Witch Road to Take Read Free Page A

my doorway, fully transformed into the malevolent
red Lucifer, acid dripping from his pores and burning holes in my
carpet, I thought twice about pissing him off any further.
    I sat on my bed with my back against my
headboard and swallowed, loudly. Even if I wanted to move, there
was no way that I could. I was petrified.
    My father had his long arms crossed over his
chest. He clicked his nails against the metal around his biceps,
while his horns, which were now erect, were thick and strong. I had
only seen my father’s horns twice since my birth, and each time,
they frightened me senseless.
    Father stepped into my bedroom with Wolf and
Zombie in tow. I didn’t like the smirks on the mutts’ gnarly faces,
but they were the least of my concerns.
    Mustering up all my bravery, I slowly
maneuvered to the edge of my bed and put both feet on the floor—my
mute metaphor that I was going to stand my ground. It took
everything in me to rise up off that bed and stand in front of my
father. No doubt, he’d expect such obedience, even from me. My long
legs trembled like an ostrich on a tightrope.
    His voice bellowed with a roar that shook my
room. “You are forbidden to leave this room. You are forbidden to go upstairs and conspire with humans, and you
are now forbidden to have that piece of junk on your
desk.”
    My eyes flew to where he had glanced. He was
referring to my laptop. My heart dropped and dread crept over me.
“You can’t do that.”
    “I can do whatever I want. I am the king of
the underworld, and you are my servant,” his voice roared, blowing
my hair off my face. Drops of acid spittle burned my cheek and it
took all that I had in me not to wipe away the drops and react
compulsively. Not that I could beat Lucifer at anything.
    I stood my ground and remembered my secret
personal motto: Keep calm and don’t upset Father.
    “I am not your servant, I am your daughter.
Your flesh-and-blood daughter, and an important member of your
royal dynasty.” I wanted that to be as powerful as his voice, but
those last words came out more like a helpless cry, a last-ditch
effort to stand my ground. I cringed at my own words.
    “I can’t believe you pulled that royal
dynasty card. I suppose you think you are clever.” An evil chuckle
sent his spittle onto my comforter. The acid-like saliva burned
pinholes where it landed. “A daughter would respect her role as my daughter. But you mock me with the naked trickery of your
half-breed humanity!”
    “I like humans. They treat me with
respect.”
    He glared at me. His eyes were literally
singeing my skin. I moved out of his direct glare, but his eyes
followed me. His fingers played with the greasy goatee at his
pointed chin. “You have developed a love for those rodents
upstairs. Even, I noticed, your compassion for them.”
    I nodded, unsure what to say. I had found my
human friends full of mystery and intrigue. They were part of my
family tree and although I didn’t know any one human that well, I
enjoyed watching them from afar.
    “You are not my daughter. You are a
rebellious replica of your mother. You will spend your life in the
pits with all the other souls.”
    I stepped back and tilted my head, horrified
at the seriousness of those words. “Daddy?!”
    I called him that for the first time since I
was a little girl—before I knew he was Satan—and before I knew his
personification of evil.
    “I am not ‘Daddy.’ I am your lord and
master. What do your humans call it? Tough love? Apparently, you
only understand the human way of doing things, so, as of today, you
are no longer my daughter. You are nothing to me. Less than
nothing.” He turned to leave.
    Out of nowhere, Damien appeared in front of
me, fully transformed into the demonic creature of mystic
greatness. His voice was loud, deep and authoritative. “Father, you
will not discard my sister.”
    My heart skipped a beat when I saw my father
stop dead in his tracks. I would never want to cause my brother