Harley Laroux

Everly

I am the servant of a merciless God. I am the daughter of Its preacher. All my life, my power has been controlled by others. They raised me to be meek and stifled my magic.

But no more.

A brutal murder led me to discover a mysterious house full of magic - and the ancient, powerful demon within. He says my power can change the world, that I can kill the evil creature I once worshipped.

But at what cost?

Callum

For two thousand years, I've been alone. Slaughtering fallen Gods as I searched for the witch that haunted my dreams, begging for my help.

Now that I've found her, I will protect her with my life. But when the fate of Earth, Heaven, and Hell hangs in the balance, not even her soul is safe from destruction.

If a choice must be made, I'll let the world burn if it means having her as my own.

Soul of a Witch is book 3 in the Souls Trilogy. Each book within the Souls Trilogy is interconnected, following a different couple through a similar timeline in the fictional world of Abelaum.

Content Note
This book contains sexual scenes, kink/fetish content, horror elements, and drug use. Please see the book preview for complete CW.

Souls Trilogy #3

Soul of a Witch

YOU WILL HAVE ME IN LIFE AND I WILL KEEP YOU IN DEATH 

I dare you to tell me this is not the most romantic shit ever

Leonie

“To whom do you belong, my demon?” “To you, darling. You will have me in life. I will keep you in death. For eternity, I am yours, and you are mine.”

Survival did not matter. My life was already gone. Death was calling, and my time had come to answer. But I would not go alone.

This was the exact moment I knew what was ahead and the exact moment, I got so annoyed, I wasn't able to focus on all the stuff I've loved in this book anymore, just the one thing that was ahead had the potential of ruining the other 80% of the book for me. 

“Your scent, it’s…” Kimaris glanced at me, a question I couldn’t read in her gaze. But she quickly looked away again, shaking her head with a chuckle. “That’s a lot of magic you carry, love. A bit overwhelming.”

Don't mind me getting all sappy about this here

“I love you,” I said. “I love you more than life itself, more than my own freedom. For you and you alone, I’ve stayed alive, Everly. For you, I would face everything I ever feared. I’ve lived a thousand lifetimes and I swear I’ve loved you in every one of them.”

Callum folded his arms, claws tapping irritably on his bicep. “I see my suffering amuses you. It’s only fair you amuse me in return.” “Oh?” I turned from admiring the elaborate gravestone before me, giving him an innocent look. “Did you bring the strap out here? That certainly seemed to entertain you.” He tried to maintain his grumpy glower, but the corner of his mouth twitched. “Never should have given you a taste of that. Give one little inch and you take—” “It was much bigger than one little inch, Callum.”

“Ah, yes, of course. Your precious witch.” “

Jealousy isn’t attractive on you, Lucifer.” 

“I’d grow a new one, even more sarcastic than the last.”

She kissed my forehead, to my surprise. It certainly wasn’t a gesture I was used to— gentle partners weren’t something I’d ever sought. Whips, chains, and pain could undo me. But soft words and softer touches could tame me just as effectively.

My commanders’ control once comforted me, until I rose through the ranks more swiftly than I was prepared for, and suddenly, the control was in my hands. Control came with responsibility. It made me not only a leader but a protector. A master over my warriors but a servant to their well- being.

Pain was a familiar, understandable comfort. Control was necessary for life itself. Without someone to counterbalance my baser desires, I was no better than any other wild beast.

I had actual goosebumbs here. I'm not even ashamed. This is bloody hot. 

“There’s nothing wrong with what you like. Humans have such a ridiculous habit of shaming each other for what they enjoy. Erotica, porn, sex, unusual fetishes— so long as the participants are willing, there is no shame in it.”

This man has me on my knees already and I'm barely a third in

“Remember this, darling. Even when you can’t see me, I’ll be there. No one can harm you. No one else can touch you.” “No one else?” A little grin took over her mouth, and I longed to kiss her again. “Besides yourself, you mean?” “Certainly.” “As if you own me?” Still gripping her hair, I pulled her head back just a little more, letting her feel the ache of my hold. “I could not own you any more than one can own the ocean, or a storm, or a forest fire. Those are not things one owns; their beauty and power cannot be claimed in such a way. But they can be chased. And they can be worshiped.”

