Cassandra's Marking - POV

My editor would like me to be clear that I only let her do one pass and any remaining errors are entirely my fault.

CASSANDRA’S MARKING POV

A Warlock: Book 2 Short

Daniel Kensington

© 2025 Kensington, All Rights Reserved

This story is canon and best read after Warlock: Book 2

Cassandra heard the restaurant door close behind her, closed her eyes and, clenching her teeth, started across the street, not bothering to look for traffic.

There was little in the way of car traffic on this street, but maybe she’d get lucky and wind up hit by a mundane in one of those giant trucks, out for a drunken ride around town.

Archimagira-fucking-Winthrop, she thought to herself. How?

How could that little onesie be one that Archimagira Winthrop took enough interest in to fucking chat every weekend? The Winthrops were a huge Family — the Archimagira must have a dozen or more grandchildren, but she picks this one to be close to?

It was just Cassandra’s luck — just like her resonants, just like the warlock her mother picked for her, just like fucking everything in her stupid, fucking life.

“Ow! Fuck!” Cassandra yelled as her toes found the far curb.

Just like she couldn’t even get hit by a fucking car when she wanted to.

Eyes open again, she stalked into the alleyway, making for the bar the mundane frat guys hung out in.

That would give her an outlet for her frustrations, and even let her fill her Malice resonant a bit without feeling guilty about it. She’d learned about the frat guys her first year at Willowmere.

At that point, she’d already met Alejandro, the warlock her family had earmarked for her — the sadistic little shit.

He doesn’t even generate mana from it, Cassandra thought for possibly the ten thousandth time. He just likes hurting people. And since he can’t generate the mana, he wants me to be his fucking hands.

She didn’t want to even think about the number of pets the warlock had talked about over the years she’d known him — pets that were never spoken of again, once a new one arrived. She’d made that mistake once — just once — and never wanted to repeat the experience, even once she had the little shit under the control of the coven bond. One thing was for certain — her coven was never going to have a pet, no matter how much of a witch the rest of them thought she was.

Her coven.

Six months.

That’s how long she had before Alejandro came into his power and she’d have to mark him as her warlock, binding herself to him forever.

Cassandra felt the pull of her resonant, Malice building in her along with the anger at the thought of what was coming.

Yeah, the mundane college bar was where she needed to be tonight. Find a couple guys who pretended to be interested in a relationship, but were really only out for a quick fuck — then utterly destroy them. Get them all worked up, then walk out with a muttered, sorry, I was looking for someone with a dick.

More of a fast-food meal in terms of her resonant, but quick and satisfying.

Snick

Cassandra paused half a step, glancing behind her at the sound.

No one there.

I couldn’t be that lucky — attacked in an alley? Please give me an excuse to —

Snick

Cassandra stopped and turned, scanning the alley behind her — only for a moment, as a dark figure rose from the shadows and stared at her with red, glowing eyes and a dark void where mana should have been.

*

The turning, the running, the screaming — none of it was by Cassandra’s conscious intent. It was instinctual, something buried deep in the witches’ history and psyche — vampire equals run.

The creatures seemed to have been created to hunt witches — utterly silent, with no mana generation of their own, a hungry vampire was virtually undetectable to the witches, and this one was clearly hungry, showing only a dark void where there should at least be some of the mana it had drained from its last victim.

She ran, unthinking, not turning as she exited one alley and crossed the street for the next. Turning would slow her and she could already hear the footsteps of the creature growing closer.

Knowing it was probably useless, but having to try, Cassandra flung an arm behind her, throwing mana into the single intent: Burn!

Burn! Burn, you shitty fucking —

The vampire ran through the stream of flame she’d sent its way, not only ignoring the magic flames, but seeming to suck them into itself.

More running, a sharp pain in her ankle as a heel snapped. Cassandra stumbled, fell, then scrambled to her feet, snatching her remaining shoe from her foot and ignoring the pain of pebbles and broken glass.

Chest heaving, she sent tendrils of mana throughout the alley, picking up sticks, bottles, rocks, anything she concentrate on for the barest moment and fling behind her at her pursuer. Vampires were nearly immune to magic, at least anything a witch her age could develop, but they were vulnerable to the physical.

Yet, another glance behind her showed the wave of debris had been no more effective than the flames.

Another street was ahead of her and she heard music — the bar was on this street. The mundane bar with the shitty frat guys.

She could turn, run through the crowd there — the vampire would break off, not wanting to be seen.

