Opening
Chapters 6–10 push Diana Bishop out of the quiet stacks and into the volatile politics of the creature world. As her connection with Matthew Clairmont deepens, old lies collapse, new threats close in, and Ashmole 782 becomes the axis on which history, love, and danger turn.
What Happens
Chapter 6: Daemon Day
The morning after her charged encounter with Matthew Clairmont, Diana Bishop learns a stylish Australian woman came looking for her. At the Bodleian, Matthew and his sharp, hostile colleague Miriam Shephard establish a workstation by the call desk, creating a de facto buffer that keeps other creatures—two female vampires, a trio of daemons, and Gillian Chamberlain—at bay. The atmosphere in the reading room turns taut; smiles become strained; even humans sense something is off.
At lunch, the Australian returns: Agatha Wilson, a daemon with a lyrical, disjointed way of speaking. She tells Diana that the power she released when she touched Ashmole 782 has drawn creatures from everywhere. Daemons, she says, need the manuscript because it may finally explain their origins, evolution, and extinction—a history they lack. She flashes a newspaper about a “vampire on the loose” case tied to occult expert Peter Knox and warns that Matthew has wanted the book for years—and now wants Diana. Before leaving, Agatha extracts a promise: remember the daemons’ need.
Shaken yet grateful for the protection, Diana thanks Matthew. They agree to use first names. Attraction hums between them, unmistakable and mutual. That night on the river, a “smoky smudge” shadows the towpath—Matthew keeping watch.
Chapter 7: Breakfast with a Vampire
After a drowning nightmare and a fog-laced row that feels like flight, Diana nearly runs into Matthew waiting anxiously on the path. He drives her in his vintage Jaguar to a local café he frequents. The human staff, Mary and Steph, greet him warmly; he explains he sometimes consults at the hospital and once helped Mary’s husband.
Over breakfast, their conversation is a careful exchange of truth. Matthew sits protectively between Diana and the room, all quiet vigilance. He says he became a scientist to understand “why I’m here,” echoing Agatha’s plea for answers. Diana admits she studies the history of science to grasp how humans built a world with “so little magic in it,” a confession she rarely shares. The intimacy shifts their dynamic. When he invites her to a private yoga class, she says yes—and promptly mails ten dollars to her friend Chris, conceding their bet that she’d never get involved with Matthew Clairmont.
Chapter 8: The Old Lodge
Irritable after a rough day, Diana joins Matthew for yoga and discovers his surprise: the Old Lodge, a pristine Tudor manor he built in 1536. Inside the great hall, the class is creature-only, guided by the serene witch Amira. Witches hover, vampires temper strength, daemons move with dreamy grace. For the first time, Diana experiences a peaceful, mixed space without prejudice, segregation, and intolerance. In the final pose, she and Matthew share a silent, grounded connection.
Over tea in Matthew’s gatehouse, history cracks open. He speaks of his sister Louisa’s violent death, one sorrow in a long life. The conversation pivots to Diana’s refusal to use magic—her core struggle with identity and self-acceptance. Matthew challenges her: denying power is futile and dangerous. Diana links magic to her parents’ deaths and insists avoidance is survival. The discussion ends in a chilly stalemate. He drives her home in silence.
Chapter 9: Stalking in Scotland
The point of view shifts to Matthew at a remote Scottish lodge with his best friend, daemon financier Hamish Osborne. Matthew arrives raw, admitting he needs to hunt—and to get away from a witch. Patient and shrewd, Hamish draws him out. Matthew tells him Diana is a Bishop witch from Salem who summoned Ashmole 782, a book of origins. He can smell and see her latent power—the rare “witch’s shimmer”—and confesses he is consumed by a “craving” for her.
Hamish hears what Matthew won’t say: he’s falling in love, a process that for vampires mimics a hunt and becomes possessive, instinctive, dangerous. Matthew admits he watches Diana sleep and tracks her runs. Then come his darkest truths. Centuries ago, he killed his human lover, Eleanor, by accident during a fight with his brother. Later, he turned Cecilia against her will; she killed herself. Convinced he’s a monster, he fears himself around a woman he desires. Hamish refuses to abandon him, insists he isn’t a monster, and offers the rule that might save everything: no secrets. They play chess; Matthew protects his queen and loses—an unmistakable metaphor for Diana.
