Her Witch, Her Demon: Book 1 of Hers Trilogy [WxW]

1. The Union

It was 9:00 PM.

Meredith Huang should be lost in the plot of a steamy romance novel or locked in the basement practicing magic like a proper witch or engrossed in the tiniest detail of her painting in progress. Meredith Huang should be home. Period. Instead, here she was with her best friend, Alicia, in a secluded part of town. A man in a black suit blocked their path, glaring at Meredith with fiery red eyes.

"She's with me, Borg." Alicia's smile softened the bouncer's glower. He nodded and opened the door.

Getting past the door, everything overwhelmed Meredith's senses at once. Booming electronic dance music hammered her eardrums. The smell of blood, alcohol, and sex stabbed her nostrils, while the heat from so many bodies in one place scorched her skin. She clenched her jaws, feeling a slight headache taking over. But at this moment, headaches were the least of her problems. People... creatures... of all kinds, filled every inch of the club. They danced, and drank, and kissed, and stripped, and... holy witch, was that an orgy on stage? She blinked rapidly before averting her eyes.

A waitress wearing nothing but red lingerie strolled by with a serving tray full of red wine. Instead of carrying the tray in her hand, the silver saucer levitated over her palm. The waitress served two pale women a glass of red wine each. The women grinned at each other, revealing a pair of long upper canines. Meredith raised her brows, reminding herself to stay away from the red wine. A man with the head of a goat sat by himself. He smoked something from a long glass pipe. His black eyes glazed over as he puffed green smoke out of his muzzle. A sinking feeling drilled into Meredith's core. Never in her twenty-five years of life had she seen vampires and werewolves, witches and demons all in the same place at the same time. What the hell was going on?

She turned to Alicia, wordlessly demanding answers. Alicia grinned as if a witch waltzing into a demonic party was just another Friday. Had Alicia lost her damn mind? Was she trying to get them killed?

"Are you going to close your mouth, M?

"It took Meredith a while to realize that she hadn't shut her mouth yet. "Ali, what the hell?" She finally found her voice. "Where are we? Why are we here?" She held on to Alicia while scanning for any threats. They were supposed to be in a normal club full of normal humans or witches, dealing with normal problems. This death trap was not what Meredith had in mind.

"Come on, relax."

"Relax?" There were demons here. How the hell was she supposed to relax? Why wasn't Alicia freaking out? "There are demons everywhere." She didn't feel like dying today. Nor did she feel like killing anyone today. Or ever.

"Not all demons are trying to kill witches, M." Alicia squeezed her hand. "At least not in here."

Meredith paused, slowly mulling over Alicia's words. At least not in here? She tried to put her emotions aside for a moment. No demon had tried to attack them yet. Could Alicia be right? The vampires and werewolves weren't tearing out each other's throats. Around a table, a werewolf and a vampire were arm wrestling. While the half-wolf, half-human creatures howled for their comrade, the vampires cheered for theirs as they beat the table in excitement. A couple of witches even danced with a crimson-skinned demon with a horn protruding from their forehead. What the hell?

Vampires and werewolves playing together? Witches dancing with demons? The scorn between vampires and werewolves was just as ancient and deep as that between witches and demons. How was this place not painted in blood and scattered with guts and bones? Or was this one of those strange dreams Meredith often had when she inhaled too much highrose incense?

"What's this place?"

"Welcome to the Union." Alicia dragged her through the crowd, expertly maneuvering between intoxicated dancers. "Come on, let's dance." Meredith bit her lips, warily looking around. No one had tried to kill them yet, but that didn't mean she could just lose her guard, right? Alicia smiled at her. "Hey, don't worry. We're safe in the Union."