Page 140 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

Freya ran out the door.

You can’t die because I love you.

“Walker?” Cady said.

I took a deep breath. I wouldn’t waste the chance Freya had given us, and I would trust her to keep her promise. I would trust her to see me again, and I would do everything in my power to hold up my end of the bargain.

We hurried out of the closet, and Cady laid a hand on the stone wall. Down the hall, Freya’s familiar magic swelled. It tingled down my spine like a lover’s touch. As Freya unleashed herself on the Handmaidens, Cady whispered a spell.

As if they were Legos being separated, the stones that paved the wall pulled themselves apart. With waves of her hands and bursts of magic, Cady pulled the slabs apart and stacked them neatly out of our path toward the now visible staircase.

Numbly, I followed Cady and Ryder farther from Freya. As the distance between us grew and her magic continued to rage, my heart and magic ached.

She’ll see you again.

When we reached cream-tiled stairs, Cady turned around, waved her hands, and put the wall back together again. I wanted to tell her to leave it open for Freya, but I remembered her journey toward her familiar would take her down a far different path than ours. As soon as the stones were in place, we ran.

This staircase comprised of two landings, each spaced apart by several, white steps. Whimsical blue walls surrounded us. By the time we climbed all the stairs, my lungs burned. A tapestry depicting a white-dressed witch glowing in the middle of battling covens hung on the wall.

I wanted to spit on it.

I resisted the urge and focused on the door in front of me. It was metal, and the High Witch’s emblem adorned it.

“Has this part of the court been remodeled or something?” Cady asked.

“It’s the part she bothers keeping up with,” I said and shook my head in disgust. “We must be getting closer to where Cordelia actually lives.”

“Sense anything on the other side of this door?” Ryder asked us.

Cady and I cast out magical nets, but the familiar, raging magic below us distracted me. Freya still fought the Handmaidens. I wanted to go to her, but I focused on Cady and forced myself to stay in the moment.

I sent my magic forward and closed my eyes. On the other side of the door, I sensed the heady potency of the High Witch’s magic. It was impossible to pinpoint, but rather, she had spelled the entire area to her will.

“There’s a big spell over there,” Cady said. “I’ve never felt anything like it.”

“I have,” I said with a frown. “It’s Cordelia’s magic, but I don’t thinkshe’sactually there.”

“So we’re probably walking into a trap,” Ryder said flatly.

“Yeah,” I admitted. “Probably.”

“I can try to unravel the spell,” Cady suggested, but I shook my head.

“No way,” I argued. “There’s no telling what could happen to you if you mess with it. She keeps a hall of witches to Embrace,Cady-Cat. You can’t untangle that spell on your own. It would take all of Freya’s coven to do something like that.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. “So, what do we do?”

“Prepare to fight like hell?” I asked.

Ryder swore under his breath and opened the door.

He revealed a wide, opulent hall filled with magic. Every wall was lined with herbs, jars of colorful liquids, bones, feathers, and more. Pools of flames, water, mud, and even electricity were interspersed among cyclones of air and separated by white tiles. Pillars stretched to the high ceiling, and a mural of witches peered down at us from above. They wielded the elements stored in this room with unrelenting brutality.

From the far doors, people in black stormed in. I searched for an alternative escape, but our only options were forward or backward, and we couldn’t get trapped in the lower levels of the court, not if we wanted to save Elle and reach the ripple’s access point.

The only way out is through.

“Run,” I ordered and pulled the Sol Sword free.

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