Summon Her: Descended from a Witch, #4

By Atlas Rose

King Vavilion has fallen…and a new monster has taken his place. 

Kamoril is a King like no other. 

Cruel. Hateful. Controlling. 

He likes to play mind games. 

He likes to think I'm weak.

But I'm not weak, nor am I alone. 

Three Hexers have guarded my door since I was young. Three who watch me, who shadow me...who do their best to protect me from Kamoril's wrath…and in return I stay out of their heads.

Our alliance has served me well…until my sister, Ever, came to Elysium. 

Now I don't have just Kamoril to contend with…I have Vavilion waiting in the wings. 

He wants justice. He wants retribution. 

And if he can't find my sister…he'll take me instead.

But Kings can corrupt other Kings, and when both my predators grow tired of waiting, not even my connection with the Hexers will be enough to keep me safe.

In the darkest of nights the Kings come for me and my Hexers must make a choice. 

Freedom...or love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Atlas Rose
• Release date: Sep 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201972837

Book preview

1

RYTHE

Panic filled Kamoril castle. Wide, frantic eyes glanced from the servants as they scurried like mice to perform their duties. Still the King said nothing, watching me with those cruel eyes from across the dining table.

I didn’t need to be a mind reader to know what’d happened. Vavilion was here, under this roof somewhere, being tended by Kamoril’s own healers. The question was…why?

Why bring him back here?

Why allow rot to seep into the woodwork…unless you didn’t care what crashed down.

Was that it? Was Kamoril tired of ruling? Maybe our King was...tired?

The thought quickened my pulse, like a lion that smelled blood. A weakness…my mind raced with the thought.

You haven’t touched your food. Kamoril leaned forward, grasping his silver chalice. Are you not hungry?

I kept still, eyes downcast, staring at the shine on the end of my knife while the servants rushed around us.

Rythe?

No. I lifted my gaze to him. My King.

There was a twitch in the corner of his eye, a small tick…he was getting angry. Eat.

I noticed everything in the formal room. How the new servant girl’s steps stuttered as she neared with a carafe of wine. How she smiled at him expecting, what…that he’d smile back? She had no idea what kind of viper's nest she’d stepped into.

But Kamoril’s gaze never acknowledged her. He never even turned her way. Not with a kind word, or even with a cruel one. To him, she never existed. She was more rounded than his usual victims. The maid’s dress strained against the swell of her breasts. Her waistline plunged and then flared, the perfect arc for a man’s grip. I swallowed the bitter tang of jealousy.

"I said…eat."

No. The word started in my mind before I swallowed it down. I stared at my lap while my heart thundered. Please don’t let him have heard that. I kept the plea private, just a flicker of need down in the darkness, behind the mirrors of my mind.

Kamoril thought he was powerful enough, using my own power against me. But a sniff was all he sensed...just a glimmer of the ocean I held inside. An ocean that seemed to swell, crashing waves against the edges of my will. I held on to that darkness...held on and never once allowed him to truly understand he held nothing more than a drop of destruction in the palm of his hand.

I felt the King stiffen across the table, then slowly lean forward. I waited for his reaction, for him to smile that sickening smile and lean backwards. I knew when he smiled like that, he’d be especially cruel…but not to me. Never to me.

I’m waiting, he murmured, still leaning forward.

My stomach trembled, clenching so tight that heat lashed the back of my throat. Revulsion tasted like acid. Still, I swallowed it down and picked up my fork. Wilted greens and roasted rabbit waited on my plate. I stayed away from the meat, not trusting my own will, and stabbed the spinach before lifting it to my mouth.

He smiled then and eased back against the seat, watching me like a hawk watches a field mouse.

But I was no mouse. Not under the shining mirrored hallways of my mind. Not down in the depths where the real strength of my mother’s blood waited.

Down there, I was a lion in waiting.

The clip-clop of hooves echoed from outside. I chewed then swallowed, settling my gaze on the gold edging of the plate once more. A horse whinnied loudly and the sound carried.

Is the rabbit not to your liking?

Heavy footsteps thundered. Two…no, three sets of men raced for the private chambers of the King.

Yes, my King. I answered and lifted my head as the doors to the formal dining room were thrown wide. The rabbit is fine.

Still, Kamoril never moved, never even shifted his gaze as the commander stopped at his side and bowed at the waist. My King.

One wave of a hand, and the servant girl rushed forward, grabbing his plate and scurrying away.