Then she remembered the mana-less void she’d seen in the vampire’s figure and ran, straight, across the street and into the next alleyway.

A vampire that hungry might not care. Might simply feed, even on a crowd of mundanes. It had happened before and she didn’t want to be the cause of it happening again — she knew she was a bad person, had to be, but she’d never done anything … evil.

Cassandra stumbled, legs weak and chest heaving with exertion. She knew her pace was slowing — how had the vampire not caught up with her yet?

Then she ran into the chain-link fence stretching across the alley, blocking her way.

Cassandra grasped at the fence, then turned her back to it and realized why the vampire hadn’t caught her — it hadn’t wanted to yet.

The vampire had already stopped, standing still to watch her.

Cassandra saw it was female — wearing jeans and a dark hoody, not at all looking like the demonic, murderous beast she knew it to be.

The vampire pulled something from its hoody pocket, extended its arm to point at Cassandra, then tightened its hand around the device it held.

Wire sprang from it, flying to either side, and pinged off the alley’s brick walls.

The vampire growled in rage and flung the device to the ground.

“These fucking things never work!”

*

“I mean, this one shoots sideways, the last one killed the little witch when it wasn’t supposed to — why do they bother? I’m a fucking vampire — we were made to hunt witches, so let me hunt witches. Right?”

The vampire stepped quickly to the side, putting itself in a position to easily cut Cassandra off if she ran.

“You know why they don’t?” the vampire asked. “Because I’m a woman. If I was male, they wouldn’t keep making me try their stupid little toys, they’d just trust that I’d come back with a fucking witch. They literally call themselves the Patriarchy, so don’t tell me they’re not a bunch of misogynistic dicks.”

The vampire sighed.

“Look, they’re going to pull up in a minute, so just get in the fucking van, okay? I can tell you’re getting ready to run, but you don’t want to do that. If you run, I’m going to have to tackle you, and you won’t like that —” The vampire cocked its head at Cassandra. “Probably. Watching your mana while you ran, I’m thinking you’ve got a lot of self-loathing going on, but let’s deal with that later, because if I have to beat the shit out of you —”

Footsteps sounded in the alley, running fast, and Cassandra had a moment’s hope — then her heart fell as she saw it was the fucking feral. There was nothing a weak feral could do to help her, the dumbass hadn’t even brought some witches with him.

She tensed, thinking if the vampire was busy with the feral, then she might be able to get past and escape…

No, no, she’d done a lot of horrible things in her life, but leaving someone, even a stupid feral, to a vampire wouldn’t become one of them. Maybe she deserved to end it this way — at least a vampire would be quicker than a lifetime with fucking Alejandro.

“Noah,” she whispered. “Run!”

*

Cassandra paced angrily past the cot again, resisting the urge to kick it, and the stupid feral who was still fucking sleeping on top of it, then paused at the cage’s side to glare at the vampire.

The thing had taken a real beating and its face was a mangled mess, but even the damage the feral had done hadn’t been enough to stop it — or the agents of the Patriarchy who’d arrived next.

Maybe if Noah had had just a few more minutes — or if Cassandra’s telly had been strong enough to really hurt the fucking thing once Noah had it pinned to the ground.

“Fuck.”

“Oh, good, you’re awake,” Cassandra said, seeing Noah stir.

Great, she thought, now I’m going to have to talk to the dumbass.

She’d already managed to shut the vampire up by screaming insults every time the thing opened its mouth … or tried to speak, she should say, since with its jaw hanging loose on one side, the thing’s mouth was always open. She wished the fucking feral had thought to grab its lower jaw and rip the fucking thing off.

“Where are we? The school infirmary?”

What a fucking idiot.

“No such luck.”

Cassandra watched and listened as the feral rose and started asking more stupid questions. She provided some of the answers just so she wouldn’t have to listen to any more of the vampire’s slurred, drooling, half-hissed answers.

“What’s this —”

“Don’t —”

Stupid, fucking feral!

Cassandra rushed to the cot, grabbed the blanket, and flipped it over the feral’s head, yanking hard. Even with the insulation of the cloth blanket, she could still feel the tingle of her mana being drained for the brief moment where they were all connected, then she managed to break the feral’s grip and he fell back into her.

“Oof!”

They hit the floor and Cassandra’s breath was knocked out of her for an instant, before she could recover and start trying to push the fucking feral off of her. He managed to dig an elbow into her tit in the process — twice, probably on purpose, the degenerate. She’d heard about him and the Prescott witch, keeping the girls on either side of their room awake until way after lights-out with their antics.