“I don’t understand your anger,” I said. “Would you have preferred she penetrate me instead?” Whispered curses floated through the air. “It certainly would have been preferable.” That was fair enough. I still didn’t understand, but humans worked in mysterious ways. “Well then, we’ll try that next time.”

“Teach me how,” I said suddenly. “I want to learn how to do that.” His grin remained, one hand lazily reaching down to lift my chin. “One lesson at a time. Someday I’ll teach you how to tie me up as nicely as you please, but today’s lesson is about pleasure. How pleasure can be ecstasy, and how it can be torture.”

“A bell? Like the one’s humans put on their cats?” He tipped his head to the side curiously, seeming to give the idea some thought. “Only if you promise to drag me around on a leash. Then I’ll gladly wear your collar.”

Those with restless minds will always find solace in the night. 

“Your mind is restless.” The demon spoke softly, igniting goosebumps along my arms. “It always is. I don’t usually sleep this much.” I was used to long nights, aching eyes, and drowsy days. When the world was asleep, that was when I found freedom.

“Mm, my sweet lady witch.” His hand moved to cup my face. “Your needs have been so terribly neglected. You’d be far safer indulging your wicked desires with me rather than that wretched fae.”

“Don’t scare yourself,” he said. “Remember the sigil. If I misbehave, make me regret it.” He winked at me, and that simple gesture turned up the heat on my already flushed skin.

“What’s the harm?” he said. My eyes darted between his face and his offered hand. “If I wanted to kill you, I would do it here and now. The moment you stop fighting fate is the moment you accept death. Take command and choose your path.” I took his hand. “This is all madness.” “Then we’ll be mad together.”

Like a hand, as if someone had grabbed her so hard it hurt. The edges of my vision went blurry. “Who hurt you?” I hissed.

“Death calls!” I yelled. “But today, you will not answer! Today, you fight, and death will feed on your enemies! Hell is ours!”

Weapons slammed, howls broke out across the ranks. Lifting my hand, I drew the edge of my blade across my palm so the blood ran down my wrist. Many of the warriors followed suit, for no demon wanted to give their enemy the satisfaction of drawing first blood.

-everly’s dead grandma making herself known by being like “YEAH TELL HIM HOW YOU WANNA HAVE SEX. PUT POWER INTO YOUR VOICE” is somebody gonna match her freak

graves

-everly’s dead grandma making herself known by being like “YEAH TELL HIM HOW YOU WANNA HAVE SEX. PUT POWER INTO YOUR VOICE” is somebody gonna match her freak

- “i expected him to laugh at me, but instead this massive clawed fanged demon sank to the ground and knelt for me” submissive eons old strong arch demon yayyyy

- “from experience, i was aware that such a drastic change in hormone levels could result in a human not feeling well, depressing one’s mood until the body was in balance again” yaaas subdrop rep

-HIM ASKING EVERLY’S GRANDMA’S GHOST WHAT HERBS TO GIVE HER FOR AFTERCARE/BIRTH CONTROL AND ASKING HER “would you have preferred she penetrated me instead?”???? he’s socially stupid. i love him

- pegging yayyy

-“i make my own” OH okay callum

-everly having to go through the process of reprogramming her brain with the reality that she isn’t weak, and that her family was only feeding her doubts and destroying her self worth because of how much of a threat she would be to them and their god if she fully realized how to gain control of herself and her powers 🙏

- “a beautiful woman like you, people should be crawling after you like dogs” / “that’s what you did for me last night” / “that’s right darling. last night i crawled for you, and tonight, i’ll crawl for you again. i’d drag myself through broken glass on my hands and knees if that’s what you wanted.” WHEW

