Page 53 of The Darkest Night

Violet shook her head. “We thought it best coming from you.” The witch made a face and cocked a thumb at Mae. “Besides, there’s no way in hell she would have come here if we’d told her about it.”

Mae squinted, suspicion dawning.

Bryony took a breath."Upon the day the world becomes shrouded in a storm of fire and ash, a woman with white and dark magic will bring about an age of justice and the fall of a false god. She is the rightful Witch Queen and shall govern the world of magic henceforth.”

Her words echoed in Mae’s ears, bringing with it a wave of dizziness.

“That’s the main gist of the prophecy,” the High Priestess said. “It also mentions your awakening but doesn’t go into details.” She hesitated. “Can you tell us about it? It would be good to understand how it happened.”

Bryony looked at her advisors. They mumbled their agreement, even the ashen-faced Abraham.

Mae traded a glance with the others, the words of the prophecy still ringing in her head and making her heart thump. They dipped their chins.

She inhaled raggedly and told Bryony and her coven about the events that had unfolded in the autopsy lab at Grandview on the night of the attack, up to the time she fainted on the rooftop. She didn’t tell them what Ye-Seul had revealed to her and Ryu the night before, regarding Ran Soyun and the Jee family. Somehow, she sensed it would only put her family in the limelight and expose them to danger.

The guarded looks Violet and Miles gave her told Mae they would keep her secret. Relief filled Mae. She trusted the witch and the sorcerer with her life, especially after everything that had happened in the last couple of days. It felt good to have allies she could rely on in this mad world she found herself thrust into.

Mae became aware of a beady stare and met Alastair’s eyes. The crow seemed to be telling her she could trust him and his master too.

Bryony drummed her fingers on the table. “I see.” Her eyebrows drew together as she studied Nikolai. “We’ve been aware of the Dark Council’s movements escalating in Europe and across the world over the last two weeks. Were the incidents in Budapest and Stuttgart of your making?”

Mae cut her eyes to Nikolai.Budapest and Stuttgart?

“Yes,” the sorcerer said quietly. “The Dark Council tracked me there and I fought them.”

Bryony arched an eyebrow. “I heard you bested some of the Sorcerer King’s most proficient guard dogs.”

“You heard correctly.”

The High Priestess regarded Nikolai steadily. “Does this mean you have chosen your side in the upcoming war?”

Chapter 26

Nikolai metBryony’s shrewd gaze unflinchingly. He knew the High Priestess of the New York coven already knew the answer to her own question. He clenched his jaw.

She’s testing me.

Alastair squawked irritably on his shoulder, feathers rustling.

Nikolai raised a hand and settled him. “It’s okay, Al.”

He could feel Mae’s stare boring into his face.

“There was never a side to choose. My father’s madness must be stopped.”

One of Bryony advisors made a doubtful sound. “Are you really expecting us to believe you have willingly left the Sorcerer King’s side to ally yourself with our cause? You, one of the strongest sorcerers in the Dark Council?”

“This is probably just another dirty trick his father’s put him up to,” Abraham told Bryony scathingly. “I bet he’s here to spy on us.”

Nikolai’s nails bit into his palms under the table. He could not deny that he’d carried out the orders of the Sorcerer King for many years, nor that his hands were stained with the blood of the innocent. He couldn’t expect them to believe that it had all been so he could survive long enough to fulfill the promise he’d made to his mother and to himself the night she died. Still, he had to try.

Nikolai tilted his chin. “Do you know how Oscar and I were chosen as the heirs to the Sorcerer King’s throne?”

Bryony’s mouth pressed to a thin line. “You know as well as I do that the affairs of your father’s court and the Dark Council are shrouded in secrecy.”

“It was by the Trial of Blood.”

His declaration made Bryony stiffen and drew shocked gasps from her advisors.

---