The Witching Hour 🌶🌶🌶

HOLLY

The crowd was stunned into silence.

I looked around at their faces, all filled with confusion.

This wasn’t the plan. I had thought of the idea, which meant that it was my body that would be used for the ceremony.

Tyler stared directly at me, her face stoic.

“What in the hell’s going on?” Ekon asked.

I’d been so shocked by Tyler volunteering that I’d almost forgotten ~why~ we were here.

“I’ll do it,” Tyler reiterated. “I’ll be the vessel for your mother.”

A gasp went through the crowd as if they hadn’t heard her the first time.

“Is this really what you want?” Bambi asked.

She’d stepped forward with Ekon, her arm wrapped around his. The look on her face told me she was as uncertain as the rest of us.

“It was my idea,” I said finally. “I should be the vessel.”

My voice wavered, but I cleared my throat and sucked in a breath of chilly air.

“There’s no need to feel like you have to do ~everything~,” Tyler said. “You’ve done more than enough for Ekon. You already saved his life!”

Voices in the crowd began to murmur.

“We discussed the plan,” Ekon growled. “Now you’re trying to change it all.”

Ekon was growing more and more agitated. I wasn’t sure Bambi would be able to hold him back much longer.

Tyler stepped closer to me, just on the other side of the salt circle. She looked at me again, this time with pleading eyes.

“Devina chose me,” Tyler said. “She controlled my thoughts, my actions, my ~emotions~. I had no childhood because of her.”

I could feel my throat go dry as I heard the evil witch’s name. My skin grew warm, and the palms of my hands were sweating.

“And when I was caught, she turned her back on me. For years I was locked away. When I finally was freed, Devina found me again. She didn’t want to let me go.”

“She did the same to me,” I said.

Tyler smiled, but it was filled with sadness.

“We’re not the only ones,” Tyler reminded me. “But if I let Rose’s spirit enter my body, we just might be the last ones she harms.”

For the first time since our gathering, excitement swept over the crowd.

She was right. The worry of allowing someone else to take over had clouded my judgment.

Tyler was ready. She’d spent years in solitude, training herself to never let Devina’s magic have control of her again.

I’d only recently broken Devina’s hold over my mind. If I couldn’t overcome my fears, I might once again find myself trying to escape my own nightmare…

“Holly.”

It was Ekon, trying to get my attention.

“Tyler should be the vessel,” I replied.

“Is this what ~you~ want?” Bambi asked.

I nodded and stepped out of the circle of salt. Tyler stood for a few moments, staring at the place where my feet had just been.

“Thank you,” she said, stepping gingerly into the center of the pentagram.

I joined Bambi and Ekon by his mother’s tomb. The harsh lights looked so different on this side of the circle…

“Ekon gave me a new life,” Tyler said. “When the battle started, I had to leave him behind. Now, I can finally repay him for all he’s done. I’m honored to be your mother’s vessel.”

Ekon’s breath caught in his chest. Emotions were beginning to well up inside us all. There was no telling how we would process them when the ritual was complete…

Once again, I found Tyler staring into my eyes. She nodded.

“Let us begin,” she said.

I stepped in front of the entrance of the tomb. I looked to Ela and held out my hands.

She hurried over, holding a tabby cat. It meowed and struggled to get away, no doubt cold and confused.

But that would all be over soon enough…

Ela also handed over a large knife, which I slid into the loop of my jeans, careful to not cut myself.

I looked into the cat’s eyes and kissed its wet little nose.

“Your sacrifice,” I said, “will save countless lives.”

Before the cat could struggle any longer, I snapped its neck.

The crowd groaned, but the ritual was only beginning.

“Hold hands,” I commanded. “Everyone must join together.”

It took several moments, but the circle of hands was finally complete. We were all gathered, looking directly at Rosette’s tomb.

“Look at her portrait,” I said. “Try to remember the look of her eyes and every curve of her face.”

I slowly circled the pentagram, careful to not disturb the salt. Taking the knife in my hands, I held the cat’s dead body over the pentagram.

I’d circled all the way back to the top, with the point of the star aiming right at Rosette’s grave.

I steadied my breath and began to slice.

Blood poured from the open wounds of the carcass and pooled at the tip of the pentagram.

A few members of the gathering began to shake. I assumed some of it was the cold, but I knew some of it was nerves…

“Focus on Rose,” I said. “Focus on bringing back her spirit.”

I placed the carcass in a burlap sack and laid it aside. Then I turned my full attention on the woman standing in the middle.

Tyler’s eyes were closed tight. Her body stood frozen like a statue.

I opened my mouth and began to chant. At first, the words were foreign to me—a lost language that had just been rediscovered.

But with each new word, I recognized the incantation. It was one of the many that Professor Zillana had taught me.

My focus began to wane as I thought back on the ceremony she’d put me through…

~The black cat.~

~The pool of blood.~

~Devina’s eyes boring into my soul…~

I gasped for breath and shook the horrible memories from my head.

Devina wasn’t here. And if this worked as planned, we would finally have a chance to stop her.

I continued the grotesque incantation, feeling my body humming with energy.

The blood at my feet began to bubble and tremble.

It was working! We were calling out to Rose’s spirit!

My palms raised up and pointed at Tyler. I closed my eyes once more and focused on the power of the odd words falling from my mouth.

