Page 169 of The Black Witch

We make a run for it, scrambling across the clearing and into the woods.

Upon spotting Yvan, she lets out a terrified shriek and falls backward, her feet frantically skidding against the forest floor as she holds up her arms to ward him off.

“Back up, Yvan!” I push my hand out toward him.

Yvan falls back and crouches low, his palms up.

I clasp the Selkie’s trembling shoulders. She flinches as I touch her. I reach a hand up to gently stroke her hair. “Shhhh,” I croon. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

Her hair is a strange and wonderful consistency, soft as warm water. “We’ve got to get you out of here,” I say, wishing I could speak Seal. Her mouth opens slightly, but no sound comes out, the gills on her neck flapping open and closed.

I manage to pull her into a crouch as her eyes dart around in panic. We slowly start away from the cottage, both the Selkie and I tripping repeatedly over our feet, made clumsy by fear. Yvan keeps his distance off to the side, always keeping us within sight, his face tense.

Soon we find our courage, along with our footing, and break into a run, leaping over logs, swerving around trees, the forest whizzing by, listening desperately for the sound of heavy footsteps behind us. I keep my hand tight on the Selkie’s wrist as we run for what seems like forever. We run until my breath starts to feel like sharp glass, my sides cramping up.

A clearing appears just ahead. The blessed University grounds.

I never imagined I’d be so overjoyed to see the North Tower.

We slow, the Selkie and I panting heavily, her gills ruffled open, her thin wrist weak and fragile in my hand. She stumbles, and I throw an arm around her before she can fall. We’re a few paces away from the University grounds, barely hidden by the thinning trees.

“Elloren.” I hear Yvan’s calm voice from a few feet away. The Selkie flinches at the sound of it. “Have you thought through where you’re going to hide her?” Yvan is leaning calmly against the trunk of a large tree, studying me, looking like he hasn’t even broken a sweat.

“No,” I reply defensively as I reach up with my free hand to stroke the trembling Selkie’s strange hair.

“This is a little reckless, you know that, right?”

I glare at him as I catch my breath. “Oh, and rescuing dragons from the Gardnerian military isn’t?” Ireallydon’t need this from him right now.

The corners of his mouth lift into a wry smile.

“It was the right thing to do, Yvan,” I say.

He nods, serious again. “I know it was.”

There’s something new in his expression. Something that catches me completely off guard.

Respect.

We’re both startled by the sound of a horse whinnying nearby.

I whip my head around and see Andras Volya, the young, heavily rune-marked Amaz man—Professor Volya’s son. He’s a short distance away from us, across the wide field astride a large, black mare.

He’s staring straight at us.

The horror of being discovered presses down on me.

Andras pulls hard on the horse’s mane. The animal rears and turns sharply around before galloping away toward the University stables.

“Oh, Sweet Ancient One,” I breathe. “You don’t think he saw us, do you?”

“I think he did,” Yvan says, his voice low.

“What do you think he’ll do?”

Yvan narrows his gaze and looks toward Andras’s receding figure. “I don’t know.” He sets his green eyes on me. “But we need to get her inside. Before anyone else sees her.”

CHAPTER NINE

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