Page 28 of After Darkness Falls

Chloe looked at her hand. Indeed, the small talons did seem sharp.

“No, I think this baby is being careful.”

“Listen, Miller,” Martie grunted. “I've had this job for the last thirty years, and my uncle had it before me. We're servants of the Seven. You can't come here and take over.”

She blinked, flabbergasted.

“All right, glad you got that off your chest. But I'm here as a student; I have zero idea what sort of tricks you do to send these to the right people, and, anyway, no offense but your job is my idea of a nightmare. A boring nightmare. I have zero intention of stealing it.”

“Swear it,” Martie demanded.

Gwen opened her mouth to speak, but Chloe had already said, “I swear I'm not after your job.”

The witch sighed. Martie smiled and handed her a blank piece of paper.

“Well, write your stuff, then. I'll take care of it.”

Chloe wrote to Blair, asking to meet her when she could free up some time, and Gwen did the same with her mentor.

On their way down to Adairford a few minutes later, the witch told Chloe, “All right, I may be out of bounds here, but I figure someone should tell you. Never swear to a sup. Ever.”

Chloe frowned. “Why?” She shrugged. “I'm not after his job.”

Gwen sighed. “Because you don't know what the future holds, and this sort of vow can be trouble. Martie is a witch. I doubt he had a binding hex ready, but he could have. Your vow means that now, or in ten, or a hundred years, you cannot ever be after his job. Let's say Martie's tired of minding birds and decides to apply to a job in a while. Then you see that job posted online and you apply to it too?”

Chloe couldn't see any of that happening, but for the sake of the argument, she asked, “So?”

“So, you'd die, if those are the terms of the hex. Or, maybe you'd just wake up with pustules all over your face. Who knows? My point is, you don't want to find out.”

Put like that, her warning was noteworthy.

“Wow.”

“Words have power. With your real name, your word, your blood, your soul…our kind can shape your future. You have to guard yourself against harm.”

Chloe felt foolish and naive.

“All right. Well, next time I say something stupid, please feel free to interrupt and let me know.”

“Promise.”

Chloe lifted a brow. “Can we promise, then?”

Gwen broke into a grin. “Sure. To you, anyway.”

Because she was the weakest thing in a ten-mile radius.

“Hey, look. Sundown.”

Behind the mountains, the sun was sinking deep in the lake. Chloe remembered Jack's offer.

“Do you want to go to that race?” she asked Gwen.

The witch grinned.

“Hell yes. Andyoushould. Jack fucking Hunter asked you.”

The name meant nothing to Chloe, but evidently Gwen was familiar with it.

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