Page 37 of An Oath at Midnight

The farther we flew, the darker and denser the forest became. Strange sounds, cries and calls and growls, echoed up from below. Bram said there were creatures here that I’d never seen before, that the demons who lived out here had no choice because there was no way they could pass for human like the ones who lived in the city. And when Bram pointed to one below us, I understood what he meant. It was tall and skinny, gray in color with a greenish tinge at its joints. It also had pointed ears and holes where its nose should be.

The roof of a cottage appeared in the distance, peeking through the trees. “There.”

I felt Agatheena’s power then, like a dense fog wrapping around us.

Bram circled the area a few times, making sure there weren’t any demons or other creatures right below us, then landed. His wings folded in and disappeared, but he didn’t release me as he scanned the trees surrounding us.

With how dense the forest was here, the sun could barely break through. It made the air damp and heavy.

I pulled the knife from the sheath strapped to my thigh as Bram and I listened for anything approaching. “I can’t believe she lives out here on her own.”

“Not entirely on her own,” Bram said when a demon roared in the distance.

I turned to the cottage. Rose was right, it looked like something from a Grimm’s fairy tale, where a child-eating witch lived, or one working on evil spells and plotting revenge.

Smoke drifted lazily out of the chimney, even though it was the middle of summer, and the cottage itself looked almost part of the forest—its moss-covered stone walls butting up against thick tree trunks, a couple growing right through the thatched roof.

Her wards would be impenetrable, they’d have to be out here.

“What now?” Bram asked, his gaze sliding to the thick pines that stood on either side of the worn dirt path, and what hung from them.

Bones, some clean, some still covered in blood and gore dangled from thick twine. Skulls from different breeds of demon, and other creatures I had no chance of identifying. There were jars filled with bits of fabric, floating eyeballs, fingernails, and several others with organs of some kind stuffed into them. Another was half filled with a multitude of different colored hair all matted together.

The path led to the cottage’s front door and branches arched over the top, forming a leafy canopy, also covered in Agatheena’s macabre decoration.

“Now we let her know we’re here.” Rose had shared what happened when she came here, so I was prepared.

I reached out, and her ward sent fire coursing through my veins. Cursing, I yanked my hand back, clenching my fingers and shaking them out.

“Didn’t tickle, then?” Bram asked.

“No, smart-ass. And I’d say that was just the warning.” I walked to one of the pines. “Rose said Agatheena needed her blood, for confirmation of who she was. She said to look for a smooth patch on the side of the tree. It’ll be darker in color.”

Bram nodded and searched with me.

“Got it,” he said a minute later.

I took a closer look. In the middle of a knot was a smooth, indented patch. The tree was lighter wood, but this spot was a deep mahogany color.

“Yeah, that’s it.” I slipped my big knife back in its sheath and pulled out my small one, the one Mom had given me on my thirteenth birthday. Every witch in our coven had one, since we often used blood magic, and unlike my other knife, this one wasn’t big enough to take my hand off.

Bram scanned the trees again as I made a slice in the tip of my finger. Blood bubbled to the surface, and I pressed it to the center of the darker patch in the tree.

Bram took my hand as soon as I was done, some of Else’s balm already on his finger. “Now what?” he said distractedly as he smeared it over the cut, something he’d been doing since I first cut myself in front of him six years ago.

A low creak echoed from the cottage, the door swinging open slowly a moment before a very old and tiny, hunched-over female walked out with a raven perched on her shoulder.

“Now I go visit with Agatheena, and you wait here for me,” I said, not taking my eyes off the old witch shuffling toward us.

“Like fuck,” he snapped. “Where you go, I go.”

“Magnolia Thornheart,” Agatheena said as she drew closer. “I wasn’t sure your sister would let you come.” She smiled, briefly flashing red demonic eyes and yellow, pointed teeth, reminding me of her demon blood. As if I could forget.

“She wasn’t either,” I said. “But I convinced her.”

Agatheena chuckled.

I took a step forward, and Bram hooked an arm around my waist, not letting me go any farther. “Rose said you asked for me specifically, why?”