Ravish Her: Descended from a Witch, #2

By Atlas Rose

The power of my Hexer's stays with me…

It's what I hold onto when evil descends and chilling darkness comes. 

Hate rules our world. 

Hiding behind the face of a King.

And now he's come for me. 

He wants answers I don't have. 

Answers that lie in the whispers of the past.

Only three Hexers stand in his way…and they'll do it for love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Atlas Rose
• Release date: Sep 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201086572

Book preview

PROLOGUE

WILDS

Then…

---

The world trembled and shuddered as the deafening blare of a horn filled the air. I stilled, breaths heavy, heart hammering…my skin slick with blood, and lifted my gaze.

Movement came from all around me as my brothers, bound by purpose, lifted their heads, the Hexers’ call undeniable.

They moved in silence. Others like me, not men…but beasts riding a mortal form.

Hundreds of them, marching toward the towering outcrop at the edge of Nosaroc, to where the Hex God waited for his audience to come.

I lifted my hand and drew the flat of the blade across my palm, watching the smear find the crevices in my palm. Lines that once had meaning. Head line. Life line…heart line.

You fight hard, Wilds, a Hexer murmured in front of me.

It was his blood I wore, glistening and bright under the dimming sun. I gave a nod and glanced at the wounds on his arm and across his chest, then lowered my weapon.

The call waited for no man…let alone me.

I moved with the others, soundlessly obeying that beast inside, and walked through the training grounds. Gray skies waited at the edge of the clearing. Lightning flickered amongst silver clouds. But there was no boom of thunder, and no strike of a bolt. Only power waited here…power and immortality.

Others pushed in, their gaze trained on the towering figure waiting for us in the distance. I swallowed a shudder of fear and kept on moving, until the army of men spread out before him.

He towered above us, still, soundless…waiting. I lifted my gaze as we came close, and then craned my head higher. Hex we call him, born from the dark ancients, seeped in magic blood and carved from primal bones.

Standing eight feet tall, he was terrifying. His chalky gray skin was marred with scars in patterns that ran over the swell of his massive chest and then down his body.

But it was the horns that riveted my gaze. Pale, thick, and unbranched. The base consumed his head from almost the top of his skull down to his jaw, before curving outwards. His dark, sunken eyes held no glimmer of compassion. He stared at us with the same unflinching stare we saw in each other. Cold. Savage. Inhuman.

I turned inwards, trying to find a flicker of purpose, and found none. I was a shell…an empty, hollow shell with only one purpose…and that was to wait.

I lifted my hand and pushed the hair from my eyes. Calloused fingers snagged the strands and yanked. Pain flared, stinging for an instant until the silver strands broke free.

Still, I felt nothing. I cared about nothing. Not the fighting, or the existing. Not even about the flesh I wore…or the man I could’ve been.

If only things had been different.

But they weren’t different. My soul had been swapped for something else, something darker…something driven by purpose and not by love. I lifted my gaze once more. Hex was that purpose. To serve. To control. That was all I cared about…just like every other male standing here.

Witches. They were the reason we existed. To hunt…to control. To rid the world of their power and restore the balance of good.

I’d waited for what felt like an eternity to be chosen, but there were so many of us—I turned and glanced along the rows and rows of males just like me. Men whose purpose lay within the pointed finger of a god. So, we waited…until our turn.

The ashen god took a step forward on the dais, lips curled, his voice a chilling whisper of rage. Three Witches.

Three…only three.

I closed my eyes and exhaled. I’d hoped for a plague of them…for clear purpose. But only three…and three of us would be chosen. Hex lifted his hand, thick forefinger curled as he dragged it through the air.

A tremor cut through me as his finger pointed along the rows and rows of waiting hunters. I grew restless, shifting on my feet, my stomach tightening, as row by row the god above scanned every man, searching the eyes of every Hexer.

I lowered my gaze. First to the bald head of the male in front of me, and then to the middle of his back. Fear quickened my pulse as cold danced across my skin. My arms prickled, goosebumps raced. Something was happening to me. Something I’d not felt before, a kind of sickness…

Pressure built inside my head, like fists at my temples, crushing and driving. Still that finger kept moving. I could feel it. Feel the movement…feel the need. With a jerk of my head, I wrenched my gaze upwards, meeting the infernal eyes of Hex. His finger stilled, hovering in the air on the male next to me.

The warrior’s breath caught. A moan tore free, low and snarling, filled with purpose, until with a shift of his finger, our god pointed at me. You.

