Page 115 of The Witch and His Crow

‘You say it like she was some animal to lock away.’ My eyes narrowed, the world around me quaking. Power oozed from my skin, ready to strike out at Arwyn and break him apart. But still, reluctance held me back. I told myself it was because I needed answers, but I feared the truth was much more complicated than that.

‘Please, hear me out.’ Arwyn jolted towards me again, but this time I didn’t hold back my Gift. I sliced out the back of my hand, sending a blast of pure, undiluted energy into Arwyn’s body. The force tore him from his feet. He landed a short distance, rolling to a stop beneath the chalkboard.

‘Don’tfuckingtouch me.’ I didn’t think he was capable of hurting me. Arwyn had many chances to do that. But right now, all that mattered was holding onto reality before Arwyn manipulated it again. ‘How much of it was a lie, Arwyn? The story about your mother, the perfectly painted picture you’ve given me of your life outside of the Witch Trials?’

‘She was real.’ Arwyn pushed himself off the floor. A trickle of blood ran down the corner of his mouth, which he didn’t bother to clean up. I only noticed he dropped the athame when his eyes snapped to the knife where it rested on the ground. Before he could make a move for it, I called the athame into my hand. The press of the warm handle comforted me somewhat.

‘I swear to you, everything I’ve told you about my life is real. Perhaps it wasn’t all the details, but I gave you what I could without jeopardising my position here.’

I laughed, barking like a deranged dog. ‘So help me understand how you go from telling me your mother wasexecuted by Witch Hunters, to you working for them? Make that make sense, because Hekate knows I don’t understand.’

Arwyn snarled, his lip curling over blood-stained teeth. ‘It’s complicated.’

‘Well,’ I snapped, gesturing to the empty hall around us. ‘We’re all alone. Look around you. Just me and you left. We have plenty of time toreacquaintourselves.’

‘Before what?’ Arwyn asked, gaze flickering between me and the athame. In a blink, Arwyn gathered his confidence and walked back towards me. His pace was sure, his stride long and undeterred. He didn’t stop until only the athame was between us. ‘Do you plan to kill me, Hector? Because I don’t think you have it in you.’

My grip tightened on the handle as I refused to lower the blade. It pricked through Arwyn’s shirt, cutting into the flesh above his Hunter’s mark. ‘I’ll do what’s required.’

‘I’m not your enemy,’ Arwyn said, looking down the bridge of his nose at me. ‘Believe what you think. See me as the monster your kind makes us out to be, when the truth has always been lying right before you.’

‘Your kind?’ I stammered, head aching. ‘You say it as if you’re any different.’

‘I am.’

It was my turn to snarl at him. Deep in the pit of my throat a growl emanated, spilling out through my clenched teeth. ‘Your kindkilled my parentsandyour mother!’

Arwyn rocked back at that, as if he forgot, although from the way his haunted eyes darkened I could tell that wasn’t the case. ‘Not everything is as it seems. Witches, Witch Hunters. These trials. We are all pawns in a much bigger, darker picture. One that would turn your world upside down if you knew.’

‘You’re trying to distract me. Disarm me enough to get rid of me and win.’

He shook his head. ‘No, Hector. I will win, because I vowed to protect you.’

‘From what?’ I bellowed, the two words echoing around the hall.

I almost believed Arwyn’s silence was a way of proving he was not going to reply. Not going to answer me. But instead, when he opened his mouth, he spoke a name that chilled me to the core. ‘Bahmet.’

The name rang clear. The one Eleanor had called out as the fire ate away at her flesh. ‘You lied. You told me you didn’t hear what Eleanor said.’

‘I was protecting you,’ Arwyn pleaded. ‘You couldn’t say the name, and I didn’t want to remind you.’

And yet I remembered. This time, that name didn’t slip through my mind like sand through fingers.

The atmosphere changed. I couldn’t place it, but it felt as though we were no longer alone. As if something else was in the room with us, watching from somewhere unseen. As if speaking the name aloud conjured it.

‘Who is this?—’

‘Demon.Bahmet, the maker of deals. The very root of evil. Pure, demonic darkness. You’ve discovered not only my secrets, but the undocumented truth hidden beneath this place. Ask yourself why the Coven send witches here. Not as contestants, but as sacrifices to something greater. A tithe. A payment for power. There is so much you don’t know, and I understand I’m the last person you wish to trust. But I swear to you, Hector, I’m not your enemy.’

Tears welled in his eyes, brightening the colour like water over diamonds. ‘Ask yourself why your mother’s dying wish was to keep you away from this. To prevent the Witch Trials from ever happening again.’

‘Don’t you dare speak of my mother as if you knew who she was, or what she wanted.’

Arwyn chewed on his lip, his eyes breaking away from mine in a moment of weakness. ‘In a game of darkness, it is important we find our light. Hector, that’s you. It’s always been you.’

There was nothing light about me. Not with the slithering beast in my gut.

It’s always been you.

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