but after a few seconds the map starts to change, the names and lines blurring until only a single town name remains readable. “Norston?” Rafe hisses, “What the fuck is in Norston?”

Kane searches the web on his phone. For a moment, I stare blankly, then I roll my eyes. I’d facepalm myself if the guys weren’t around. Of course, demons have phones. Why wouldn’t they?

“Apparently Norston is home to the world’s best cupcakes.” Kane skims through whatever he’s reading on his phone then returns his gaze to me, “It’s also the only place in the world with no known mythology. Not a single terrible thing has ever happened there, not even an unnatural death or accident. Apparently, it’s the safest place on Earth.”

“Well, we have a place to start. Come along little paradox, let’s go find your mother.” The way Gadriel says mother makes it sound as though he doubts that’s who she really is. After his little reveal about me being a Cabaris, I’m beginning to wonder if he might be right. Perhaps my mother’s lies are more numerous than I originally thought.