Cold surged, carving through flesh and bone to find the beast underneath. I couldn’t move…couldn’t feel, as Hex shifted his stance and pointed to a male at my back. And you.

I risked a glance over my shoulder, to a towering beast of a man. Pale gunmetal eyes met mine.

And you, Hex commanded.

He pointed at another, a smaller man with short brown hair and piercing blue eyes.

One Witch, Hex said. You hunt.

One Witch?

I jerked my gaze to our god. There must be some kind of mistake. But there was no confusion in his eyes. Only danger…only a command.

Serve.

The need roared through me.

You, Hex stated. You…and you. You will hunt one Witch.

Three more Hexers…chosen for another Witch.

Hex chose once more, selecting three more of us, and gave the command. One Witch.

Three Witches and nine of us? It’d never happened before.

Three Witches…three powerful Witches…

Who the fuck were they?

1

Now…

---

"D o not harm her!" Wilds roared.

He took one look at me, and then turned to the King’s Commander and his battalion of soldiers.

I saw the moment of defeat in his eyes. Dark pupils shimmered with purpose and then dulled as he curled his lip and spoke. "Ever is our prisoner. The Hexer took a step forward. Ours to capture and return to the King."

"She doesn’t look like a prisoner to me, Hexer."

Wilds changed in an instant. His spine straightened, lip unfurled. The look of rage was gone in a heartbeat…like it hadn’t been there at all.

There was only indifference now. Only cold, stony emptiness, the kind I’d not seen before. "You think we need steel to shackle our prisoners, mortal?"

Mortal? My heart thundered with the words. I shook my head. Wilds…

Hexer! Wilds snarled as he wrenched his gaze to me. Hate and desperation detonated in his eyes. He advanced, that hateful stare never once shifting from me. "You will obey, Witch, or I’ll be forced to make you bleed again."

Bleed again?

What do you mean, Hexer? The Commander stepped forward, brows raised, excitement quickening his breath. You hurt the Witch? I didn’t think that was possible.

Show them, Wilds snarled. Show them what I did to you the last time you tried to run.

Sparks detonated against the night in his eyes. There was a twitch of his lips, before he lowered his gaze to my side. Show them how my blade cut deep, and tell them. Tell them how you bled, screaming and pleading.

Breaths sawed from my chest as I tried to understand. I trusted him…trusted him with my life. Trusted him with my heart. Agony cut deep. Why wasn’t he fighting for me? So I did what he said. My fingers trembled as I reached for my shirt and lifted.

Breaths caught all around me. Someone muttered, Goddess above, that scar.

But I never looked away, only held that infernal gaze of the man I’d made love to hours before. This wasn’t him…this wasn’t anything like him. Not this shell of a man…

So, you see, Wilds answered. She is very much our prisoner. We were already on our way back to the King, and back into chains for her.

Then I’m glad we caught up with you, Hexer, the Commander murmured, still staring at the raised, red wound in my side. We’ll be only too happy to escort you to the city. If it pleases you, of course.

I waited for his body to tense, waited for him to feign indifference right before he attacked. I waited for the shine of steel and savage brutality of what he was to rise through the surface.

But none of that came.

Only, I’d feel much safer if we rendered the Witch mute. The Commander eyed me with a look of disgust. You never know what comes out of their mouths, do you?

One of the soldiers took a step forward.

I’ll do it, Keane cut the King’s man a savage glare. You don’t want to touch her.

A shudder passed through the soldier as the Commander gave a sneer. You’re right. No one touches the prisoner except for the Hexers. He scanned the rest of his men. Am I clear?

Yes, Commander! The roar of the soldiers was deafening.

I shook my head and glanced at the towering midnight stone. Power rippled through the air, the call undeniable. If I could just reach it…just touch it.

The air rippled with power, blurring the edges of my vision. All I saw was the boulder…and all I felt was her.

Everything you seek is right here, my mother whispered. All you have to do is reach out…and take it.

My heart hammered as the world around me faded. There was only us now, only me and the power that welled inside that obsidian rock. I wanted it, more than I wanted anything else…including my freedom.

Gather your things, Hexers, we leave now, the Commander ordered.

My muscles quivered before I lunged. I drove myself forward, toward the guard in front of me.

Stop her! The outcry cracked like a whip.

But I was already running, driving my boots into the ground. Power boomed through the air…keen and piercing, cutting right to my soul. I punched out my hand as the rumble of thunder snarled overhead.

