Witches Be Burned: A Magic & Mayhem Novel Read online

  Witches Be Burned is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  A Loveswept eBook Original

  Copyright © 2015 by Stacey Kennedy

  Excerpt from Tamed by Stacey Kennedy copyright © 2015 by Stacey Kennedy

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Loveswept, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

  LOVESWEPT is a registered trademark and the LOVESWEPT colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.

  eBook ISBN 9780553395136

  Cover design: Seductive Designs

  Cover images: Hot Damn Stock (man); Depositphotos.com/bellatrix13/Mykhailo Kaminskyi (background)

  www.readloveswept.com

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  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Character Guide to the Magical World of the Magic & Mayhem Series

  Preface

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  By Stacey Kennedy

  About the Author

  The Editor’s Corner

  Excerpt from Tamed

  Character Guide to the Magical World of the Magic & Mayhem Series

  Otherworld Supernaturals

  The Council of the Otherworld

  Talon: Master of Guardians; Kyden’s father

  Zia: Mistress of Witches; Tillie’s soul-sister

  Zade: Master of Vampires

  Holten: Master of Werewolves

  The Council’s Guard

  Kyden: Elite Guardian; boyfriend of Nexi

  Nexi: guardian; Spirit Witch; girlfriend of Kyden

  Haven: Nexi’s soul-sister; Earth Witch; girlfriend of Finn

  Finn: guardian; boyfriend of Haven

  Trefan: guardian; Finn’s younger brother

  Radek: guardian

  Alazar: werewolf tracker

  Myles: detective with the Salt Lake City police department; vampire

  Briar: Fire Witch

  Tillie: Nexi’s birth mother; Spirit Witch (deceased)

  Drake: Nexi’s birth father; guardian (deceased)

  Earthworld Supernaturals

  Mistress Vampires: Rulers over Vampires on Earth

  Mistress Thalia: Leader of the Midwest Territory; vampire

  Mistress Ellery: Leader of the Southwest Territory; vampire

  Vampires

  Maddox: second in command in the Midwest Territory

  United States Werewolf Packs

  Valor: Patriarch of the Wolves; ruler over all of the Alphas in the United States

  Briggs: Beta to the Patriarch of Wolves

  Mortals in the Earthworld

  Gloria: Nexi’s adoptive mother (deceased)

  Frank: Nexi’s adoptive father (deceased)

  Underworld Supernaturals

  Magnus: Lord of the Underworld—leader of the dark-realm, home to black-magic witches, warlocks, and demons

  Enemies

  Lazarus: vampire (deceased)

  Astoria: black-magic witch

  Preface

  Three centuries ago, the Otherworld and the Earthworld formed a truce. The pact was bound by blood and the rules were clear: Otherworldly creatures—guardians and witches—could cohabitate the Earth only if they fought to keep the secret of Earthborn supernaturals—werewolves and vampires—from the human population.

  Appointed to see this truce succeed were four supernaturals of each race, henceforth known as the Council. Now the Council holds one purpose: Destroy any supernatural who threatens to expose their existence on Earth.

  Prologue

  Werewolves be damned.

  Cursing the rogue werewolves, who moments ago thought to slaughter him, Elite Guardian Kyden felt his fury rise up within. The half-moon in the dark sky lit his way through the pitch-black backyard in Carson City. Sweat slid down the side of his cheeks as he stalked toward the rogue werewolf trapped in the vortex of Air magic. The mini-tornado, conjured by his lover, the witch and guardian Nexi Jones, whipped around the wolf’s body, caging him. With a determination that was more than duty—this was nothing less than pure revenge—Kyden raised his sword, ignoring the vicious growls from the wolf, and he thrust his blade down into the wolf’s heart.

  With a twist, the wolf went quiet.

  As he yanked his sword back, a piercing scream cut through the air. “Kyden!”

  He spun around and away from the remaining wolves trapped by magic. Nexi lay on the ground, and Zia, the Mistress of Witches, was next to her with a hand on her shoulder. The fright and concern echoing in Nexi’s voice sank deep into his gut. “I’m here, Álainn,” he called.

  Her eyes met his, her tears brimming, filled with love that stole his breath. Christ, her beauty—all curves and long dirty-blond curls, with freckles dusting her nose and hazel eyes that held an old, deep soul—stunned him every damn time.

  Kyden sensed an equal reprieve inside him. They were no longer in danger, having been attacked by a pack of rogue werewolves determined to kill them for their leader, Lazarus, a vampire. In Nexi’s anger at the peril they’d faced, she had unknowingly unleashed magic she couldn’t control, causing her to fall into unconsciousness.

  Only now, seeing Nexi safe eased the tension coiled tight inside Kyden as he looked over at the crowd standing protectively around her. First he spotted his father, Talon, Master of Guardians, and fellow guardian Finn, killing the remaining wolves in the backyard. Then Kyden’s focus went to his friends: Haven, an Earth Witch on the Council’s Guard, and the Council’s werewolf allies, Valor and Briggs. Gratefulness rushed through him; they had all come to help him and Nexi.

