Page 110 of Elora and the Crow

“You won’t defeat her,” Agnes said. “Don’t care how powerful you are. Malencia’s dark magic has corrupted her and made her more powerful than any witch has the right to be.”

She nudged Elora with one trembling finger. “Some of her dark magic transferred to you during your fight with her. It’s why you were so close to cursing me over nothing.”

Elora stared wide-eyed at her. “I don’t… I don’t do dark magic, ever.”

“Maybe not, but you got the urge to now, don’t you?” Agnes said.

“No, I -”

“Ain’t no point in lying,” Agnes said.

Keeping her gaze on Agnes’s face, Elora whispered, “Yes.”

“The lure of dark magic is hard to resist. Especially when you’ve had a taste of it.”

“I don’t want it,” Elora said.

Agnes shrugged. “Fight a dark witch as powerful as Malencia, and it’s inevitable. You fight her again, she’ll either kill you or convert you to her side, and neither option is exactly sunshine and roses, is it?”

“I need to know where she is,” Elora said.

“You best walk away,” Agnes said. “Some battles you can’t win.”

“I won’t,” Elora said. Her gaze turned to Jonah, and she hated the guilt she could see radiating from him. “His brother will die if I do.”

Agnes followed her gaze before rolling her eyes. “Nothing good ever happens from loving a man. You ever think of trying ladies instead? I can vouch for how much better they are in the sack.”

Cece made a weird cough, and Charissa outright laughed. Agnes turned to them. “I might be old, but I still know how to woo the ladies.”

“Tell me where Malencia lives,” Elora said impatiently, the fresh flare of her magic sending both dread and elation through her.

“I don’t know,” Agnes said.

“You don’t know?” Elora said as her temper snapped. “Then what fucking good are you to me?”

Agnes’s aura deepened, and anger flashed across her face before it subsided, and the old witch grinned at her. “Your temper reminds me of your grandmother.”

Elora stood. “We’ve wasted enough time. Let’s go.”

Agnes’s hand curled around her wrist, strong despite her fragile appearance. “I don’t know where Malencia is, but I know where her daughter, Shawna, is.”

CHAPTER35

“Take a left here.” Elora was studying her phone, her face glowing softly in the screen’s light.

Jonah turned left, the headlights cutting through the darkness and the snow drifting lazily from the sky.

He glanced at the rearview mirror, studying Cece in the backseat. She had the same worried expression he knew was on his face.

“I’m not a dark witch,” Elora said abruptly.

“We know that,” Cece said.

“Do you? Because both of you are staring at me like I’m going to lay a hex on you at any minute.”

“No, we’re not,” Cece said.

Elora sighed, staring moodily out into the darkness. “I’m having a hard time controlling my magic, but I won’t use it to hurt an innocent.”

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