Page 14 of Witch Untold
I continue without him.
“Jasper!” The beat of wings rises up behind me. He lands at my side just as the thread comes to an end mid-air.
His grip is tight, chest heaving in panic.
I roll my eyes. “Breathe. It isn’t real.”
“What?”
“The panic. The need to turn back. Not real.”
I smirk and open my senses even more. A vibration skims over my skin. The existence of a spell. A lie.
“A spell?” Conah shakes his head. “Fuck, it’s strong.”
“And it keeps humans away…And reapers too, obviously.” But not the likes of me. Didn’t work on Elijah, though. I always knew he was different somehow, which explains why I like him.
I roll my shoulders and continue forward, past the end of the trailing signatures and through what I know to be a powerful glamour. It buzzes against my skin as if enraged by the intrusion, and then a monolith materializes in front of me. A castle made of forbidding black stone, smack bang in the middle of fucking nowhere.
Conah curses under his breath.
“Let’s get this over with.”
I grab hold of the reaper and make the jump.
* * *
BRAMBLE
I’m so fecking lost. The chill penetrates my bones through the thick winter gear I’m swaddled in. Any longer out here and I’ll freeze. I’m not sure when I lost his trail. Not sure when everything began to look the same. I pride myself on my sense of direction and my resilience, but out here, in the deadly silent wasteland of ice, I’m completely and utterly alone, cut off and disorientated. Thank God for the impression of my boots in the snow to tell me which way I’ve come from. The wind picks up, brushing fresh flakes over my tracks.
Shit. I need to turn back.
Now.
Anger flares in my stomach. Anger at myself. I’m supposed to find Elijah. I need to find him and bring him home. What use am I if I can’t do that?
Stupid fucking mission. I told him it was a dumb idea. Why the heck does he have to be such a stubborn ass, and now look where we are?
Where are you, Elijah?
This is insane.
I’m fecking insane.
Dammit, Elijah, you idiot, you can’t be the big bad warlock all the time. Maybe these sons of bitches don’t have any weaknesses. I get the seal needs to be protected, but this ain’t about the seal, it’s about Cora.
Cora… Shit. I need to get back to the town and call in. Hate to admit it, but I need backup. The ground slopes suddenly, giving way beneath my boots, and I’m falling.
There’s no time to cry out, it happens so bloody fast.
My knees hit icy ground.
The world is darker here.
The air around me is warmer, though, even though ice walls surround me. How is this possible? The landscape around Barrow is flatlands. No caverns and caves, so how the fuck am I in a hole? The Aurora Borealis taunts me from above, beautiful and unreachable.
Shit. My back itches. My hidden wings beg to be let out.