Speak.

One panicked glance my way, and the commander started. We tried…

Kamoril jerked a savage stare toward the fool. "You tried?"

I swallowed the last cold mouthful of spinach and lowered my fork quietly to the table.

There’s n-no entrance, my King the male stuttered. Three men were burned trying to get close.

I DON’T CARE! Kamoril roared and slammed a chubby fist down on the table with a bang!

His chalice bounced with the impact and fell, spilling the blood red contents across the table.

I don’t care how many men. Kamoril shoved his chair backwards and rose, coming to his full height…which was lacking. I don’t care about excuses. I want the entrance to the mountain found…and I want that Witch brought to me.

The Witch.

Black Viper Bitch.

That’s what they called her…my sister.

A shiver raced along my spine as the last image of her surfaced. She was tearing across the courtyard next to the fountain…as rage lashed the city. Red skies, unmerciful lightning. The kind of terror that drove the people of Elysium into their homes and made them pray.

The storm had lasted for days as my sister disappeared. At first I could reach her, even through the terror, but slowly her voice in my head turned savage and strange. It didn’t sound like my sister at all...not the one I found in Vavilion’s camp when I first felt that flicker of power. No, this Ever howled in fury…this Ever lashed my mind, clawing for any kind of connection. This Ever hurt me…so I pulled away from her, leaving her to her fate with her Hexers. But on the first day after the storm, King Vavilion had been rushed back to the castle, carried between three of his own men as he howled and screamed. I caught a glimpse of him before he’d been rushed along the hallway and out of sight…and what I saw made me stumble away in horror.

His face had been burned. The skin over his jaw had melted and slid from the bone, leaving a gaping wound behind. Revulsion filled me until he’d been rushed from sight with the panicked call for Kamoril’s healers.

One healer had come, and only one.

The quiet one with the scar across the base of her neck.

The one Kamoril never let me see.

She'd come to the castle, rushed inside by two of Kamoril’s men who covered her with a heavy cloak as the wind knocked her sideways and the raging red clouds above battered the city with piercing pellets of hail. I'd stood at the window of the formal living room, watching as she stumbled inside and wiped her face before lifting her head.

Our gazes connected through the open door from the foyer. She froze, her eyes widening, until the shadow of Chaol entered behind me…and the mere presence of the Hexer had chased her away.

She'd scurried then, just like all the other servants, wrenching her gaze from mine and hurried to a King. But for that second as we stared at each other, I had the feeling she was nothing like any of them…she was powerful.

A shadow slipped into view now, drawing Kamoril’s glare as the Hexer entered the dining room.

Chaol gave a nod of respect and turned that infernal gaze my way. My body tensed, heart stuttering, just like it always stuttered when he was near.

Send more men, Kamoril snapped as he followed the Hexer’s gaze to me. Send as many as it damn well takes. I want inside that mountain…and I want that Witch found.

The commander’s shoulders curled with exhaustion as he bowed once more. I kept my focus down and stared at the shine of the table knife’s hilt in front of me.

It was my sister the King hunted like an animal.

My sister he’d drag back to this castle in terror.

My sister he’d either claim as his own, or see dead.

I knew that without even touching his foul mind.

I'd seen it all the moment King Vavilion dragged her here like a criminal and forced her to stand before Kamoril’s throne. My sister’s fate became entwined with my own.

She hadn’t known who I was then, hadn’t known anything but fear, hate, and rage. They poured from her, rolling like Elysium’s waves as they crashed against the stone wall. She did little to hide the chaos of her mind…other than the fact she was in love with the three creatures created to confine her.

Three creatures who'd guarded her…who'd watched her every move.

Three who were spelled to hunt her down and drag her back in chains.

Who cared nothing for the Witch they watched.

Heat trailed down the nape of my neck. Chaol’s gaze searing like an ember along my skin. I lifted my head as Kamoril turned away from us. It was the Hexer I sought. The one who leaned his massive frame against the wall and crossed his arms. The one who lifted his head at that moment and pierced me with those midnight eyes.

How had my sister claimed her own hunters?

Darkness shimmered behind those midnight pupils. Its depth and desire drawing me downwards like an undertow. I wanted to sink into his mind…I wanted to know when this hunter looked at me if he felt anything at all.

One taste was all it’d take. I’d lay his thoughts bare. Power whispered through my veins. A seductive power…a deceitful power. One which wanted me to reach out and claim it for my own.