A gust of wind kicked up from out of nowhere, slamming into the guards with cyclonic force. One stumbled and threw his hand upwards as lightning turned the yellow glow of day into a cold, chilling white.

Come to me! I screamed at the power and lunged.

I hit the guard with the full force of my body. He buckled, falling under the weight of me and his armor. Another guard reached for me, wrenching me from the hold, until I clenched my fist and drove it into his face.

His head cracked backwards, his eyes widening in shock.

"Witch, no!" Wilds howled.

But I was on my own now, just like I’d always been.

This means nothing, my own words rang inside my head as I rolled then shoved upwards, driving to my feet once more. Shadows waited for me, thick, inky shadows as the stone waited.

I was hit from behind, tackled hard and taken to the ground.

Stop fighting, Wild’s low growl came against my ear. Let me protect you.

I never looked at him, never even turned my head. Instead I kicked, wrenching my knee upwards and into his crotch.

Air rushed from the Hexer’s lips. His grip on my arm eased. It was all I needed to scurry forwards to where the black stone shimmered an arm’s reach away.

Do not let her touch that stone! the Commander screamed.

But I was already reaching, already stumbling…already falling into her midnight spell.

Come to me, she whispered in my head. My daughter, come.

Predator energy ripped from the stone, reaching for me as pain lashed my side. I jerked my gaze to the blur in the corner of my eye, as the thick, white-knuckled fist of a King’s guard caught me in the jaw.

Stars danced in my eyes, bleeding out the shadows of the stone. I hit the ground, bounced, and then was dragged to my feet.

"You will obey!" The mountain of a soldier roared as he swung once more.

The second blow drove into the pit of my stomach, forcing the air from my body with a whoosh. I was grabbed, hauled to my feet, and shoved sideways, away from the stone.

You do not fucking touch her! Keane roared, charging toward us and slamming into the soldier with a sickening crunch.

I’d never seen such brutality as Keane grasped his armor and then swung the beast of a man. The towering guard was no match for the Hexer. He flew through the air and hit the ground hard.

Silence followed…and an inky blur descended. Only it was a different shadow towering over me now…it was my Hexer. Savagery welled in my Hexer’s storm-gray eyes.

"The next man who lays a hand on her will lose that fucking hand," he warned, his powerful chest rising with a heavy breath.

Strained silence consumed the space before Wilds came forward.

"She is our prisoner, he met the Commander’s cutting gaze. And only ours. "

Ristt shoved against a guard he’d tackled and shoved to his feet. No one touches her…not unless they want to go through us.

"You all seem very…protective," the King’s Commander murmured.

We’re marked with her blood. Hunting her and controlling her is our purpose, Wilds answered, taking one step forward. "And we take our purpose very seriously."

There was a twitch in the corner of the man’s lip, a flicker of fear. You Hexers are a strange lot.

Strange as well as deadly, Wilds snarled, and scanned the soldiers.

They climbed to their feet, three…then four King’s men, dusting the dirt from their clothes. The big one swiped his lip with the back of his hand and stared at the blood.

But the magic was fading, dying as the squall receded, stealing that foreboding hunger inside me.

Witch, Wilds tuned toward me and held out a set of shackles.

My gut clenched with the sight. Pain from the soldier’s blow was nothing compared to this. I glanced at the stone once more…and then turned back to him.

I’d trusted them…believed in them. I gave him everything, my body…my goddamn heart. Pain lashed the space in my chest, that hollow, empty void.

I clenched my jaw, slumping into that agony, then lifted my hands and sank into the hate.

My hands trembled as I pressed my wrists together. Rage and pain flared in the yellow of his eyes as he lifted the shackles.

I wanted him to meet my stare, to see how much I loathed him. His jaw muscles clenched as he clamped the steel around my wrists.

It’s for you— he started, then lifted his gaze and met mine.

I turned away from him…from all of them, and strode toward the soldiers…I would’ve rather walked across broken glass with bare feet than stand there and listen to one more word from his lying lips.

Betrayal made my knees shake and my lips quiver. The Commander turned on his heel, grasped the reins of his horse and then mounted. You will ride in one of the carts, he commanded.

Horses snorted and shifted, walking forward until they were stopped. Four vehicles filled the street behind us. Two were laden with supplies, but the other two were empty.

Fine, Wilds muttered, and made for the closest cart. Have it your way.

He waited, staring at the wooden side of the cart as I stepped closer and lifted my boot. His hand touched my arm, the warmth as perfect as the morning sun. But right now, right this second—it was burning.