The energy humming in my body transferred to the ground around us. Small tremors began to rumble. I could feel the earth beneath my feet rising!

The many lights highlighting the tomb began to flicker.

One by one, bulbs popped and sizzled.

A few people shrieked, but we continued to hold hands.

Finally, after a shower of sparks and glass, it was over.

We were in total darkness.

“Did it work?” Ekon asked. “Mom? Are you there?”

A dark figure carefully moved toward Ekon’s voice. The figure reached out and rested a hand on Ekon’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Tyler said. “It didn’t work.”

EKON

I screamed so loudly that it shook the doors to my chambers.

I grabbed a carafe of water and held it high in the air.

“Don’t you do it,” Bambi warned. “If you break that, I’m leaving you alone tonight.”

Weary and defeated, I set the carafe down gently and threw myself on the bed.

“I can’t believe it didn’t work,” he said. “After all the preparation and stress…my mother is still gone.”

Bambi’s body plopped down beside me, and she laid her small hand on my chest.

“We did everything we could,” she assured me. “There’s nothing left to do.”

I shook my head angrily. It didn’t make sense! I’d seen firsthand the power of a witch’s magic.

With the power of black magic, so many doors could be opened. But it seemed that for now, my mother’s tomb would remain locked.

And her spirit might never grace this compound again.

Tyler was still Tyler.

Holly was still Holly.

The ritual had failed.

Bambi kissed my cheek and then followed the outline of my jaw. Each new kiss sent a quiver down my spine.

“I know it didn’t work as planned,” Bambi said between kisses. “But can’t we just be glad that we’re together again?”

Bambi was right.

Our lives had been filled with struggle and disappointment. Devina and Matthias were still on the run. There was no telling what horrific plan they had in store…

But we were still together. And I would do everything in my power to keep it that way.

I pulled Bambi on top of my body and kissed her hard, tasting the sweetness of her tongue.

She moaned into my mouth, and it made my body burn with lust.

My hands slipped under her shirt and traced the notches of her spine, finally stopping at the bra.

I unsnapped it with deft fingers and then helped pull off her shirt.

Bambi dipped her breasts into my face, the soft skin caressing my lips.

My mouth opened, and I welcomed her inside, sucking on her nipples as she freed herself from her pants.

She pulled away from me, and within seconds she was at my belt buckle. My pants slid off my legs, and I ripped off my shirt, tossing it across the room.

Bambi straddled my hips, her wet mound teasing my hard member. But I grabbed her body and twisted over, laying her down on her back.

I kissed my way down her stomach until I felt the warmth of her core.

Slowly, gently, I lapped her with my tongue, savoring the taste of her juices.

Bambi was the only meal I wanted to have. Our love gave me all the sustenance I ever needed.

Her fingers entwined in my hair, and she pressed my face tighter to her mound.

“Oh, Goddess,” she cried. “Just like that. Don’t stop.”

My lips enclosed around her swollen clit, and I sucked gently as I slipped a finger inside her body.

She writhed beneath me, but her firm grip on my head refused to let me go.

Finally, she pulled me free, and I gasped for breath. I’d been down longer than expected— a deep-sea diver not wanting to return to the surface.

Her hand wrapped around my cock and rubbed the tip up and down on her outer lips.

I could hear her gasps and felt her body tremble. Then she shot her hips forward, and her pussy swallowed my cock.

Particles of light danced on the edges of my blindness, giving flashes of color to the darkness as if my wolf were about to emerge.

My tongue circled her nipple as my hips thrust back and forth. Bambi’s hands wrapped around my ass and pulled me closer.

There was nothing left to give— I was completely inside, and she refused to let me pull out even a little.

“Keep it right there,” she moaned.

Even on her back, she was able to generate unbelievable power. With her hands holding my ass so hard that I was inside as far as I could go, she gyrated her hips.

Then, it was my turn to moan.

“Oh…my…”

It happened so quickly I could barely comprehend the moment.

I took several short breaths as Bambi continued to fuck me to climax. My nails dug into the sheets as I came inside her.

The sensation was overwhelming, and Bambi must have felt the same way. She moaned so loudly that I was worried our servants might feel the need to interrupt.

Her hips continued to move back and forth, but much slower than before. Eventually, we found ourselves lying on one another, our limbs entwined.

I could smell the sweat on her body.

Overcome with desire in the afterglow of our love, I sucked on her nipples one last time, savoring the salt on her skin.

I was so content in the moment that I didn’t hear the knock on the chamber door. And I certainly didn’t know there was a figure approaching our bed.

But Bambi realized something was off. Her gasp drew my attention back to reality.

That’s when I felt it—the presence of someone else in the room.

“Ekon,” a voice called out.

It was a female. And the sound of her voice was so ~familiar~. Like I’d known her from a past life…

I pulled myself from Bambi and arranged the sheets around our naked bodies.

“Who’s there?” I asked uneasily.

“It’s Tyler,” Bambi whispered. “She’s standing over the bed.”

There was a moment of silence before I heard the voice again.

“I’m not Tyler,” the voice said. “Ekon, don’t you remember me? Don’t you know who I am?”

My jaw dropped, and I fumbled for words.

Could it really be true? Had the impossible finally happened?

“Mother…is that you?”