She was amazed the girls hadn’t complained to the administration about it and got the two separated — probably by turning the hose on them like animals.

That was something she was never going to allow when she was high priestess. Every two weeks and ritual nights was the limit — at least she could protect herself and her witches from some of Alejandro’s bullshit. She almost felt sorry for the Prescott brat.

Cassandra managed to get the dumbass off of her, then began to regret not leaving him to be drained by the Patriarchy’s silver as he started asking more questions — most he should have known the answer to, or at least been able to figure out, if he hadn’t been an uneducated idiot. Goddess, how had such a moron even gotten into Willowmere in the first place?

She even had to answer some of his stupid questions, just to reduce the amount of shit she had to hear from the fucking vampire — and those two were now talking about some of the dumbest, most useless mundane shit.

The vampire chuckled. “A Faraday cage traps and blocks electromagnetic radiation — so, yeah, it’s exactly like a magic Faraday cage.”

“Like I said, stupid,” Cassandra grumbled.

She just wanted to lay down and rest — maybe have some kind of peace before the Patriarchy did whatever they were going to do to her. She wondered if anyone would ever know what happened to her, or if she’d just disappear — or if anyone would bother to wonder about it. Her mother had already made it clear, repeatedly, that Cassandra was replaceable if she couldn’t measure up to expectations. It would probably be a relief if Cassandra was never heard from again.

The feral sighed, like it was him who was exasperated and fed-up with her. “You know, I’m kind of regretting trying to save your ass.”

“I didn’t need saving!” Cassandra yelled, but the feral just raised an eyebrow and his mouth quirked in that stupid, smug grin he’d given her before — like when he’d basically called her an ugly bitch, but in a way it had taken her too long to figure out to respond.

“You needed saving,” the vampire interjected, then looked at the feral. “Are you two dating or something?”

Rage filled her — how dare that disgusting creature suggest —

“What?” Cassandra yelled. “No!”

The vampire shrugged. “I’ve just never seen a couple fight this much without some weird sexual tension thing going on.”

“I’m… We’re… No!” Cassandra protested, flushing red and turning away from both of them with her arms crossed so she wouldn’t have to look at them.

The problem was … well, not that the feral was particularly good-looking or cute, that wasn’t it, it was just that he was there. At Willowmere. Every fucking day she had to look at him, and … he wasn’t bad looking, could even be acceptable if someone would teach him how to fix his stupid hair that went off in all directions — and cut it shorter. And if he’d just keep his mouth shut so he wouldn’t always be showing how fucking ignorant he was.

Fuck — what kind of life was it where she had four years before being stuck with Alejandro and all she could find was useless college guys who didn’t give a shit about her other than to pump and dump, clearly expecting her to thank them or some shit after, even though they were leaving her more frustrated than when things started, and then she has to look at an actual warlock every day, but she can’t have, or even think about…

Not that she wanted to think about the feral.

Not that she had thought about the feral.

Especially not since they’d come back from Solstice break and the stupid Prescott witch was hanging off the moron like they actually cared for each other, like some stupid mundanes in a stupid movie.

Priscilla was probably right about those — maybe she’d ban mundane movies and shows in her coven. Unrealistic expectations.

And still he was talking to the vampire.

“Why are you talking to it?” Cassandra asked, spinning around. “Vamps are nothing but murdering scum — it’s probably the one that killed Katrina!”

“Was she the little lamb chop I had near your campus?” the vampire asked.

“See? It admits it!”

Cassandra felt her rage building.

“Why shouldn’t I admit it?” the vampire asked. “Do you hide it when you eat a steak or some chicken wings?”

“Katrina wasn’t some cow, you —”

Cassandra forced herself to break off and turn her back on the other two again. She could feel her resonant’s need building within her and knew if she didn’t calm herself, she’d start losing control. She’d direct her Malice at both of them, and the feral, Noah, didn’t deserve that. He had tried to save her, even if he couldn’t even do that properly. She knew they were probably going to die down here and didn’t want to spend her last moments with someone she’d hurt. Maybe that would give her a few seconds near the end where she didn’t have to hate herself.

Then she heard the vampire say something that drew her back, eyes narrowing and lips turning up with malicious glee.

“Like a collar?” the feral asked. “I don’t see anything.”

“It’s below the surface.”

“How —”

“I don’t wish to speak of it,” the vampire said, turning away, which told Cassandra everything she needed to know.

“Oh, I can think of how,” she said, crossing to the barrier between them and the vampire.

