Page 108 of Heart of a Witch
He laughed, coughing as he did. “You say this with a dagger between your fingers, ready to take my life. You will rot in the underworld for this.”
The dagger trembled in my hands. “No.” I wanted to scream at him, to make him see beyond his own ignorance. I needed him to know why he was dying and why these bad things had happened to him. “My sister was a good person.”
“She was a witch.”
“We were born from gods and humans. We are not demons.”
“Yet you brought demons into my house.”
I stammered, squeezing the handle of the dagger until my nails hurt. “Why can’t you see what you’ve done?”
He shook his head. “I’ve protected this town and my family.”
“No, you haven’t. You’re blind and using your church and your beliefs to justify both your sadistic desire for killing and your blind hatred for witches.”
“My wife trusted a witch,” he said slowly. “She died for it.”
“That’s why you hate us so much?”
“She gave her a potion to help us conceive a second child.”
Everything clicked into place. “It’s why you hate Corbin.”
“She died during childbirth.”
“As do so many people. It has nothing to do with a potion. Potions don’t work like that.”
“More trickery.”
“If she took it to conceive, there’s no way any potion or spell or even curse can wait that long before enacting. Killing spells are extremely difficult and immediate.”
“You’re lying.”
I stepped forward. “I’m not.” I looked directly into his eyes, realizing how different he looked from Elijah. There was no softness to this man, no love or compassion. “You think whatever you want, but I’m telling you the truth. You’ve killed hundreds of people—yes, people, not witches or demons, but souls—all over a misunderstanding. I’m not going to be the one going to the underworld.” I held the dagger over his chest. This was it, everything I’d worked up to. Cas, Alex, and I had given up everything so we could enact our revenge, and it had worked perfectly. Yet as I readied myself to plunge the blade into his chest, I found myself unable to catch my breath.
There was fear lacing his eyes, as Ember had had in hers. He’d killed her and every witch out of revenge for his wife. He could pretend otherwise, but it was obvious now. It was no “message from Zerheus” or “his calling.” He’d acted out of vengeance and anger, like me.
“Victoria.” Elijah hesitated, holding his hands up when I looked over my shoulder. “Don’t do this. This isn’t you.”
“Leave now.” Tears fell down my cheeks, thick and fast. I loosed a sob, catching a glimpse of my reflection in the windowpane. I was breaking apart. I’d felt it for so long, and the truth hit colder than stone: killing him wouldn’t bring Ember back. It wouldn’t truly free my family because we’d always be on the run from some hunter in some town. We were bound to a life of secrecy because we weren’t accepted, and it hurt so much, I could hardly breathe.
Elijah had reached me sometime in my panic. His hands were around my waist, turning me slowly, softly. He placed his hand on the handle of the dagger, lowering it. “You’re not a murderer.”
“I’m already broken,” I said, my voice cracking. “My mind is fractured, my sister is dead, and no matter what I do, my family and I will never be accepted in Salvius. What do I have to live for? Revenge is all I have.”
He brushed his thumb against mine. “That’s not true, love. You have me.”
I looked away. “Don’t do that.”
“It’s true.”
“I’ve done bad things.”
“So have I. I can be an asshole when I want to be. I’ve treated people badly. We’ve all made mistakes, but that’s the great thing. We can always change ourselves for the better. You’re better than this. You’re a good sister. You care about me, even Corbin. I’ve seen it.” He touched my tears, wiping them downward under my eyes. “If you were a demon, you wouldn’t be capable of any of that, so I believe you. I trust you, Victoria, to make the right choice here. It doesn’t have to end like this.”
“How do I know you won’t hand me over if I don’t kill him?”
“You don’t,” he admitted, “but you can take a leap of faith.”
