Night Witch (Book 1) ✔️

37 - A Shoulder to Lean On

When we're finally back at the precinct, we remain in the car. Luke, who's been quiet since we left the Blue Devil, is collapsed in the seat which makes me think there isn't much more he can take.

He finally turns to look at me. "So, you going to tell me what the hell is going on? Because you seemed to have an epiphany back there."

I shake my head. "That's probably not a good idea. This is going to get really dangerous."

He rolls his eyes, like he knew what my answer was going to be. "It's our job to do dangerous things to keep other people safe but I'm not one of the people you have to protect. Who is She, the one that demon kept talking about?"

I'm honestly surprised he's managed to keep from asking this long. "I can't tell you that." I grimace slightly as I let him know the worse news. "And I can't give you the folio, either."

His entire body tenses. "What do you mean, you can't give it to me? We have to take this to Benedict."

"No. I need to handle this. It's way over even Benedict's head and these spells can't be allowed out."

The wheels turn in Luke's head and I see the moment he puts all the pieces together with his dawning horror - Demon. A protegee to another witch. A demon witch. "She is the Witch of Destruction. Jonas wants to become a Dark Witch. But that means..." His eyes track back to me.

I cringe a little. Being the Heir of Darkness isn't a good thing, generally speaking. "Yeah, I'm fated to take over for her."

Now, since he believes I'm a half demon, I hope he'll think most of the darkness comes from the demon half. And as usual, Luke squashes my hope like a bug.

"That demon called you her heir. To be an heir wouldn't you have to be a Dark Witch?" His gaze is stony and unrelenting. With a sigh, I drop a truth he probably doesn't want to hear.

"Kit and I are her only living descendants and since I'm older, I'm her heir. She took me as a child and performed a ceremony to appoint me." Nice compromise there. I didn't say I wasn't a dark witch because I have a feeling Luke can smell lies.

He pauses a moment. "But she's so old she should have lots of descendants."

"Yeah, she tends to kill us off if there are ever too many. She went a little overkill a few generations ago and so now there's only one family line. We've got some demon mixed in which may be why she thought we were interesting enough to let live." I shrug and try to ignore Luke's expression.

"So, you and Kit are her only possible heirs?"

I shake my head. "Kit's too old for the ceremony so it's only me. Well, Kit or I could have a kid.  I thought that meant I was safe, but if she's using the Demonarie Manuscript to create a new line through Jonas then she could kill me and start over. Gods know I haven't exactly been supportive of the family business."

"If we hand this over and tell the Council they'll have to stop her. Give the book to Benedict and he'll handle it." Luke holds out a hand but I shake my head.

"They can't kill her. They'll destroy the Demonarie or keep it hidden, but they won't be able to stop her. There must be balance in the world." At his confusion, I sigh.

"We're all taught from such a young age that Dark Witches are evil and bad. And yet on sits on the Covenate. They tell us there's only one Dark witch left. Haven't you ever wondered if they're so terrible why not just kill her and be done with it?"

He stares a me for a long moment. "If any Dark threat comes she will protect us."

I snort. "You call her the With of Destruction and you think she'll save you? No, that's not the reason. There must always be balance and rather than allowing a bunch of weaker Dark witches to live they thought keeping only one under control would be easier."