“Shut up, cow!”

“How?” the feral asked.

“Vampires can heal from just about anything — the only physical ways to kill one are destroying its heart, destroying its brain, or beheading to separate the two. Even fire isn’t permanent unless it does one of those things.”

The vampire’s shoulders tensed and Cassandra stepped right up to the wall of the cage, as close as she dared, taking in every bit of the vampire’s reaction. Relishing the surge of mana filling her — for once, something she could enjoy instead of hating. That was so fucking rare it was almost worth knowing how close the end probably was.

She paused, wanting to relish the moment. “They just carved all the flesh from your neck, didn’t they?”

“Oh, shit!” the feral exclaimed.

“Were you awake when they did it?” Cassandra asked, knowing vampires couldn’t be sedated and hoping the Patriarchy hadn’t bothered to try any other way of making the creature unconscious. “I really hope you were awake when they did it.”

“Shit,” the feral said.

“Yes,” the vampire said, turning back to them, lips curled back in a snarl. “I was awake through it — and what they did to me is nothing compared to what they have planned for you witches, so enjoy the thought of my suffering while you contemplate what’s in store for you.”

Then the feral started asking the thing questions again and the moment was over, her mana generation slowed, but her resonant had filled enough to where she was starting to crave more. Her other, the bad one, was starting to fill, too, but only slowly and not enough to offset it and dim the thoughts that started teasing at the edges of her mind — thoughts about how best to hurt the vampire again. And Noah. She hated that — even if she had someone near who it was perfectly reasonable and acceptable to hurt, her resonant wouldn’t let her leave others alone. It wanted her to hurt everyone.

After a time, he finally shut up and sat on their cot, pulling the blanket into his lap and clutching it like —

“Oh, do you need your blankie?” Cassandra asked in a mocking tone before she even knew she was speaking.

Fuck!

He took the blanket off his lap and set it at the foot of the cot.

“Why are you such a bitch all the time? We should be trying to figure out how we can get out of here, not sniping at each other.”

Cassandra flushed red and looked away, eyes suddenly hot with tears. She was really going to do it, wasn’t she? She was going to die here, alone in a basement except for a fucking vampire and one more person she’d made hate her, just like she’d done to everyone in her life, even the friends she had as a kid who —

She scrubbed at her eyes and whispered. “What makes you think we could get out of here? If anybody knew where we were, they’d be here by now.” She waved a hand around the cell. “That stuff blocks magic — and they had the same stuff in the van they used to bring us here, so no one’s going to be able to follow them with Hindsight. Whatever they’ve got planned for us, they’re just going to do, and there’s nothing we can do to stop them.” She waved a hand at the vampire. “They trapped a fucking vampire for fuck’s sake.”

The feral ignored her and started asking the vampire questions again — that went on until the dumbass just had to brag about his supposed connection to The Blackwood. There was no doubt The Blackwood had taken some sort of interest in him, even going so far as to claim he was a descendant, ridiculous as that was to even suggest. As though a witch that powerful could actually be related to a feral who spent all his time with the weakest witches in the school?

She tried not to pay attention to the two, but they just kept going on and on and on as though they had any chance at all of getting out of this.

“It doesn’t matter. How do you think you’re even going to get out of this cage?” Cassandra demanded. She crossed her arms under her breasts and stalked off to the far corner of our cage with her back to the others, willing them to shut the fuck up and just give her a bit of peace.

“Well, if we could get that netting out of the way. I’m pretty sure I could use my Strength affinity to get the door open. If I had enough mana — I’m a little dry right now.”

“Yeah?” Cassandra spun around to confront the feral, feeling her resonant begin filling even against her will. “You’re a little empty? Maybe because you couldn’t keep your hands to yourself and just had to touch the scary silver net you knew absolutely fuck-all about?”

The feral just stared at her, then nodded. “Oh.”

“‘Oh,’ what?” Cassandra demanded.

Now he was fucking grinning at her.

“It’s a resonant thing, isn’t it?”

Cassandra felt her face heat. Had she gotten that obvious that even he figured it out? She’d tried to keep it more of a secret, not wanting her friends — former friends — to have any kind of sympathy for her. She didn’t deserve that.

“What if it is?”

“Well, maybe if we brainstorm a little, we can figure out how to use our affinities to get out of here.”

Cassandra snorted.

“Anything’s better than sitting around here waiting for whatever they want to do to us. What is it? Hey, I told you one of mine, right? So what’re your resonants?”

