Free Caged in Darkness by J. D. Stroube

couldn’t bring
myself to shun. My aunt who had taken over my dark arts training
was one of them.
    I had some anxiety about my mother’s request
involving the witch prodigy. I wasn’t sure how to make someone fall
in love with me; my specialty was convincing women to fall into bed
with me. I wasn’t anxious to try that with the Cross girl.
    My mother had a skewed view of the world and
the people in it. She thought that whatever she wanted was hers for
the taking, but didn’t understand that it was merely that way
within the coven.
    Most witches were born into a coven and it
became their only choice. However, the Cross girl was descended
from a royal line. The Cross family was known for splitting hairs
where magic was concerned. They had been the founding members of
both the Sacred Moon and Meadow Falls covens. This gave the Cross
girl an advantage because she could choose her destiny. Her blood
flowed towards two separate paths and it was her choice that would
decide which vein to clamp. Once in place, it was unlikely that she
could remove the clot and regain that choice.
    My earlier assumptions involving the Cross
girl, Savannah were wrong. My mother provided all the information I
would need to insert myself into Savannah’s life, but given her
childhood I wasn’t confident in my skills. She was raised to
despise black magic. She would probably choose to be initiated into
the coven who took her in. I didn’t see how I could pull her away
from her family within a few weeks. It would be better for her if
she stayed far away from my mother’s manipulations.
    I reached my apartment door to find that it
was unlocked, which wasn’t a surprise. I opened the door to reveal
the three women I enjoyed earlier that morning. They were in a
similar state to the one I left them in; barely clothed and tangled
in sheets on the living room floor.
    That morning they begged me to stay.
Considering their current activities, they obviously found adequate
comfort in each other. It was a sight most men would salivate over,
but had begun to bore me lately. They didn’t look up, when I tossed
my jacket on the couch and walked past them towards the
bedroom.
    I unbuttoned and tugged off my shirt as I
walked into the room, and directly into the closet.
    “I wasn’t sure you would make it past them.
I almost found them too tempting to pass up, myself.” A familiar
voice sounded from my room.
    My shirt still off, I peeked my head around
the door and smiled at the sight that greeted me. On the bed lay a
seductive creature. Ordinarily, I limited my bed partners to
ordinary humans, but occasionally found myself making
exceptions.
    Kali was one female I couldn’t help giving
in to. She was wild, impulsive, and a Hellhound. She wasn’t the
distorted perception of a Hellhound that humans had, but an actual
Hellhound. Most of her race was extinct, but there were five left;
five gorgeous, powerful, and terrifying females.
    Death itself created the Hellhounds from
tainted souls. They were the guardians of the afterlife, the takers
of souls, and the dispensers of justice. In the case of a wicked
soul, who escaped death, the Hellhounds would embark on the “Wild
Hunt.” Their punishment was far worse than the sentences death
would distribute.
    Hellhounds could shift at will into enormous
beasts that resembled a wolf or dog, but far more terrifying. They
were considered harbingers of death and could visit it upon a
person merely by meeting their eyes.
    “Another five minutes and I would have given
up waiting for you.” She said, while playing with the necklace that
hung between her breasts.
    “If I knew you were waiting for me, I would
have been back sooner.”
    “Then why are you standing all the way over
there? It’s cold in here. I think I need you to warm me up.” She
purred, and turned onto her belly facing me.
    I looked her over; she was wearing a black
lace corset with a matching garter belt, and a g-string. Her
blazing red hair hung