- i understand everly getting jumpy around juniper but she had it coming, even with her being a victim of abuse by her own family too, juniper had every right to be pissed off and hold a grudge against everly for the way she just watched what happened to her. i’d do the same thing as juniper

- a man (demon…) taking accountability for his mistakes, all on his own? he really is fictional

- callum wearing his various piercings/tattoos that symbolize his former lovers he lost in war before they enter hell as a way to honor them and everly being understanding GAHH

- “is it possible to pierce the… penis?” everly my sweet

- EVERLY YOU HAVE ONLY GOTTEN YOUR EARS PIERCED AND ARE NOW LIKE “yeah go ahead and pierce my clit it’s fine” i fear you

- i don’t know why i didn’t see a pregnancy coming considering how the contraception tea was made into a big deal HELLO

the almost-end with everly going back in time to the active war field callum was in, followed by her going all throughout time to feel for the right moment to find him again, with their baby GAGGED me and HURT

- the weakest book in the trilogy imo, but everly is my second favorite of the FMCs, love her down



This was a good book to finish off the series but when it comes to the series just know that the events of the three books are the same just that each book covers different characters. If there was a way to read all three books at the same I would recommend it honestly. I think the characters and how they went back and forth with the dominate and submissive roles (you can interpret how😉). But while it did drag a bit in areas where we already knew what was going on I think it was refreshing to add this to the plot with a witch instead of just the demons and humans. I like this series, definitely something I haven’t read before so I’m glad I liked it. 

Priscilla Stanfield

4/5⭐️ • 4/5🌶️

This was a good book to finish off the series but when it comes to the series just know that the events of the three books are the same just that each book covers different characters. If there was a way to read all three books at the same I would recommend it honestly. I think the characters and how they went back and forth with the dominate and submissive roles (you can interpret how😉). But while it did drag a bit in areas where we already knew what was going on I think it was refreshing to add this to the plot with a witch instead of just the demons and humans. I like this series, definitely something I haven’t read before so I’m glad I liked it. 

This was a hard read - it took me almost 6 months to read this 450 page book… I was a bit disappointed because I loveddd the first two books in this standalone trilogy but this last book was so painfully boring. Definitely suffered from being too long, and the style Laroux employs with these interconnected standalones means there’s a lot of rehashing in this book. I didn’t even like the romance that much which usually hooks me even if the book isn’t good. Everything just felt so cheesy, so forced, and so slow… Bit of a disappointing end to an otherwise strong series. 

Katie Allard

aleksandra

2.5/5

The review contains spoilers!

It was great, until it wasn’t? I feel bad for rating it so low. Especially, when I waited almost two years for this book. There were actually two main factors why I rated it this way, with one of them being the reason for my personal preference, so it might not be an issue for everyone. I know, I know I put three stars and wrote two and a half. That's because I didn't have the heart to put there two. 


Moving to the point, my thoughts. I will start with the positive sides here.

Callum, aka the Archdemon, Elder Warrior of the Onyx Stone Order, Defender of the High City, Prince of the Nine Circles, and guardian of House Laverne, Magni Deicide. As you can see he has quite a lot of titles, the same way he has a lot of good, even amazing qualities. I loved this man, he had one preference that I hate in my heroes, but he was cute enough to let me overlook it and finish the book. So why exactly did I love him?

His nicknames.


  
    "lady witch."
"my lady"
“My beautiful thread of fate. My lady. My mistress.”
"darling."
“Yes, my love."

  


 ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ 

Ughhhh. He had a way with words. I know 'my lady' sounds like a nickname used in some historical romance novels, but I’m a big fan of it.


  
    “You should wear a bell so you don’t give me a heart attack.” 
“A bell? Like the one’s humans put on their cats?” He tipped his head to the side curiously, seeming to give the idea some thought. “Only if you promise to drag me around on a leash. Then I’ll gladly wear your collar.”
  