Cassandra glared at him — jaw tight. He wanted to know? Fine. Maybe if he knew what he was in for, he’d leave her the fuck alone. “Malice.”

“Then you must have a fuckton of mana stored up right now.”

What the fuck? No, “I’m so sorry?” No, “Oh, that must be so hard?” What an asshole.

“What if I do?” Cassandra asked angrily. “My Fire affinity doesn’t do us any more good against that net than it did against that thing.” She jerked her chin at the vampire. “I already tried to burn the net and it did nothing. Even if I could get past the netting, I’m not strong enough to melt that fence.”

Things really went to shit after that — the feral even threw his trinitara status in her face like he was talking to a onesie or something. Asking if she had three resonants like that was even possible. Goddess, what she’d give for just one good one.

Then he had the fucking audacity to ask what her second resonant was, and she’d told him because nothing really mattered anymore, did it?

Then he kept. Asking. Fucking. Questions.

Until the fucking vampire piped up again.

“Seems pretty obvious to me.”

“Well, enlighten us, little thing that managed to get a bomb strapped to its spine,” Cassandra demanded. “You’re clearly so much cleverer than we are.”

The vampire shrugged. “He’s got the way to open the cage door.” It pointed at the feral, then at Cassandra. “You’ve got the mana he needs to do it.”

Cassandra stared at the creature for a moment, not quite believing what the thing had just suggested.

“Oh, fuck no.”

No. Nope. Not a chance.

Her mother had suggested it … almost ordered it. But she’d also told Cassandra exactly what the result would be — under no circumstances was a coven with a feral warlock, not even a trinitara, going to be high within the Blake Family hierarchy.

No, her choices, if it was even a choice, were to be integrated into the succession line with Alejandro, possibly working her way up to Family head in a few decades, or the utility line. Basically stuck as a brood mare of sorts with the hope the trinitara would breed true at least part of the time.

Cassandra wanted children. Desperately, even. She pictured them as the one decent, beautiful part of her future life. She’d protect them, no matter the cost to herself or the rest of her coven. Not let the Family try to find out their resonants early — no child should be put through that kind of pain. She’d make sure they knew she’d love them, no matter what those resonants were, and maybe, maybe once her mother died, Cassandra might have enough power in the Family…

She came to her senses and looked around the basement.

That would never happen now, so it was a waste of time to think about.

“Bram’s balls, I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people in more dire need of a hate-fuck than you guys.”

“Go suck a were!” Cassandra yelled.

She’d always heard the vampires and weres hated each other, and given the vampire’s snarling reaction, it was true.

But what if what the vampire had suggested was also true? That there was a way to get out of here alive?

The feral’d told her two of his resonants, Lust and Pain. He had a Strength affinity — maybe her telly and Fire would work against the Patriarchy if they weren’t in those stupid looking suits.

Could they really generate enough mana to have a chance at escaping?

Lust and Pain were easy — they weren’t hers, so he’d have to take what she shed instead of directly from her resonants. That generated … eighty … seven? Eighty-seven percent, so thirteen percent loss, and he hated her, so there was going to be loss there, as well, but both of those resonants were fucking powerful — she’d give up a couple fingers for Lust, to have just one that wasn’t torture to fill.

I can do that, she thought. He’s probably less useful than a frat-guy, but Lust doesn’t have to have release — better, even, if it doesn’t. Tell him how to get me worked up until that peaks, then … well, it wouldn’t be the first time someone’s hurt me, would it?

Fucking Alejandro. He might not be able to fuck her until he came into his power, but that didn’t stop other things. Things she’d have to accept, even once she bound him, or he’d do that to the rest of her coven — she wouldn’t be able to watch him all the time, so the best way to protect her coven-sisters would be to keep him … busy.

It was pretty easy to think death was preferable when you didn’t think there was a chance — not so much if there was.

Then the Patriarchy came.

*

It was a nightmare. It had to be. Cassandra couldn’t possibly believe it was real.

She was moving, walking, but she had no idea where. Words were coming out of her mouth, but she couldn’t understand them. Her vision had narrowed to just what was directly in front of her and even that was flashing like some kind of stop-motion as she couldn’t control her eyes or stop them blinking. Her body was numb and cold, as though she was already dead, and she wished she was.

They want my babies?

Noah was next to her, his arms around her, leading her somewhere, but she couldn’t see where. He was saying something, and she felt her mouth working, responding somehow, but couldn’t hear any of the words.

This was too much — it couldn’t be real.

