Page 62 of An Oath at Midnight

A roar echoed through the building somewhere in the distance. It was unhinged and full of rage—and still the force driving me forward persisted. The sense of rightness, that this was where I needed to be, was so strong, my flight instincts were completely overridden. This was the part in a horror movie where everyone screamed at their TVs while some moron left their nice safe house to go “check out” the scary noise outside. I was the moron in this situation, I knew this, yet I kept walking because I had to.

My breath shook as I stepped through another doorway, my pulse thundering in my ears. A murmured voice came from nearby. I couldn’t hear what they said, but I had no trouble hearing the harsh, loud reply. “You think you can stop me?” a male voice said. “Others have tried and failed.”

Some of the wall had crumbled away, and a florescent sign close by cast the room in a wash of blue. Taking a deep breath, I eased closer to the door and peered around the edge, because something else was pulling me closer now, something—familiar.

It took me a moment to register what I was seeing. Stunned, I watched the scene playing out in front of me.

A male stood there, panting, fists clenched, legs braced apart. He had a busted nose and a split lip. Fury lined his face, and his twisted, hate-filled eyes were laser focused on his opponent.

I turned to the second male, my gaze sliding over him, tall and muscled, a look etched on his face I’d never seen. Familiar, all of him—but also a complete stranger.

Bram’s eyes danced as he beckoned the other male forward, a low rough sound falling from his lips that had goose bumps lifting across my arms.

The male roared and ran at Bram. He laughed darkly when the other male swung at him, the menacing sound setting off a flurry of swirls in my lower belly. Bram dodged the incoming blow and returned one of his own, so hard his opponent dropped to his knees.

The deranged grin stayed on the other male’s face, though, even as he staggered to his feet. “Have you ever heard a female beg for her life?”

Bram said nothing.

“It’s beautiful,” the other male said. “Do you have a female? A mate?”

Bram still said nothing.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” The creep laughed. “When I’m done with you, I’ll find her, and while I kill her, slowly, I’ll tell her you were too weak to save her.”

One moment Bram stood across from the creep, the next he was in his shadow form. I tracked his movement as he shot across the room, wrapped an arm around the male and threw him back against the wall. Bram solidified in front of him, his long fingers wrapped around the shorter male’s neck, his talon’s punching through, sharp and deadly. He made a grating, rattling sound that came straight from his chest, his crow right there in his eyes. He dragged a knife from the sheath at his hip, then pressed it against the other male’s throat.

“You’re not gonna do it,” the other male rasped, that grin still on his smug face.

“No?” Bram leaned in.

“If you kill me, then you’ll be no better than me.”

That menacing smile tilted up Bram’s lips. “That’s right,” he said. “Only my victims deserve it.”

The other male’s eyes widened. “Please, don’t. Please, I beg you.”

Without hesitation, Bram slashed through the begging male’s throat. Blood sprayed his shirt and neck as he sliced deeper, his eyes locked on the gasping male staring up at him with obvious shock in his eyes. Then not done, Bram pulled back the knife, and slid it deep into his chest.

My heart was hammering so hard I felt dizzy from it, my stomach churning.

Bram sneered back, not looking away until the guy slumped, until his last breath gurgled from his sliced throat.

My feet finally unfroze, and I stepped into the room.

Bram’s head jerked up, and our eyes clashed. Neither of us moved or said a word for several heart-stopping seconds. Bram’s nostrils were flared, his breathing heavy. The blood painting his shirt and skin looked black under the glowing blue sign shining from outside.

Finally, and without looking away from me, he yanked his blade free and straightened, letting the dead male crumple to the floor. He wiped the blood off on his thigh, then slid the knife back in its leather sheath, a look in his eyes I had no hope of reading. I didn’t know this Bram. In this moment, he was someone else. Someone he’d never introduced me to.

“How did you find me?” he asked, his voice low and rougher than I’d ever heard it.

Electricity zapped between us like a current firing from both of us and clashing in the middle, drawing us closer and pushing us apart at the same time. “Agatheena. I think she led me here.”

He nodded, his gaze sliding the length of me and back. “Are you afraid?” His head dipped for a split second, giving me a glimpse of the Bram I knew and loved, then his dark gaze slid back to mine and my lower belly trembled. “Of me?” he finished.

I shook my head, though honestly, I wasn’t sure what I was feeling. “You just killed a man while he begged you not to,” I said. “Why?”

“Because he deserved it.”