Page 124 of An Oath at Midnight

“Where monsters belong. Umbra Sanitarium, to await judgment,” she said, then slid up the soundproof glass barrier between us, shutting me out.

My blood ran cold. There was no getting out of that place. If a witch went where I was going, she never came back out.

Twenty minutes later, we pulled up outside Umbra. The enforcers opened the door, then used magic to force me out onto a gurney, like I was their own personal marionette puppet. Thick leather straps snapped around me, securing me tight.

The wards were heavy, and I tried to flex my magic, but it was useless. I was being fully suppressed. All the witches here, with the exception of those working at this place, were as powerless as humans.

They wheeled me down a hall to an elevator, and one of the enforcers hit the button for the basement after I was wheeled inside. I tried to stay calm, but it was impossible. My family, Bram, they’d sort this out. I wasn’t guilty, the truth would come to the surface. It had to. Innocent until proven guilty, right? That was how it was supposed to work.

Except, they’d just caught me with Leah’s body, her blood on my hands—and then watched me kill a male in cold blood right in front of them, and with Isaac’s enchantment spell holding them hostage, there was no way they’d listen to reason.

I wasn’t getting out of this, was I? How could I? Isaac had turned everyone against our family.

The elevator doors slid open, and they wheeled me out.

There were cells on either side, and as they pushed me along, witches screamed and called for help from behind thick glass walls. They hissed and laughed and called out spells that couldn’t work. If they hadn’t been mad when they were brought in down here, they would be now. Having your magic suppressed like this was mental and physical torture. I’d only been in the building for a matter of minutes and already I felt as if I was being scraped raw from the inside out, from my magic trying to fight against it.

We reached the end of the hallway, and they opened a cell door. The straps released and invisible hands shoved me off it.

Magic tugged at my clothes next, tearing the fabric from my body, yanking the shoes from my feet, leaving me naked on the ground. One of the witches tossed a gown at me, then they shut the door, locking me in.

Their footsteps echoed off the walls as they walked away.

Then the lights went out.

* * *

Bram

I couldn’t find her, couldn’t feel her. The council had dragged Magnolia away, and I didn’t know where they’d taken her. I paced the kitchen. When all else had failed, I’d come home to Magnolia’s family, my family.

Daisy walked in, pale, her phone in her hand.

“You know where they took her?” I asked.

“Oh, goddess, they took her to Umbra. Trotman said they’re keeping her there until judgment is passed, but after what happened when they found her? He said there’s no way they’ll let her back out.”

“She’s a reaper, for fuck’s sake,” Iris said, gripping the back of a chair. “That position has to trump any of those fuckwits at the council.”

Else limped in, carrying a thick book. “We have no way of proving it. She has the markings, but at this point they’re going to believe it’s dark magic over her being one of Death’s little helpers.”

“They said there’s a symbol on her hand, and not a good one,” Daisy said shaking. “They say she used dark magic, that it’s the only way she could’ve gotten it.” She shook her head. “But Mags wouldn’t do that, would she, Else? She’d never do that.”

Else sighed and sat at the table. “She would and she did, just like your mother before her.”

Rose rocked back. “What?”

Else shrugged. “You don’t have to be either or, despite what the witches council will have you believe. Mags is like her grandmother, the darkness comes natural. She hasn’t gone bad, Daisy, she’s just using what she was born with. Your mom thought she might end up at Shadow Falls one day, but that never happened, because she wasn’t a dark witch, she just occasionally used dark magic. There’s a difference. Pure evil goes to those falls. My sister wasn’t evil, and Mags isn’t either. Neither of them have an evil bone between them, that’s the difference.”

“She’s the same person she always was,” I bit out. “Agatheena said she could balance darkness and light, and she has been. Yes, she was struggling with it, but Death told her she won’t struggle anymore, now that she’s a reaper.”

Daisy closed the space between us and rested her hand on my arm. “We know she’s still our Mags. Things have just…taken a turn I wasn’t expecting.” She turned to Else. “I’ve seen my baby struggling. I wish I’d known.” Her lip quivered. “Why didn’t you tell me about Mom?”

“She saw what happened to other witches when they even veered toward darkness. She knew the rules and our laws like the rest of us, and she’d never do anything to put this coven at risk. But for Mags, I see now it was stronger, far more powerful. That girl, she must have been fighting so hard for so long.”

“We need to get her out of that place,” Iris said through gritted teeth. “I won’t leave her there. I won’t do it.”

Else sat back in her seat. “Mags being held there is wrong, we all know it, but if we go charging in there or try to break her out, not only will the mother see it as interference but the council will see it as a declaration of war. We want her out, but we need to be careful how we approach this.”