They couldn’t have her babies, not the only good thing she thought she might do with her life. She wouldn’t let them do that — she loved her children too much already, even just the idea of them.

The vampire was saying something and the fucking feral was finally yelling at it instead of calmly asking stupid questions.

Cassandra stood, sniffed, and resolved herself.

She wouldn’t let this happen, no matter the cost. Let her mark a fucking feral, she’d still be high priestess. High priestess of a trinitara warlock of the fucking Blackwood line — even if the line-part was bullshit, it was bullshit that was already out there and some people believed it.

Fine, Mother, put me in the fucking utility line. I’ll make him fuck me and hurt me every fucking day until we’re so fucking powerful there’s nothing you can do to my babies either.

“Okay,” she said, nodding. “All right.”

“All right what?” Noah asked.

Cassandra’s hands went to her blouse and started unbuttoning.

“I mark you; you mark me, I don’t give a shit — let’s get enough mana to get the fuck out of here.”

She still couldn’t feel anything — she knew her fingers were fumbling with the buttons, failing over and over to undo them.

Her vision was still a tiny circle, entirely taken up by the feral’s stupid, strong, caring face.

Why doesn’t he look excited? I’m going to let him fuck me, why doesn’t he look happy?

The feral’s, Noah’s, arms were around her, protective and warm.

When was the last time someone had touched her like this? When was her last hug?

Maybe since they’d found out her resonants? There was no point in comforting someone with Despair, after all.

Cassandra didn’t know — she only knew she suddenly felt safe enough to give way to the tears.

*

Cassandra moved slowly, trying not to let Noah know that she was snuggling closer to him.

If a Precog had told her yesterday that she’d be stuck in a Patriarchy basement with a vampire, not only in a bed with Noah Ashe, but trying, desperately, to put as much of her body into contact with him as she possibly could and … anticipating? Eager? Fucking happy? At the thought of marking him in a few hours?

She suppressed a snort.

That would be one crazy witch.

They’d been talking for hours — no one talked to her for hours.

She suppressed the chuckle that came with the memory of the look on his face when she’d said that aloud. He’d looked like he was a hundred yards from the toilet he needed in ten with the effort of keeping a comment in.

But he had … because he hadn’t wanted to hurt her. She could see that. Noah hadn’t wanted to hurt her. After everything she’d done to him and his friends.

It was almost enough to make her back out — Noah deserved better. Far better.

But that would wind up with him dead … so maybe she wasn’t a fate worse than that?

“You okay?” Noah asked.

Stop being nice to me!

Cassandra nodded quickly, feeling his arm around her tighten and the hand on her back gently rub as she tried to make sense of what she was feeling.

It really was too much to take in all at once.

First, he’d told her things that could, literally, get him killed — because he didn’t want her to think he’d hid it from her. She was going to be a trinitara, with an actually useful, if not entirely pleasant, resonant. She’d almost taken Pain — she deserved it — but Lust would be punishment, too. She’d seen the frustrations witches with that went through — perpetually horny with release every two weeks? Forbidden by the coven-bond to do anything about it in between, because it would decrease mana generation?

Maybe she should tell him she’d changed her mind and take Pain instead.

Thoughts of resonants made her think of Noah’s third.

My warlock has Control. And Command. Mother can never know that — she’d use him. Put him in even more danger.

Cassandra felt her fingers clench, clutching at Noah’s shirt where it lay on his chest, and forcibly willed them to relax.

We’ll tell her it’s Love. That matches with the Prescott … with Samantha’s. I need to get those mean thoughts about her out of my head. Dig them out of my brain with a spoon if I have to. She’s going to be my sister. But, yeah, Love will confuse Mother — and Noah can harvest enough mana from Samantha through Control or even just those … things he told me they do, to make it believable.

Oh, Goddess, what if this is all a trick? What if he’s like Alejandro? Could the coven bond make Samantha look that fucking happy if he was? How the fuck could she like it? And how can I trust him that he won’t make me?

Never mind — assume he’s telling the truth, because … I trust him. Stupid, maybe, but I do.

Worry about Mom, because she’s the one who’ll fuck us over.

I have to keep her from hurting him, because if she tries … I’ll kill her. I’ll fucking kill her if she tries to take this from me, too.

*

“Well?” Cassandra said. “Lay down.”

Noah was just standing there, staring at her in the dark, with his dick hanging out.

Sweet Maiden’s juices, if I’d known things like that were actually out there in the wild, I could have doubled my mana production from those college guys by explaining their deficiencies.