Chapter 10: Threats and a Choice
Back in Oxford, Diana fields frantic messages from her aunts, Sarah Bishop and Em. On the phone, she confesses: the bewitched manuscript, the swarm of creatures, Matthew’s protection. Sarah explodes—returning a magical object and denying her heritage has led to chaos. The next day Matthew is gone; Miriam coolly says he’s “hunting in Scotland.” Without him, the library’s truce collapses. Diana’s anger makes magic spark at her fingertips; she hides her hands.
Gillian corners her with venom and drops a bomb: Diana’s parents weren’t killed by humans, but by witches who wanted their secrets. The lie that fueled Diana’s rejection of magic shatters. Later, summoned by her college warden for drinks, she finds Peter Knox waiting. He interrogates her about the manuscript, claiming it holds sacred witch history and spells—including how to destroy vampires. He calls her closeness with Matthew a betrayal and sends a mental warning: He’s a killer. Diana pushes back mentally and stuns him. Now threatened by her own kind and with her worldview in ruins, she makes a choice. She calls Matthew and leaves a desperate message: help.
Character Development
These chapters strip away façades. Private histories surface, allegiances harden, and love begins to look like both salvation and peril.
- Diana Bishop: Forced to engage with creatures, she opens up intellectually with Matthew and discovers solidarity at yoga. Gillian’s revelation detonates her foundational belief about her parents and her anti-magic stance, pushing her toward power—and toward Matthew.
- Matthew Clairmont: His centuries of guilt come into focus. Beneath poise and control is a hunter terrified of himself. The “craving,” the protectiveness, the chess sacrifice—all mark a vampire on the edge of mating and a man choosing restraint and truth.
- Peter Knox: From newspaper name to on-page threat, he embodies witch supremacy—polite veneer, coercive core—and positions Diana as a tool to be controlled.
- Gillian Chamberlain: Jealousy curdles into malice. Her taunts isolate Diana and reveal the coven’s willingness to harm its own.
- Hamish Osborne: A loyal daemon counterweight to Matthew’s darkness. He diagnoses love, demands honesty, and steadies the vampire without judgment.
Themes & Symbols
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Forbidden Love and Inter-species Relationships intensifies as breakfast turns into trust, a shared practice becomes communion, and a vampire crosses centuries of taboo for a witch. Community disapproval—Knox’s threats, Sarah’s fury—shows the cost of crossing lines.
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Identity and Self-Acceptance sharpens when Diana’s avoidance meets immovable truth. Denial can’t protect her—sparks erupt anyway—and the lie about her parents makes reclamation of power both necessary and personal.
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The Power of History and Memory anchors motivation. Matthew’s manor and memories literalize the past’s grip; Ashmole 782 promises a collective origin story that every species craves.
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Secrets and Deception shape every choice. Matthew hides tragedies; the coven hides a murder; Knox hides coercion behind civility. Hamish’s rule—no secrets—emerges as the only path to trust.
Symbols:
- The Old Lodge: Matthew made stone—ancient, beautiful, fortified, haunted.
- Mixed-creature yoga: A glimpse of harmony that contradicts segregated norms.
- Chess: Strategy bent to protection; the queen’s safety over winning the game.
Key Quotes
“I became a scientist to understand why I’m here.” Matthew’s mission collapses immortality into inquiry. It links his personal mystery to Ashmole 782’s larger answers and reframes his pursuit of the manuscript as existential, not merely acquisitive.
“How humans created a world with so little magic in it.” Diana admits a grief she usually hides. The line exposes her internal exile from witchcraft and seeds the shift toward reclaiming it.
“He’s a killer.” Knox’s mental threat is both menace and manipulation. Diana’s instinctive, powerful pushback marks the first time she meets magical aggression head-on—and refuses to be cowed.
“No secrets.” Hamish distills the book’s central obstacle to intimacy. For a vampire defined by restraint and a witch defined by denial, truth becomes the only workable form of love.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
These chapters transform the setup from the first five chapters into a volatile, character-driven conflict. The creature world widens—daemons, coven politics, centuries-long memories—while the romance raises personal and political stakes. Most crucially, the truth about Diana’s parents explodes her rationale for rejecting magic, forcing her toward power and toward an alliance with Matthew. His confessed past reframes his protectiveness as hard-won restraint rather than predation. Together, these shifts set the novel’s trajectory: love against law, truth against secrecy, and history—both personal and collective—demanding to be faced.