Page 17 of Witch Untold
I release him and shove him away.
“Follow me,” he says politely, as if we’re formal guests.
He sets off down the landing as Conah flies up to meet me. We follow the minion through dingy, dusty corridors, taking turn after turn. The windows we pass are caked with grime, making it impossible to see out. Not that it matters. I don’t need to retrace my steps to make a jump.
He pulls open a door that hides a flight of steps. The inside is narrow and confined.
Conah touches my elbow lightly, his brow furrowing warily.
There’s nothing to fear. He should know that. Whatever these Sons of Adam are, they’re no match for me. Not now that I have access to my power again.
I follow the minion up the steps. Gray light fills the tower, streaming in through a grimy window. The steps end at another door, which he pushes open and enters. A neat wood-floor foyer greets us, but my gaze goes to the metal door with the eye hatch.
“You have him in there?” Conah asks, voice tight with suppressed rage. “Open it. Now.”
Finally, he’s done playing nice.
The minion obliges, pulling a key from his pocket and unlocking the door. I could jump into the room beyond, but I want to make him open it. To show him that we’re in control.
The door swings open and the coppery scent of blood hits me. The room is dark and it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust, but then I see Elijah hanging on the wall by his wrists. His head lolls on his shoulder, eyes closed, neck dark with blood.
“What the fuck?” Conah pushes past me and enters the room first. I follow, gaze raking over Elijah’s prison. No bed, not even a chair.
The wall must have been his home ever since they caught him.
“They’ve fed on him.” Conah examines the wound at Elijah’s neck. “He’s lost a lot of blood. We need to get him out of here.”
“That won’t be a problem.” I reach for the shackles with the intention of ripping them from the wall, but the clang of the door closing behind me stalls me.
“Seriously?” I turn to face the metal and look into the minion’s spectacled gaze through the hatch. “You think a door can stop me?”
His eyes smile. “No. I wouldn’t be so presumptuous. We know exactly what you are and what you can do.”
“What do you mean?” Conah asks.
The minion keeps his attention on me. “Your friend’s mind is a hive of information. He fought my masters’ will, but he was no match for them. Neither are you. They will reclaim what was taken from them. They will be whole.” His dark brows come down in a frown. “They must be whole.”
I’m so done with this shit. I make the jump, but nothing happens. What the fuck? Ice pools in the pit of my stomach along with the knowledge that I may have underestimated this minion.
He slams the eye hatch closed and the room lights up in a soft blue haze.
I look up at the high ceiling and see the runes for the first time. Alien magic skims across my skin and winds around me, blocking and muting my power.
“Fuck.”
* * *
“Shit,”Conah says. “These are…I’ve never seen anything like these.”
He’s in scholar mode. And me? I’m in panic mode. It’s a strange feeling because I rarely panic. Not even when Cora donned the blasted amulet that muted my power.
Muting is one thing, but this is worse. I can’t access my power at all. It’s volatile and ready but completely out of reach. I can’t tap into it. Whatever these runes are, they’re powerful. More powerful than the witch’s amulet ever was.
I allow the panic to bloom, then tamp down on it.
It’s a useless emotion.
Cora is the only being who can evoke it. It grips me whenever she’s in mortal danger…Maybe I’m misremembering how many times I’ve fucking felt it.