  He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, reeling from the imminent death that had come calling for them. When he again opened his green eyes, he locked on to Nexi’s with deep emotion, perhaps acknowledging the loss of her innocence.

  That purpose drew Kyden’s focus on the large tree in the backyard near the door of the white farmhouse. Lazarus’s dark eyes were zeroed in on Nexi. His mouth twisted into a cruel frown, possibly understanding his fate. There would be no escaping his death.

  In the same manner that Nexi had secured the werewolves, her Air magic had conjured a smaller windstorm whipping around Lazarus’s tall and lanky body, disabling him from running. With Lazarus contained, Kyden moved to Nexi, needing her close.

  As he reached her, raw emotion overwhelmed him. Even though he had known her for three short months, she had become his everything. While their lives were surrounded by death and blood, her affection warmed a part of his heart that had never been touched. He needed her, and he had never needed anything or anyone before.

  He dropped down to one knee and took her slender face in his hands, brushing his thumbs over her cheeks. Their eyes were for each other, searching for a few long seconds. He wanted her to know that he would only see her from this night on. That he now cared solely for her, the guardian witch he loved.

  He’d ta
sted losing her, and that was a fate he couldn’t endure ever again.

  It didn’t matter that they weren’t alone; Kyden sealed his mouth over hers without regard, sharing his emotion. Kissing her was perfect, soft, and she was so undeniably his. Death nearly stole her away. The panic that had formed in his chest when the werewolves first attacked him and Nexi slowly began to shatter, coldness being replaced by the hot rush of possessive desire to protect her.

  He broke the kiss, resting his forehead against hers, feeling the reality of nearly losing her. She had been in danger, and that stirred a burning inside him, making him forget she was a guardian in the Council’s Guard—and that he’d trained her to be the fighter she’d become. He considered her—and now she seemed so fragile, so small, so beautiful. He hadn’t looked at her this way before, having only seen the guardian strength in her and her remarkable power.

  Now all he saw was the one thing that could destroy him—facing his life without her. The urge to wrap her in his arms and keep her safe engulfed him, but tonight Nexi needed revenge for the ghastly deaths she sought to avenge. He wouldn’t deny her that right.

  After a kiss to her forehead he forced himself to let her go, grabbing her guardian sword with her name branded onto the blade—the sword that she’d been gifted when she joined the Council’s Guard. He slowly helped her to her feet and placed the sword in her hands. “Finish it.”

  Nexi accepted her sword and rose, smiling at the weight of it in her hand. Then her eyes filled with fire as she turned to Lazarus, stepping away from Kyden. He stayed back, letting Nexi have her moment.

  Silence drifted throughout the dark night as she approached Lazarus, who stood by one of the big oak trees. The crowd closed in behind Kyden, but he couldn’t tear his eyes off Nexi. He’d trained her to kill without mercy, to defend innocent human lives from cruel supernaturals who hungered to murder them, though right now he couldn’t have imagined it would have led to anything so personal.

  Killing Lazarus wasn’t about keeping the mortal world safe; it was payback for stealing away the humans that Nexi loved and forever changing her life. Yet she stalked Lazarus with no fear, no uncertainty, only conviction.

  Pride, adoration, respect: It all overwhelmed Kyden.

  She stopped in front of the vampire and lowered her sword, the blade digging into the grass. “You know, there’s nothing special about you.” Her voice held no waver, not a single hitch of hesitation. “You’re just a vampire who has done some seriously cruel things. Things you can never be forgiven for.” She hesitated, then added with confidence in her voice, “I thought when I had you here I’d want you to suffer for all the pain you’ve caused me. Now I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this for all the lives you’ve stolen. My hope is that wherever you go from here, those you’ve wronged will be there waiting for you.”

  After she dropped her sword, she lifted her arms, and Kyden heard gasps from behind him as orange and purple flames instantly surrounded her hands. Until now, he’d met only one other witch who could conjure magic without touch, and who could also manipulate more than one element defensively, and that was Zia—, the most powerful witch in existence.

  Flames pulsed light blue, heightened by orange swirling lines around Nexi’s hands, lighting up the starry night. But when the magic connected with Lazarus, purple flames erupted over his torso and spiraled around him.

  Kyden blinked once, then looked down to the pile of ash at Nexi’s feet that was once a vampire.

  “It’s done,” she said softly, and the weight of that statement sounded as if Nexi finally believed the time she’d spent training to fight as a guardian was worth it. That she had finally accepted her new supernatural life, leaving her mortal life behind her. That the long hunt to find out who murdered her family hadn’t been a waste. And more than that, it was as if the promise she had made to her mortal family, to avenge their deaths, echoed across the night sky.

  Chapter 1

  THREE MONTHS LATER…

  The bright flash of blue light cleared from Kyden’s eyes as the intense, suffocating wind caused by teleportation from the Otherworld began to fade. The alternate universe parallel to Earth, or the Earthworld, as it’s known to supernaturals, could be accessed by any supernatural at the gateway of the runes of Saint Andrews Castle in Scotland, or a much faster way, through a doorway located in the Otherworld’s castle, a portal designed by the original witch, Gwendolen, who signed the treaty of allegiance with Earth’s supernaturals, who sought a more peaceful life.

