Page 64 of An Oath at Midnight

His chest heaved, and he tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. “Yes.”

I stared up at him. He was splattered with blood and had a strange look in his eyes. I was the exception to that rule. He’d never hurt me, not for any reason. I stared back, looking at a stranger. Goddess, I hated so much that he’d kept this from me, that he’d held a part of himself back from me. “Now I know all your secrets,” I said, my voice husky, my heart racing, belly swirling.

He took another of those heaved breaths, gripped my chin in his bloodstained fingers and shook his head. “There’s one more.”

His eyes were fathomless, intense, and my heart thundered harder. I’d seen this expression before, but only when he thought I wasn’t looking. Like the times I woke and found him watching me, or the times we watched a movie and I’d turn to him, only to find his eyes locked on me. Every time, the urge to retreat had slammed through me, and it did now. “Bram—”

“Why do you think I’m the only one who can touch you, Magnolia? Why we need to touch? Why do you think the moment we met, we were so intensely drawn together? It wasn’t just because I was your familiar—”

I pressed my fingers to his lips, stopping him. My pulse was racing so hard I felt close to passing out. What was he doing? What the hell was he doing?

His fingers curled around my wrist, and he gently pulled my hand away, shaking his head. “You know, Mags. You know.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You’re not thinking…this situation, it’s…”

His fingers slid around the back of my head, into my hair, his gaze dipping to my mouth.

“Bram,” I choked out.

He pressed his forehead to mine. “Maggie,” he whispered on a shuddering breath and leaned in, his lips a breath from mine.

I jerked back, but he held me fast, not giving me an inch. “Please,” he rasped.

My heart exploded in my chest, cold sweat breaking out all over me and I reacted, as if my hands were being controlled my someone else. I shoved at him, pulling from his hold. “No.”

We stayed locked like that for long seconds, his gaze searching mine.

Neither of us moved, then finally, pain sliced through his obsidian eyes, and his hand dropped away, releasing me.

As soon as he did, my world cracked down the middle. Terror like never before filled me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. He couldn’t do this. I couldn’t do this. He was ruining everything. “Bram...”

He turned away, striding for the door. I rushed after him, but I didn’t know what to do, what to say. So many thoughts and feelings stormed inside me. We walked out of the building and down the alley, back to the street.

“Where’s your car?” he asked, voice devoid of emotion.

“Bram.”

He spotted it and strode over. I expected him to get in with me.

He didn’t.

Bram wouldn’t meet my gaze. “I need to…go away for a while.”

“Hang on. No, you can’t do that. You can’t leave me—”

“I promised I wouldn’t do that, remember?” He was trembling, his entire body vibrating. “And I won’t.”

“When will you be back?”

His fingers curled and uncurled at his sides. “I don’t know. I won’t be gone long. I just…I need some time.”

He needed time…away from me.

My best friend just tried to kiss me, and I’d pulled away. I said no. I wanted to scream. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening. “My task…I need you,” I said in desperation, trying to keep him with me.

His hand lifted as though he was going to touch my face, but then he dropped it. Fuck, that hurt so damn badly. “Asher’s more than capable of having your back while I’m gone.”

“I don’t want Asher…I want…” I let the rest fall away.