"When I asked about applying for the Institute, Redbright told me they would only accept someone of my... background... if my coven vouched for me." That was, ultimately, what had started her thinking. Because before then, she'd just accepted that dark witches had to be separate. That it wasn't safe. But after seeing what she had? Maybe that needed to change.

"Most just study on their own in secret, which is where a lot of the horror stories about dark magic come from." Possession, death, all sorts of things that came from young, unexperienced witches teaching themselves to summon and contract fae. "I was taught it by my parents, then my uncle. But even then, one witch alone? Can't do even half of what three can. Seven or nine? Even better."