The Oath by Apryl Baker Page A

I tell you it was fun?”
    I took off my own helmet and scrambled off the bike, thankful for the solid ground beneath my feet. “Next time you decide to kidnap me, we are taking the Bug.”
    “Admit it, Rose, you had fun.”
    Not a chance. “Why are we here?”
    He pouted, and goodness, was he adorable. I had to fight to keep the grin off my face. “Are we going inside or what? It’s freezing out here.”
    He grabbed my hand and dragged me up the steps. The door wasn’t even locked. Who didn’t lock their doors? Crazy psychotics who are all about murder and mayhem. The inside of the cabin made me pause. It was cozy. Dark brown couches surrounded a massive fireplace. A wide screen TV was mounted to the wall above it. The kitchen dominated one whole side of the main floor, opening up to the living area where we were standing. A staircase ran up the wall to my left, and floor to ceiling windows spanned the entire right side of the room. The interior was made up of the same stone and brick as the outside of the small cabin. It was rustic, charming, and I loved it on sight.
    “Shoes off,” Xavier said as he started on a fire. I did as he asked, and then ambled over to wall of windows. It looked out onto the woods, but a massive flower garden was directly in front of me. The flowers weren’t blooming because of the cold, but I’d seen my Gran’s garden enough to realize what I was looking at. Wooden benches were scattered around the area. This place had to be gorgeous in the summer.
    “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Xavier asked, coming up beside me. “Peaceful, too.”
    “Who lives here?” I asked and watched as the first snowflakes started falling from the sky. I wasn’t alarmed. It had been snowing flurries for days.
    “I do,” Xavier told me. “Come sit in front of the fire and get warm. I’ll make us some hot chocolate.”
    I frowned, but went to huddle on the big furry rug. The heat coming from the open flames enticed me. It was going to take forever to thaw from that ride. I put my hands out in front of me to soak up the heat. I loved fireplaces, and this one was amazing. The natural stone would soak up the heat the hotter the fire burned, and radiate heat long after the fire went out. This was the kind of fireplace I wanted in my own home eventually.
    Xavier handed me a steaming mug and settled down across from me. He’d added marshmallows without my having to tell him. I snorted. He’d stalked me since I was born, he should know about my marshmallow addiction.
    “Feeling warmer?” he asked, sipping his own drink and staring at the snow slowly falling outside.
    I nodded. “This is yours?”
    “Yeah, I bought it a few years ago. I love to come here in the winter. It’s my favorite season.”
    It would be. He reminded me of winter. Maybe it was the stone smell. “So are we going to talk about you killing me?”
    “Why don’t we talk about ways of keeping me from having to do that?” he countered.
    “So you admit you’d kill me?” Damn the Fates, why send this gorgeous boy to me and make me feel like this, only to have him attempt to kill me later? It was so not fair.
    “Your mother dedicated your soul to God,” he said. “You were given into His keeping whether you believe in Him or not. To Him, you are His and He will protect you, even from yourself. The path you have set yourself on will not only damn your soul, it will open you up the darkness that already resides in your soul, Melinda. You have a dark heart, you always have. That’s why dark magic is so easy for you.”
    “You’re saying I’m already a dark witch?” I asked, alarmed. No freaking way!
    “No, that’s not what I’m saying,” he snapped. “All I meant is that you are more susceptible to be lured onto that path because of your predisposition for dark magic. Performing good magic, white magic, is harder for someone like you.”
    “Someone like me?” I asked, affronted.
    “I’m not very good at explaining this,” he