Page 88 of Dance With Death

A strange calm washes through me, soothing the frustration, as the light of realization brings me out of the darkness. Embrace what I truly am.

“Finally, you’ve stopped long enough for me to catch you.” I spin around as Grayson speaks, and my heart jerks in response to his proximity. “Rowan told me what happened. He’s worried. Asked me to find you.”

“Have you killed many people, Grayson?” I ask evenly.

“What?” He’s hoarse, darting a look around, as if I’ve a victim nearby. “Have you?”

“No, but I plan to.” Grayson doesn’t react. “I also plan to reanimate someone.”

This time he stares, jaw slacker. “You want to create a construct?”

“No. I plan to kill somebody, use necromancy, and then kill them again.”

“What the fuck, Violet?” he breathes out. “Who?”

I shrug. “Whoever deserves that treatment.”

“Is this because of Holly? She wouldn’t want you to.”

“How do you know? Holly might like me to kill whoever harmed her.” I tap the side of my head. “If she’s still Holly.”

“Don’t say that.” He takes my hands.

I scoff and pull them away. “Weren’t you the one who believed she might be dead, or magically hurt? Why the positivity now?”

“Violet. Come back to the academy with me.”

“No.”

“Then let’s go somewhere?” He half smiles. “Graveyard?”

“I can’t reanimate days-old corpses, Grayson. Remember?”

“I wasn’t suggesting that! It was a joke.”

“But I do need to practice. You can help.”

Grayson stumbles back. “Again, what the fuck, Violet? I’m not helping you. If anybody suspects I harmed a human, I’d be the dead one.”

“I’m not asking you to kill anybody.” I wrinkle my nose. “Though that could be useful, if we found the right candidate.”

“Have you gone mad?”

“Not a human. A witch.”

“Right. That makes such a difference.” He shakes his head. “You need to come with me. Now.”

“Incorrect. I need to find something recently dead and practice my magic.”

Grayson’s eyes remain on mine as he pulls his phone out. “I’m calling Rowan.”

“I doubt he’ll help. Rowan doesn’t agree with necromancy. At least, I don’t think he does.” I rub my cheek. “Best we don’t tell him.”

“You have seriously lost the plot, Violet.”

Stepping forward, I close my hand around Grayson’s, prizing the phone from his hand as our eyes lock. The evening that I admitted I want to seal the blood bond is with us both, my awareness of how great the need is becoming stronger in my current state of mind.

“I am not denying what or who I am any longer.”

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