He was still staring at her, and Cassandra hastily covered herself. Maybe he did think she was ugly?

This wasn’t going at all the way she’d pictured it.

Noah was supposed to lay down, she’d do a few of the things she’d learned to keep a warlock distracted and compliant — maybe she wouldn’t be that good at it the first time, she’d certainly not wasted that kind of effort on those college assholes — and then, when he was good and distracted with all his braincells in his dick, she’d climb aboard and mark him. Quick, easy, done.

“What?” she asked again.

Still he didn’t say anything — he just sat down beside her, put an arm around her again, and cupped her cheek with one hand, turning her face toward him and moving closer.

“Do we really have time for mrph —”

We do not have time for this!

She couldn’t seem to resist, though, and felt her lips parting, then the tentative, gentle probing of his tongue. Cassandra stifled a protest as his lips left hers and moved across her cheek, down her neck.

“Um, Noah, shouldn’t we, um —”

Does he have Fire? Is he actually heating his hands and lips and…

Cassandra actually opened her eyes to check, but there were no flames — just Noah.

He was kissing his way down her chest and Cassandra felt like she was caught between demanding he stop so they could get on with things and … wrapping her fingers in that messy tangle he called hair so she could make him move quicker to spots that were burning with anticipation rather than his touch.

“You don’t … have to … oh.”

It felt like her nipple was hardwired to something lower and she moaned, cursing herself for getting caught up in the sensations she knew were only going to disappoint.

“We’re just … doing this … for…” she tried to remind him.

Then his lips were moving lower while his hands continued to caress and tease her breasts.

Ah, fuck. Typical. He’s the same as those fucking college guys — it’ll be lick-lick-done, then he’ll grin at me like he did me some fucking favor, and use me to get himself off.

“It’s not … going … I tried this with … a college guy … last year … and it was … was … wasn’t … wasn’t like this…”

Ah, fuck, he can’t find it either, and any minute he’s going to stop and … just stop…

“So nothing’s going … going to … you don’t … don’t…”

Ah, fuck! Lights exploded behind Cassandra’s closed eyes and she groaned. Don’t you fucking stop, don’t you stop you fucking feral! Don’t you dare!

“Don’t … stop…”

*

G — G — Goddess, please! Don’t stop. Don’t leave me like this!

Cassandra nearly whined as Noah started kissing his way up her body. She’d never been this excited — never been so wet she could feel cool trickles running down her skin.

I fucking swear if he only lasts thirty seconds, I’m going to rip that dick off and fuck myself with it while he —

“What … the fuck is that?”

Child, Maiden, Mother, Crone, protect me, what the — so full! Oh, Goddess, I thought the resonants were going to hurt like when they checked for what they were, not — NO! Don’t take them away, bring it back!

“Fuuuuuck!”

“Sounds like a lot of fun,” the fucking vampire called.

“Stop distracting me you bloodsucking freak or I’ll rip your fucking heart out and barbecue it in front of you!”

And Noah better keep fucking me while I do it, because if he stops now, I’ll —

“Goddess! They said it could be good with a warlock, but — aaarrgghh!”

*

“Cassandra?” Noah whispered.

She had no idea how much time this had been going on — she was lost in the sensations.

Ah, fuck, he’s going to tell me he’s almost ready.

“Don’t. Stop. Don’t. Stop,” she started chanting, punctuating each word by kicking her heels into his backside.

More, please more.

“I’m going to start drawing mana now,” Noah said, “remember to try not to struggle and turn this into a marking thing.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she whispered nodding. “Hurry up!”

Cassandra opened her eyes and looked at Noah. With their shields down, she could see his mana generation, dim as it was, and…

He really doesn’t hate me? He cares about me? Not struggle? Goddess, I wish we hadn’t made that stupid agreement to try not marking. I want him … I want this.

Then the pain started.

*

The pain was horrible, the worst Cassandra had ever endured. Worse, even, than “getting to know” that asshole Alejandro.

It felt like there were coils of barbed-wire in her gut and Noah was dragging them out of her through her resonants.

“Don’t … don’t resist,” Noah murmured through clenched teeth.

Don’t resist? Don’t resist having her guts ripped out of her? How would that even be possible?

“I can’t … not,” Cassandra panted, gritting her teeth. “Sorry.”

She opened her eyes to meet Noah’s gaze and … the fucking feral was chuckling? This was fucking funny?

“It’s okay — we knew it was a chancy thing,” Noah said. “Count three?”

Cassandra nodded.

