Page 42 of An Oath at Midnight

He got in as well and stared over at me. “But that…that was…”

“Impressive?”

He thrust his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, that…and fucking terrifying.”

I grinned, and he blew out a shaky breath. I gave his hand a squeeze and started the car. “You’ll get used to it.”

He didn’t look convinced.

* * *

Later that afternoon, we headed to the city. I needed specialty supplies, and even if The Cauldron hadn’t been off-limits while the witches council investigated, they were things we didn’t stock and never had.

It was getting dark, and Bram was silent beside me, so deep in thought that a heavy energy rolled off him. I’d shared some of what Agatheena had said to me, and his fists had been clenched ever since. Seeing me take down that demon wasn’t helping the situation.

Nerves curled in my gut, but I refused to let the fear take hold. The things Agatheena had said about me, yes, they’d scared the shit out of me, but they were also true.

That darkness inside you, Magnolia, you can’t deny it, not anymore. You couldn’t even if you wanted to. It’s too late.

I’d known what I was doing when I made those potions and came up with those spells. I’d felt the darkness while I did it, and instead of retreating from it, I’d embraced it. I’d been too filled with anger to do anything else. Knowing that it had always been part of me was actually kind of reassuring, and finding Gran’s book, knowing that she’d been the same as me and kept control of it, helped me as well.

If I was going to survive my task, and the trial that followed, I needed to embrace who I was. I needed to walk the path between darkness and light, like Agatheena said, like Gran obviously had.

I just had to make sure I didn’t slip too far into the shadows.

“It’s too dangerous,” Bram said into the silence.

I glanced over at him. “What is?”

“Everything, all of it,” he said roughly.

“You know there’s nothing I can do to stop this, that I have to pass this task.”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, I know.”

His hair was down and fell to one side. It suited him, but it was still taking some getting used to.

I made a turn and the energy around us immediately grew thick, lifting the hair on the back of my neck.

Bram stiffened beside me. “You’re sure about this?”

“Yes.” And I was, but I still had to get my head around the shift. All my life I’d been told dark magic was wrong, that witches who practiced it were evil. I’d never considered there was a space in between. I’d been fighting it so long, embracing it—the shadows swirling inside me—was frightening but also a relief.

I scanned the street ahead. This part of Roxburgh was known to humans as “the wrong side of the tracks” where the “bad guys” hung out, and they actively avoided it. Good thing, too, because this was a demon neighborhood. Those still living here had once been ruled by a powerful female named Vorena. Willow had bartered with her in the past, and by all accounts, she’d been utterly terrifying, but she had kept her demons in line. Then she’d been killed, and the demons who wanted to hurt humans had run free. The knights of Hell had done their job, had taken them out, and the demons who were allowed to remain here were the ones who had controlled themselves and continued to follow the knights’ rules. They were watched closely, and as long as they kept to their end of the bargain, they kept their heads.

The new demon in charge was named Rune and, word had it, he was placed here by Lucifer himself to keep those still here in line. I’d never met him, didn’t know what kind of demon he was, and after the things I’d heard about him, I wasn’t in a hurry to get acquainted. He lived in what had once been known as the Sunnydale Insane Asylum back in the 1800s. The building had long ago been abandoned and decommissioned, and before he moved in, teenagers used to dare one another to spend the night in the creepy, haunted building.

Coming here was a risk, but with Bram able to get us out quickly, if need be, I wasn’t overly worried.

We got out of the car and headed up the street. Bram tied his hair back as we strode along the pavement. It definitely made him appear more intimidating, though I wasn’t sure if that was his intention or not.

The street was lined with shops, demon-run cafes and clothing stores, bars and supermarkets. This was their world, where the demons who were humanoid in appearance, and didn’t have a driving desire to kill or torture or eat humans, were allowed to reside.

As we walked by, heads turned, some openly staring at us with otherworldly eyes, some sniffing the air to find out what we were, others scowling with open hostility. Two male demons walked out of a bar in front of us and turned our way. They stilled, one tilting his head back as he stared directly at me and scented the air.

It was—unnerving.

Bram’s hand was suddenly gripping the back of my neck, pulling me closer, in a hold that was utterly possessive. It was for the demon’s benefit, of course, they’d be less likely to try anything if they thought I was claimed—it didn’t matter that I could kick both of their asses on my own.