*SCREAMINGGGGG*


  
    “I don’t understand your anger,” I said. “Would you have preferred she penetrate me instead?” 
Whispered curses floated through the air. “It certainly would have been preferable.” 
That was fair enough. I still didn’t understand, but humans worked in mysterious ways. 
“Well then, we’ll try that next time.” The explosion of cursing that followed my declaration told me perhaps I should stop talking entirely."
  


He was so funny without even trying. The best things is that he was serious here. 


  
    "Everly is not, and has never been, a mere fascination. She is my reason, my logic. She is my one and only God. Think I’m mad if you wish. There is nothing left for me in this existence except for her, and I would sooner rip myself apart than allow you or any other being to stand in her way."

“I’ll love you endlessly, darling.”
  


'Darling' always does it for me.


  
    “I would build a temple for you if I could,” I said, dragging my nose along her skin as I inhaled. “Lock you away like a gilded goddess and worship at your feet for eternity.”
  


 ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ 


He was obsessed. Honestly, I think the word obsessed is not enough. I was confused at the beginning when after a few minutes of knowing her he went with the "Who f*cking hurt you? Give me their name.", but it made sense after he revealed why he knew who she was. He searched for her for CENTURIES before she was even born. He had a vision with her, which is almost impossible for demons, in which she begged for his help, and it made him come to Earth to look for her. Imagine your man waiting for you for centuries. A new standard. He also threatened a freaking Lucifer and was ready to betray Hell for her.

Now to my main problem. Sharing. When there’s a mention of the hero wanting to share a heroine in any way, it’s an instant dnf for me. It might not be a problem for everyone, but it’s just something I personally don’t like. I like it when heroes are possessive to the point that they would never let any other man touch you. Don't get me wrong, there's not a single scene of this in this book, but Callum mentions that it's not a problem for him. 


  
    “I thought you weren’t the jealous type.” 
“Oh, certainly not, love. I’m very welcoming and generous to guests. It’s intruders I have a problem with.”
  


Then he started talking about the other men "helping him" while he f*ck her. As I said, it might not be problem for everyone, but I hate it. I loved Callum enough to continue, but it left a bitter taste for me. 


Our heroine Everly is next. I liked her, but at the same time didn’t connect to her character at all. She was a powerful witch who was learning to contain her magic, but at the same time was a rather sweet and shy (?) girl. She was also a virgin and read smutty books. She discovered she had a dominant side in bed thanks to Callum, but when she suddenly started talking dirty to him, it was so unexpected that I didn't know what was going on. Like, she was so sweet and then BOOM, “Do you really want it that bad? Such a needy boy.”. I don’t know why but I couldn’t visualize that. When I talk about smutty scenes, I have to admit that I enjoyed them. Some even a lot, but I couldn't stand such words like 'my puckered hole'. They just made me gag. I’m sorry. 


The second thing that made me lower my rating is that I was a bit bored. It's not that nothing happened here, but where I usually read a book this length in one day, here it took me three. 


At the end I will just say that I enjoyed some aspects of this book, but in overall would I recommend it to anyone? Unfortunately not. I wish though.

I should start with two things: I have been looking forward to this book 

 while still having only moderate expectations. How does that even work? I love the previous two books, while it annoyed me, that we always returned to the same storyline. The only reason this still works for me is that I have severe dementia when it comes to anything media – I can and read books multiple times and still forget everything that was in them. In this case, that works in my favour, because it was like reading a completely new story with vaguely familiar faces popping up every once in a while, for me – while I do see that people who remember more than I do, probably won’t have that much fun with these books.

The other part of my hesitation lay in my slight disliking I had taken to Everly in the previous two books. This was dismantled so quickly, it almost gave me whiplash, let me tell you. I love Everly. Head to toe, insecurities to bad-ass dominating bitch. She’s a baddie that needed to grow into her role and did so fascinatingly fast.

Who I did love even more was Callum though. His devotion from the beginning took me totally by surprise, his ease while switching from dominant to submissive, damn, that was straight (uh, bad choice of words here, babe) up hot. I can’t even pretend it wasn’t and I won’t. I expected a super duper dominant dude and was pleasantly surprised that the most powerful MC we find in this series was also the one most in tune with switching.