Heat traveled through my body, flaring between my thighs. I swallowed hard and broke my gaze.

My King… the commander spun on his heel and reached for his sword as the door to the dining room was flung open once more.

What now? Kamoril snapped as the young healer child rushed through.

My King! She rushed forward, her hands fluttering in the air, and collided with the commander. The healer…King Vavilion.

The commander grasped her by the shoulders, his eyes widening in fear. Spit it out, child!

She burst into tears then, covering her face with her hands, her tiny sobs were shudders. "I’m so happy, my Lord. King Vavilion is alive."

2

Those words rang in my ears for the next few days.

Vavilion is alive.

Alive!

The young healer's joy made me feel sick to my stomach. I'd hoped that whatever my sister had done to him would stick, that she'd managed to wipe just one of those awful kings from the face of our world.

But no. He was still alive.

As I went about my daily tasks, the boring, menial things Kamoril assigned me to keep me from having too much time to plot against him, I reached out, brushing the minds of those around me with the lightest of touches, trying to find out anything about Vavilion's state.

I had to know. Was he bedridden...a cripple...was he close to death’s door?

But it seemed like anyone even vaguely involved in his healing and care was being kept from the rest of us...and I knew better than to try and pry into Kamoril's mind.

Suffering and pain waited for me there...and the terrifying images of his conquests that kept me awake at night.

Conquests who looked like me.

That was a specific kind of torture.

I'd made it through yet another interminable dinner, forcing myself to nibble at the food Kamoril put in front of me, and kept my mind honed to a mirrored shine. He couldn't find out that I was curious, searching for the burned king.

I ran on quiet feet as I escaped my room and hurried to the kitchen. Cook was always there late, getting the bread rising for the early morning ovens, and often she would set aside something plainer for me, something that didn’t cramp my belly and make me double over in pain. I was weaker than most, small--I lifted my hand and curled a fist--not built for battle.

But still, I was made for war...just not the kind of war they expected.

The smell of fresh baked bread wafted along the hallway, making me hurry. I hated the food Kamoril often plied me with, succulent or so drowned in sauces that I couldn’t taste the food itself.

He was a glutton in more ways than one…

I pushed through the door, inhaling the rich, yeasty smell of the bread. My mouth watered at the tang and I let myself close my eyes for a moment just to savor it.

Hungry, Mistress? Cook asked. Her thick gray hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and a dusting of flour sat on it like fresh snow.

Always, I said, nearly drooling as I slipped onto the stool at the counter.

Cook put a plate down in front of me: plain meat, vegetables, a thick slice of bread with butter. It looked amazing. Thank you, I said, drawing it even closer.

I swear, one day he’ll learn what you like, Cook said, a thing she repeated nearly every night.

You know he doesn’t care. He wants me to become what he wants. He wants to warp me into the shape he likes. Punish me, I added in my head. She didn’t need to know the depths of my loathing for him.

Or the depths of my fear that one day he would crack me open, become the puppet master he longed to be.

He has strange tastes, and it behooves us to cater to them. Cook turned back to her work, and I held back a shudder. She didn’t know half of his disgusting tastes.

I try, you know that. I took another bite of the bread, enjoying the light, fluffy texture. This is so good, thank you.

Cook looked over her shoulder and smiled. You know I have a soft spot for you, young’un. The old woman shook her head and got to kneading another ball of dough.

A pot simmered over one of the big cooking fires, probably soup or stew for the servants. Kamoril never ate anything so mundane. And in the corner there was a basket of things I hadn’t seen before, some strange fruits, and a green liquid.

I opened my mouth, was about to ask, but then took another bite and thought better of it.

She wouldn’t answer me honestly anyway, and this was a good way to test out my skills. I focused on my food, barely glancing in her direction, and reached out with my power. I stroked at her mind, brushing against it gently, listening to the hum of her regular thoughts. Her worry for me, the mental tally of supplies in store and what she would need to order in the morning, irritation at one of the kitchen boys constantly stealing.

Deeper. Deeper still. My forehead furrowed with concentration and I could feel a mild ache in my temples. If I pushed much harder, it’d really start to hurt.

Don’t even know why we’re caring for him. Kamoril would be better off letting him die and claiming—

A loud thud on the countertop ripped me back into my body so fast that I leaped from the stool. I spun, heart pounding a drumbeat in my ears, my breath only releasing when I saw that it was Falconer – another