Page 90 of Midnight Witch

Mae’s hands bunched on her lap. “You mean, things could have been worse?”

Mrs. Son-Ha ignored her shrill tone. She leaned over and laid a gentle hand on Mae’s knuckles.

“Your death was one of the futures I divined,” she said quietly.

Vlad paled. Brimstone and Hellreaver whined and hastily returned to her side, their distress at the old woman’s words resonating across their bond with her.

“I would never want that to happen, Mae,” Mrs. Son-Ha continued in a kind voice. “Not just because I care for you like I would my own daughter. But because the world needs you.”

Mae swallowed, the burden of the destiny Bryony had told her of the day they’d met weighing her down with invisible shackles once more. For a moment, she wished she wasn’t the Witch Queen. That she’d carried on living her life blissfully unaware of the world of magic and the otherworldly reality that existed around her.

But then I wouldn’t have met Brimstone and Hellreaver and Vlad, and everyone else I’ve come to cherish in the last year.She caressed the fox and the weapon as they huddled against her, emotion choking her breath.And I wouldn’t have fallen in love with Nikolai.

Mrs. Son-Ha’s expression hardened. “You know what you have to do.”

CHAPTER37

The noise levelinside the main foyer of the headquarters of the New York coven faded to a tense hush when Mae entered the building with Violet and Miles.

A sea of awkward stares landed on them.

Mae clenched her jaw. It was her first visit to the coven since they’d turned on her. She started across the lobby, determined to get this done and over with. The crowd of sorcerers and witches parted hastily ahead of her.

“This is worse than Uncle Ernest’s funeral,” Violet muttered.

“You obviously missed what happened between Regina and Aunt Constance in the kitchen at Uncle Joseph’s funeral,” Miles said sourly.

Violet grimaced. “Why, did they fight?”

“Worse. Regina told Aunt Constance her fish pie was a dud.” Miles shuddered. “Erik looked like he was gonna have a fit. If Aunt Barbara hadn’t been there, it would have been handbags at dawn.”

He cleared his throat and gave Mae a sidelong glance.

Mae swallowed a sigh. Even though she’d come out of Vlad’s guest room, everyone was still walking on eggshells around her. It was as if they’d all decided she’d break if they said or did the wrong thing.

A low growl reached her. She looked at Brimstone.

The fox was wearing a menacing expression where he padded beside her, his tail brushing against her leg. He still hadn’t forgiven the coven for what they’d done to them.

Their stares are making me twitchy, my witch.Hellreaver trembled on her chest.My blades are demanding payback.

A little slash and a nip won’t hurt them too much,Brimstone grunted.

“Stop it, you two,” Mae chided. “You know they weren’t in their right minds when they attacked us.”

We could plead temporary insanity after we cut them, Hellreaver suggested.

Violet observed the red haze fluttering around Brimstone and the weapon warily. “Are they being bloodthirsty again?”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Mae muttered.

The sorcerer manning the reception desk on the top floor froze when they emerged from the elevator. The coven members sitting in the waiting area straightened, the color draining from their faces.

Brent Perkins shot out of his chair and bowed reverentially at the waist.

“Witch Queen,” he greeted in a quavering voice.

A frog popped his head out of his pocket and issued a penitent croak.

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