“Okay, one … two…”

I can’t let him mark me. I have to be high priestess. If I’m not, I can’t protect him — it’ll be Liza or Sara or that fucking witch cousin of mine Mom said she’d send if I couldn’t manage it. That can’t happen — they’ll make him … they’ll change him.

“Go!” Cassandra yelled, pulling on her resonants, sucking mana back into herself with as much force and will as she could muster.

*

“Give it. Back. You stubborn. Shit!” Cassandra growled through clenched teeth, concentrating harder than she ever had in her entire life, forming all her thoughts and will into the single-minded task of marking this utter, fucking asshole!

Is he really so stupid he doesn’t know the kind of danger he’ll be in if I’m not high priestess?

“Nope.”

Cassandra felt her eyes widen. How the hell could he just say “nope” like this wasn’t the hardest thing he’d ever done? She’d never worked this hard in her life! Hard enough to try and pull back all her mana, without — she shifted her hips to move Noah’s thrusting to a spot that wasn’t going to wind up with her losing this.

She clenched her fingers, digging her nails into Noah’s back, hoping the pain would distract him and she could get back just a bit more.

“‘Nope?’ ‘Nope?’ You think I’m easy, you fucking fera … ffffuuuuckk!”

*

Lightning exploded in Cassandra’s head, her vision went white, and her muscles locked up, straining to eke every tiny bit of pleasure she could, no longer caring about her mana, her marking, nothing except the ongoing sensations, pain and pleasure mixing and beyond caring.

Her breathing slowed, becoming ragged and uneven, and she felt her heart flutter.

Her resonants were empty — as empty as they could be without —

“Keep going,” the vampire whispered.

She’d almost forgotten about the fucking vampire — she would in a moment, if Noah kept going. Forget everything.

This was what witches feared more than anything — this moment when they were helpless and it was the warlock’s choice. Bind them, or take it all — and that fear filled her.

“Take it all the way,” the vampire whispered. “The last bits are the sweetest. There’ll be no escape anyway, so you might as well enjoy what you can now.”

Cassandra couldn’t seem to focus on anything, not even Noah’s face — it was all a blur, and her heart was fluttering as though she’d been drained of blood as well as mana.

“Take it,” the vampire said.

“Fuck you,” Noah muttered.

The blur of his face seemed to harden, resolved, then disappeared as he lowered his mouth to her neck. There was the barest hint of lips, then the hardness of teeth, and then lightning exploded again.

Her mana being taken had hurt; the mana being pushed back into her — was incredible.

Her third resonant opening — and she was still a little in shock that it was actually a thing — hurt like hell, but it was a pinprick compared to the other sensations.

Mana filled her — not the sickening, oily mana of Malice or the sharp, horror of Despair. This was refined mana, devoid of what might have generated it, and feeling — feeling like Noah. Warm and comforting and kind, in ways she didn’t think she’d ever felt before.

It filled her, stretching and expanding her new resonant, even while more entered her from Noah’s bite and formed the coven bond.

Why biting? What the fuck — probably has vampires on the mind. I really want to kill that bitch.

Her vision went white again — or maybe still, she couldn’t tell — and she stopped thinking, giving herself over to the sensations Noah, her warlock, was giving her.

“Goddess, you feral bastard, don’t stop!” she screamed.

*

Noah’s movements changed and Cassandra could tell he was getting close.

Goddess bless, thank you — I’m done. Thank the Maiden we’ll only do this every two weeks — without the schedule I’d never let my warlock out of bed.

Her warlock. She’d spent years dreading this moment and now she didn’t want it to end.

She felt Noah prop himself up on his elbows and opened her eyes to find him looking at her, staring deeply into her own.

“Cassandra — you’re mine now and you’ll give me a son.”

What?!

No, he couldn’t promise that — no one could — it was impossible.

Fire filled her as Noah tensed, straining and forcing himself even deeper.

Filled her and kept going, entering her very core. Her brief glance at it felt like it would blind her, the mana was so bright.

Magic was about power and the warlock’s will, and Cassandra wondered for a moment at the will necessary to create what she was seeing.

I didn’t have a fucking chance to mark him, she marveled.

Even if it didn’t work, it was will and power like she’d never seen outside of a ritual — and she was suddenly certain it would work. That strength couldn’t be denied, but it was impossible. Entire covens worked their will to beg the Goddess for this, but She never did.

Could it be possible?

Was this real?

Was She real?

Cassandra felt her eyes fill with tears.

“Please,” she barely whispered, “please, please, please…”