Page 142 of An Oath at Midnight

“I need to hold something of hers.”

“Easy,” Bram said, tugged off his shirt, tucked it in the back of his jeans and scooped me into his arms.

CHAPTER 35

Magnolia

The wind swirled around us. Maria’s apartment was dark, empty, not that I expected her to be here. Would have made things a hell of a lot easier, though. Resting my hand on the banana lounger I’d seen Maria sitting on last time I was here, I closed my eyes.

Shadows rushed in at the edges of my mind, a vision flashing in front of me. It felt kind of the same as when Death dragged me to Limbo, but this time my soul was still with me, and I was being shown where to go, rather than actually being taken there. My fingers and lips burned and I knew I’d transformed. I was the reaper.

A massive building filled my mind’s eye. “I’ve got it.” Bram’s palm was warm against the side of my face, and I blinked up at him.

His expression was fierce, his gaze unfaltering. My bones were literally glowing through my skin and he was looking at me as if I were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. “Whatever happens tonight, remember, you’re not in this alone. I’m with you every step of the way.”

“I know.”

He dipped his head and kissed me, not caring that I looked like a monster right then. I released my reaper powers, letting them flow out of me, feeling myself transform back to normal, and kissed him back harder. I never wanted to stop. I wanted this task over with. I wanted my trial in the rearview mirror and for something to be easy for us.

“When this is over, you want to go away on a vacation?” I said.

“Where are we going?”

“I don’t care. As long as it’s just you and me and no one else, it’ll be the best place on earth.” He flashed me a grin and my heart went a little crazy in my chest.

“Let’s get this the fuck over with, then, baby. We got somewhere to be.” His wings unfurled, large and shiny black.

My dark angel.

He scooped me in his arms.

“Where to?”

“Roxburgh High School.”

Bram cursed but held me tighter and dove off the side of the building.

He flew fast, and I tucked my face into the side of his neck when my hair whipped around me. I had no idea what we were going to walk in on when we found her. Maria’s motives were still a complete mystery. Why would she kill all those people? People that she pretended to be friends with, more than friends. The level of evil for someone to do that, to lock emotion away like that? I mean, I’d watched her in the living room comforting her friends, seeking comfort in return while crocodile tears had rolled down her face, grieving for people who she and Ryan had mercilessly and brutally murdered.

Yeah, there was something terribly wrong with her.

We reached the school, and the parking lot lights lit up the area. A couple of cars were parked there—and Isaac’s was one of them. Jenna and Robert’s was the other.

“Isaac must have gone straight to her after our call.” Either he was in on it or he’d stupidly decided to confront her himself.

Bram flew behind the main building, landing in the shadows. I had my knife strapped to my thigh, though, I’d only needed to touch Maria and she’d go down. Killing her wasn’t the goal, however. “I need to take her alive. The council needs proof, and I’m going to deliver it to them.”

Bram nodded.

Maria hadn’t attended this school, yet she seemed fixated with it. We strode to the back entrance, but my instincts told me that wasn’t where I needed to go, so I let them guide me. “Around here.”

The grounds had numerous smaller buildings, but when we rounded the corner, I knew exactly where I was being led.

The old chapel was one of the original buildings, but it’d been left to crumble after an earthquake a year after I started here. The cost to fix it had been more than the school could afford, but it was also a historical building, and the school and community were trying to raise funds to eventually have it restored.

“The chapel.” Sticking to the shadows, we sprinted around the back of the old building. A light flickered through one of the windows.

The building was warded, one that bound magic, similar to the one at Umbra. This one allowed you entry, but strangled your magic. I didn’t need it though, not now that I’d tapped in to my reaper powers.