It was a bit “insta”-all, but while that usually bothers me a lot, it somehow did not here. Maybe I simply enjoyed the characters too much to care about that, but it wasn’t something that annoyed me.

There were bits and pieces that even made the whole shebang more enjoyable to me (Winona, Darragh, …) and some that grew a bit tiresome, but I am a sucker for a small stages in books which we had for an extended period here due to them being in the house and on their own (I love this, because I can focus on the development between the characters only and it always feels so cozy and I just crave it, I’m a sap for these passages).

The one thing I would have wished for would be more interaction with Callum’s old comrades.

Oh, I lied. And the one thing I would like to erase from this book was foreshadowed so blatantly obvious that it annoyed me from the first indication so much, I wasn’t able to focus on all the stuff I did like anymore. I just wanted it to be over and that is such a damn shame, because I really, really loved 80% percent of the book and if I were to only rate them, I’d give this thing the 5 stars quicker than Callum sinks to his knees, but this way it really took the fun out of the final part for me and that does affect my rating.

It all comes down to personal preferences, for me it was a trope that usually drops a book to a 1 star rating, so I’m sure tons of people will enjoy what I found horribly misplaced here. But also a few probably will agree with me and both is fine.

I adore the way Harley Laroux effortlessly draws me in these fantastically horrifying worlds and I will read anything else they publish for sure.

I should start with two things: I have been looking forward to this book immensely while still having only moderate expectations. How does that even work? I love the previous two books, while it annoyed me, that we always returned to the same storyline. The only reason this still works for me is that I have severe dementia when it comes to anything media – I can and read books multiple times and still forget everything that was in them. In this case, that works in my favour, because it was like reading a completely new story with vaguely familiar faces popping up every once in a while, for me – while I do see that people who remember more than I do, probably won’t have that much fun with these books.

The other part of my hesitation lay in my slight disliking I had taken to Everly in the previous two books. This was dismantled so quickly, it almost gave me whiplash, let me tell you. I love Everly. Head to toe, insecurities to bad-ass dominating bitch. She’s a baddie that needed to grow into her role and did so fascinatingly fast.

Who I did love even more was Callum though. His devotion from the beginning took me totally by surprise, his ease while switching from dominant to submissive, damn, that was straight (uh, bad choice of words here, babe) up hot. I can’t even pretend it wasn’t and I won’t. I expected a super duper dominant dude and was pleasantly surprised that the most powerful MC we find in this series was also the one most in tune with switching.

It was a bit “insta”-all, but while that usually bothers me a lot, it somehow did not here. Maybe I simply enjoyed the characters too much to care about that, but it wasn’t something that annoyed me.

There were bits and pieces that even made the whole shebang more enjoyable to me (Winona, Darragh, …) and some that grew a bit tiresome, but I am a sucker for a small stages in books which we had for an extended period here due to them being in the house and on their own (I love this, because I can focus on the development between the characters only and it always feels so cozy and I just crave it, I’m a sap for these passages).

The one thing I would have wished for would be more interaction with Callum’s old comrades.

Oh, I lied. And the one thing I would like to erase from this book was foreshadowed so blatantly obvious that it annoyed me from the first indication so much, I wasn’t able to focus on all the stuff I did like anymore. I just wanted it to be over and that is such a damn shame, because I really, really loved 80% percent of the book and if I were to only rate them, I’d give this thing the 5 stars quicker than Callum sinks to his knees, but this way it really took the fun out of the final part for me and that does affect my rating.

It all comes down to personal preferences, for me it was a trope that usually drops a book to a 1 star rating, so I’m sure tons of people will enjoy what I found horribly misplaced here. But also a few probably will agree with me and both is fine.

 

I adore the way Harley Laroux effortlessly draws me in these fantastically horrifying worlds and I will read anything else they publish for sure.

Soul of a Witch Souls Trilogy #3

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