  Kyden looked about at the suburban, tree-lined street. He noted that the Earthworld was vastly different from the Otherworld—even their smells. Plus, the sheer size of Earth astounded him, as the Otherworld was a speck of a planet as small as Vatican City with its population of eight hundred.

  A light breeze brushed across Kyden, and the sword strapped to his bare back banged against his skin, reminding him of the job he had to do tonight. He surveyed the street, noting the eerie silence. At night most humans in the Earthworld slept. Nighttime in the Otherworld was when everyone awakened, including the Council’s Guard, as this is when they hunted killers.

  Energy stayed at Kyden’s back, keeping the portal to the Otherworld open for his return home. Moving forward, he stepped out of the shadows that had kept him hidden through teleportation.

  The wretched scent of garbage forced his breathing to go shallow as he strode beneath the light post, focusing on the red-brick bungalow and the vampire sitting on the steps wearing a grim expression. To the vamp’s right, Kyden noticed a werewolf, who he’d worked with before on cases in Salt Lake City. Dressed in army pants and a black sleeveless T-shirt, the lean, athletic werewolf tracker Alazar looked lethal.

  Kyden stepped onto the curb, nodding his head at Alazar. “Good to see you again.”

  The wolf’s amber eyes blazed as he raked a hand through his dark hair. “Not under these circumstances, believe me. It’s a bad case.”

  Kyden’s muscles flexed in anticipation as he turned to the detective, offering his hand. “Detective Myles?”

  The vamp nodded and rose, returning the handshake. “Thanks for coming so quickly.” His pale blue eyes were alert, his thin lips pulled into a straight line. “The scene has been cleansed. We’re ready to move ahead.” Which meant that the vampires in the Council’s Guard had erased memories and implanted new ones in the minds of any human police called to the scene and any witnesses who’d seen or heard the murder.

  Each member of the Council’s Guard played an important role. Werewolves depended on their heightened sense of scent to track killers. Vampires used their mind-altering abilities to glamour minds. Witches used magic to assist guardians when needed. And guardians hunted and destroyed murderers.

  While the Otherworld suspected that the highest levels of Earth’s mortal government knew of supernaturals’ existence, they also assumed those officials knew that the Otherworld destroyed any supernatural threats. Kyden remained unsure if the government knew that the Council’s supernaturals had infiltrated all major cities’ police departments to keep on top of their crimes. Though he believed it didn’t matter much if they did, the system worked to keep mortals safe, as well as to keep the truth about supernaturals a secret from the human population.

  The last thing the Otherworld needed was trouble that mirrored the history of the Salem witch trails, which was when Earth’s supernaturals realized they needed a change or they would be annihilated. The treaty to keep the secret of supernaturals’ existence from the population safeguarded against that tragedy ever happening again.

  History had proven that mortals couldn’t cope with the existence of supernaturals. Secrecy was the only way to ensure that the supernatural races thrived.

  Those dark memories tainted Kyden’s mind as he glanced to the house with the cherry-red door, not seeing or hearing any movement inside, indicating that only the dead remained. Biting back the urge to make assumptions, he turned to Myles. “Anything I need to kn
ow about the case?”

  “It’s unusual, to say the least,” Myles replied briskly.

  Kyden’s adrenaline spiked, rushing like rich energy through his veins. “All right. Show me what we got.”

  Myles trotted up the steps and entered the house, and Kyden followed behind Alazar. He crossed the threshold, and as the all-consuming scent of death filled his nostrils, he coughed to rid his lungs of it.

  Once past the dining room, Kyden entered the living room, finding wood paneling on the walls, an old unused fireplace, and Victorian-inspired furniture. No threat remained, so he turned to the dead mortal lying on the floor near the glass coffee table.

  Bite marks littered the human’s body and blood coated her flesh, peeking through her torn clothing. Now understanding Alazar and Myles’s dismay, he frowned at the woman who was lying flat on her back with her eyes wide open. “Christ, she died violently.”

  Before anyone could reply, a sweet soft voice carried through the room. “Sorry I’m late.”

  Kyden glanced over his shoulder, discovering the Council’s Earth Witch, Haven, entering the living room. Typically bubbly, with big, bouncy brown curls and pansy-blue eyes, she shuddered at the dead body. “Okay, that is disturbing on every level.”

  Kyden agreed with her.

  Blinking away from the victim, Haven scanned the room and then color swept across her cheeks when she looked at Kyden. “Oh, buddy, you are so dead for leaving Nexi behind.”

  He sighed in understanding.

  His lover would raise hell when she realized he’d gone on an assignment without her—again. But Kyden held no regrets; he wanted her to be safe in the Otherworld. While he might love her beyond anything he thought himself capable of, Nexi had a flaw: She put others’ safety above her own.