Page 9 of An Oath at Midnight

My soul had been damaged that day, a fissure of darkness creeping through. It grew wider by the day, settling deeper, and there was no stopping it.

“Maybe we could visit later?” I said to Iris. “I’m actually here to train. Is Ash around?”

She gave me a look, one I didn’t like, one that said she saw way too much of what I was trying to hide. “She’s getting ready to leave on patrol, so you may as well hang out with me—”

“Thanks.” I rushed off before she could finish, dashing around the side of the keep. I spotted Asher with several other wolves, including Draven.

Asher and I had gotten off to a pretty rocky start, and when she offered to train me six months ago, to help me deal with my anger, I’d turned her down flat. But my anger had continued to grow, had become so overpowering, the darkness inside me digging so deep, I’d scared myself, but worse, I was scaring everyone around me.

So much so that I shoved down my pride and asked her to train me.

Asher was cool, I could admit that now, and it turned out fighting the wolf, focusing my anger outward, helped me a lot. She wasn’t family. She didn’t give me a pass or go easy on me. She pushed me to my limits, forcing me to get a handle on my anger, and to work through what I was feeling. I learned quickly that using anger to fuel you, at least my brand of wild and uncontrollable anger, was the fastest way of getting your ass kicked.

She spotted me and strode over. “Can’t train today, feisty. I’m rostered on patrol.”

“Let me come with you.”

She snorted, her golden eyes sparkling. “You think you’re ready to take on a real live demon, little witch?”

I gritted my teeth. “Yeah, I do. We’ve been training for nearly six months. I can hold my own. You know I can.”

Her expression grew serious. “This isn’t playtime, Mags. One of those fuckers gets hold of you, it’ll tear you to pieces.”

Draven strode over. “What’s going on?”

“She wants to come with us.”

He didn’t spare me a glance. “No.”

I planted my hands on my hips. “You didn’t even think about it.”

“Don’t need to,” he said in his deep, growly voice.

“I’m ready, you know I am,” I said, working really hard at not letting my anger get the better of me and firing attitude at him. Draven was not the kind of male to be talked into anything. He’d tell me to fuck off if he thought I wasn’t in the right headspace. We’d talked about the possibility of this, when I was ready, and I was. More than ready.

He crossed his arms, looking down at me, his vibrant green eyes deadly serious. “My mate would fuck me up if you got hurt, you know that, right? And I won’t be very fucking happy either if I have to carry you back in pieces.”

“You’ve seen me train. And I’m going to need to know how to fight on my own, the mother will call me soon…”

“You still have time,” he said.

I bit back a curse. So far, she’d called my sisters, one year apart. Going by that timeline, I had another six months. “The more practice I get, though, the better my chances. I want to do this, Draven.”

“What you want and what you’re ready for are two different things,” he said.

“I am ready.”

He turned to Asher. “You’ve been training her. You think she’s ready to go out in the field? Keep in mind, it’s your head on the chopping block if anything happens to her.”

I bit back another curse.

“Physically, she’s up to it. But what about in here, feisty.” She tapped the side of my head, and I shoved her hand away. “You let your anger get the better of you out there, you’ll wake up to the horrific sound of demons singing ‘Kumbaya,’ an apple jammed in your mouth, while they roast you over an open fire.”

Draven’s lips twitched. I ignored him, curled my fingers tight to control my temper, and nodded. “I’ve got it under control.”

She flicked my forehead. “You sure?”

“Ash—”