All Chapters of The Witch's Demon Mate: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The world was nothing but fire and shadowKael's roar still echoed through the forest, shaking the bones of the earth. His flames licked upward in violent arcs, scorching branches into ashes, while the Hunter twisted and writhed in the blaze. Its form was ever-shifting, stretching between smoke and bone, claws slicing through the fire like knives through silk.Aria clung to Kael's back, her sigil burning as if trying to sear itself free of her skin. Her heartbeat wasn't her own-it pounded in sync with his, every breath she took tangled with his growls, eveyr flicker of heat mirrored in her veins.The bond was alive.And it was hungry.Kael turned suddenly, his arm hooking around her waist and dragging her flush against him. The motion stole her breath, his heat smoldering and intoxicating. His lips hovered a whisper from hers, molten eyes blazing."Focus," he rasped, his voice roughened by battle. "You're feeding me, but you're fighting it. Let it flow, Aria. Or we both burn."Her kne

The forest spat them into a hollow valley, where jagged stone teeth jutted like a broken crown. Aria stumbled over roots, lung burning, the bond pulling taut through her veins until Kael's hand caught her arm and drew her against him."Here," he murmured, eyes narrowing toward the shadows crawling between the cliffs. "This place remembers demons. It will hide us."The ruin ahead was carved into the moutianside-- an old temple, half-buried in moss and bone-white vines. Once, it might have been a temple. Its walls were cracked, its entrance choked with rubble, but an aura lingered around it--a residue of something acient and dangerous.Aria's stomach twisted as she stepped across the threshold. The air inside was cooler, damp with stone and soil, but beneath it hung a metallic tang, as if the wall still wept ah and iron fires long dead.Kael moved with an ease that unnerved her, like a predator returning to old hunting grounds. Firelight seeped fainlty from his skin, catching the carvi

The ruin was quiet again, but silence here was a lie. Aria felt it in her bones, the hum of the stones, the heavy stillness pressing against her ears. Kael’s arm remained around her waist, steadying her, but she forced herself to straighten, to breathe on her own.Her mark still glowed faintly, the sigil spreading farther up her arm, branching toward her collarbone like veins of fire and shadow. She rubbed at it, grimacing. “I can’t… keep pretending this isn’t consuming me.”Kael watched her with those molten-gold eyes, unreadable in the firelight. “Because you are consumed,” he said simply. “That’s the nature of a bond.”Her jaw tightened. “Then tell me what it really is. Not riddles. Not temptations. The truth.”His smile cut sharp, but there was a flicker of amusement there too. “Bold, witch. You think you can demand answers from me?”“I freed you,” she shot back, heat rising in her throat. “I fought beside you. If this bond ties me to you, then I deserve to know why the coven want

The temple collapsed behind them in a scream of stone. Heat licked at Aria’s back as she ran, the world a blur of shadow and flame. Every breath tasted like smoke, her lungs burning, her pulse keeping pace with the frantic thrum of the bond.Kael’s voice cut through the roar. “Faster, witch!”“I’m trying!”Roots tore beneath her boots as the forest swallowed them again. The night was alive—branches shifting, ground trembling, the air thick with pursuing magic. Behind them came the shriek of the Covenant’s hunters: warped chants and the hiss of blades forged from spelllight.Kael moved ahead of her, every stride smooth and lethal. His eyes glowed through the darkness like molten suns, a streak of fire in the blur of trees. “They won’t stop until they have you,” he said, glancing back. “Or your corpse.”“Then they’ll choke on ash,” Aria spat, though her voice trembled.Something in her mark pulsed again, answering the adrenaline. The shadows around her feet rippled—alive, following her

Night fell heavier than ash.After days of running—of blood, shadow, and breathless magic—Aria’s legs gave out at the ridge of a narrow canyon. The mark on her arm pulsed weakly, no longer scorching, but aching like an old wound, whispering reminders of the bond she could neither ignore nor fully embrace.Kael caught her before she hit the ground, his body still radiating heat even though his fire had dimmed with exhaustion. “We’re close,” he murmured, voice ragged. “Raviel won’t turn us away.”“He?” Aria managed, breath trembling. “Another demon?”Kael’s jaw flexed. “Old ally. Older debt. Someone I trust more than any mortal.”The canyon’s mouth yawned open, revealing a series of black stone steps carved into the earth, lit by embers that hovered like lazy fireflies. Shadows moved across the walls, alive and whispering, but their step was careful, measured.As they descended, Aria’s mind raced, replaying the last few days—each pursuit, each pulse of fire along her arm, each whisper o