Page 27 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

Freya

Itapped my fingers against the hardwood table and stopped. Mom had always said it was okay to feel uneasy, but there was no reason to broadcast it.

“You must depart in the morning,” Lyra advised. Her tan face was pursed by a thoughtful frown. “Give yourself as much time as you can to find and capture this thing.”

I nodded, as did Walker and the other Elders gathered around the table. We sat in the lobby of one of the apartment buildings. A chandelier flickered overhead and cast the gleaming white floors in gentle light. Outside, the moon was high in the sky. Exhaustion weighed on me, but I knew that even if it were an option, I couldn’t sleep.

I wasn’t sure how I’d sleep in the next month.

Arion rubbed against my feet in silent support.

At least I still have my cat.

“You, Walker, and the wolf will go,” Gloria said. “But who else?”

“Thea is good at healing,” Gwenyth provided. Her answer did not surprise me. She was Thea’s aunt after all. She wouldwant her niece to be in on the action. “And she has a good head on her shoulders.”

She pushed a dark lock of hair over her shoulder and looked at me with her brown eyes expectantly.

“I trust her,” I said, “but I don’t want to risk more than we have to. I meant what I said. This is on Walker and me to fix.”

Walker nodded. “I’m the one who has to prove myself to the High Witch and to all of you. I’m the one who screwed up.”

“While no one is denying that,” Maeve said flatly, “the consequences of your mistakes befall the entire coven.”

I had already considered our most ancient Elder’s words. I met Maeve’s vividly green gaze without flinching.

“Our coven is powerful,” I said, “and the High Witch is facing something big. Something that makes her desperate enough to recruit fugitives. I’m hoping that even if Walker and I fail, she’ll need our coven’s magic badly enough to spare them.”

“Or,” Anise said and sat back in her chair, “this is all a wild goose chase designed to humiliate the entire coven, and we’re already dead.”

Anise was lovely, despite her old age, but her face was fixed in a permanent frown that was sharpened by the harsh cut of her bob.

“Gotta love the optimism of witches,” Walker muttered.

Anise rolled her dark eyes. “It doesn’t matter anyway. How are you going to control your pet on this adventure, Heir?”

She saidHeirlike it was an insult.My anger simmered to the surface, but Walker spoke before I could.

“I’ve always done my best after getting thrown into the deep end,” Walker said and shrugged. “I can do this.”

He was bluffing, and it was such a witchy thing to do, I couldn’t help but smile.

Maybe we’ll make a witch of him after all.

“You can’t run from your power,” Gloria advised. “You must harness it. And muddying your emotions with any…entanglementswill only worsen your control. Remember that.”

As if her statement weren’t targeted enough, she looked at both of us pointedly. I wanted to squirm under her gaze. I recognized the truth in it. Walker had only lost control when Nathan had brought me into the mix. I had only broken magical covenants when Walker was involved.

Witches don’t believe in love.

I didn’t.

I just wasn’t sure what to call this thing between us or how to stop it.

???

Walker

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