Page 133 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

Ryder sauntered closer to the edge of his cell and shot me a pointed look. It was quick enough that the vampire didn’t catch on, but intentional enough that I caught his drift. Cady did too.

“Truly,” Cady said and crossed her arms. “I guess when they lose a heartbeat, they lose their courage too.”

The vampire bared his teeth but quickly covered his agitation with a smirk. As he prowled closer to Ryder’s cell, I inched closer to Freya.

“Man, today’s a good day,” the vampire said. “It’s not often I get to put adogin a cage.”

“If these bars weren’t here,” Ryder threatened and stalked closer to the vampire.

“I would still kick your ass,” the vampire said and grinned.

“Yeah?” Ryder said.

Faster than the vampire could anticipate, Ryder shoved his hand through the bars and wrapped it around the vampire’s pale throat. Ryder’s skin smoked and bubbled where it touched the metal bars, but he didn’t let go of the vampire.

“Where is my mate?”Ryder hissed.

“Walker,” Freya whispered.

I forced myself to look away from the gruesome scene and reached for Freya’s hand. Without the gnawing exhaustion fromtraveling through the ripple and the pain of breaking my nose, the heat of her touch was impossible to miss. Our magic flared in greeting, and the potency of it stole my breath.

The vampire choked. Flesh sizzled and popped.

“I-I don’t know,” the vampire croaked.

I had lived most of my life without magic, but having it back now was like coming home. Combined with Freya’s, our power buzzed in harmony.

“Send it into the cell walls,” Freya whispered. “Feel the wards and imagine untangling them.”

“Wha-what’s going on over there?” the vampire croaked.

Something clanged, and the vampire yelped in pain.

“Don’t worry about them,” Ryder insisted. “Worry about me.”

I closed my eyes and forced the wild song of magic in my veins into the bars of our cells. As I homed in on the wards, I sensed layer after layer of oppressive magic. The bars were cold and life-sucking, like cuffs on steroids. I sent the heat of my magic and Freya’s magic into them. My teeth chattered, but I didn’t stop. In a low, unearthly voice, Freya weaved a spell in an ancient language.

“She’s in the throne room,” the vampire whispered. “The High Witch is preparing the chimera for the ceremony.”

“What ceremony?” Ryder demanded.

I pulled more magic from the well of power in my chest. I imagined it spreading through my veins, into my fingertips, where my hand clutched Freya’s. From there, I pictured it permeating these forsaken spells and washing them in our power. Though the wards’ magic fought to overwhelm me, I forced my magic to suffocate them. Power swelled, but it wasn’t just a low thrum or a trill. It was a wave of layered harmonies that winked the soul-sucking magic etched into the bars out of existence.

“The Entombment,” the vampire choked.

The dungeon walls shook around us, and cold seeped into my bones. Freya squeezed my hand, and I poured forth even more magic.

The vampire sputtered. “Shit—shit—stop touching her! Stop touching hernow!”

I didn’t open my eyes, and I didn’t release Freya. More and more, I sent magic into the cell. My power flowed out of me like lava, and the heat in my body left with it. I shook from the cold, but Freya chanted louder.

“The High Witch should re-evaluate her dungeons’ designs.” Ryder smirked. “She didn’t plan on dealing with warlocks when she built them.”

All at once, the soul-sucking cold stopped, and my magic rushed back into my veins. My ears popped, and power, potent enough I could fly, fueled me. When I opened my eyes, I knew they glowed with magic.

The vampire opened his mouth to call for help, but he was too slow. With one strike of wicked blue lightning, he disintegrated into a pile of ash.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

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