Page 42 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

Walker grabbed several clumps of the glowing moss and stuffed it into his pockets. After grabbing one more clump, he turned around to swim back. Only twenty seconds had passed, which gave me plenty of time to ease him back into the bubble—

Something long and green and with dozens of teeth slammed into Walker and dragged him away. For a moment, my fear was so blinding that the bubble wavered. I reinforced it and stuffed down my terror.

I would find him.

I had to.

???

Walker

Countless short but sharp knives dug into my torso.

Not knives,I realized.Teeth.

The creature raced through the impossibly huge pond. Its body was well-camouflaged by the dark water, but up close and personal, I glimpsed its massive body. Small, black horns sprouted from its wide, flat head. Its feet were tiny and clawed, but its speed came from its long, thrashing body. It whipped through the water with force that jarred my wounds with each thrash.

Panic threatened to consume me, and my heart boomed. Desperate to be released, my magic roared in my ears, and my lungs ached with the need to breathe. I needed to get free.

Now.

Despite the panic pounding in my chest, I couldn’t bring myself to relinquish my control over my magic. It threatened to act out without my command, but the only thing stronger than my fear of death was the fear of my electricity going haywire while underwater with Freya. Though I couldn’t see her, she was still down here. Regardless of where we stood romantically, she would never abandon me. For once, my magic abated, as if it too couldn’t bear to hurt Freya, not even to save itself.

My lungs burned worse and worse. Pressure weighed on my chest—very soon, I would run out of air. Even if I freed myself, I was a long way from the top of the pond. I scrambled for a solution.

My mind went back to that fateful day at Nathan’s barn. Lightning and thunder had wreaked havoc on all of us, but wind had blown the storm in.

When I needed balance inside Freya’s pocket of wind, my magic had righted me with air.

Air.

I had some affinity for the element. Overwhelmed by the electricity, I had never intentionally wielded it before today. Now was as good of time as ever to give it a go. My desperate need to survive brought me back to a place I rarely thought of.

The moment just before I awoke as a witch.

It was the only time that instead of being afraid of my power, I was grateful for it. I had rejoiced in its strength and relied on it to return to the people I cared about most.

I wasn’t done here. I had a chimera to find, a sister to protect, and a witch to get back to, whether she wanted me or not.

I closed my eyes and focused on the magic singeing its way through my veins and begging to be released. I leaned into the weight on my lungs and faced my desperate need for breath head-on. I let all the magic burning through my body spread around me. I cast it like a net over the water and pulled back what I needed most—air.

I wasn’t a chemist or physicist or even a very good witch, but my body recognized the molecules I needed most and grabbed them. On a leap of faith, I took a huge breath and got a lungful of air, not water.

Thank God, I thought,or goddess or whoever.

Not wasting a second, I reached for the sword strapped to my side. I was met with resistance from the water rushing past, but my magic strengthened me. Even the wounds from the beast’s many teeth had become mere pinpricks. I unstrapped theSol Sword, gripped it like a vice, and swung at the monster that clutched me.

Though no flames sparked from the sword, it was sharp enough to make a dent in the creature’s thick, black skin. In some ear-splitting mix between a growl and a scream, it cried out. Its breath heated my skin. The creature thrashed but did not release me. I wrenched the sword out and swung again in the same spot. This time, it let me go and roared.

Over its shoulder, a flickering light caught my attention. In her bubble of air with a small flame in her hand, Freya raced toward me.

I summoned another breath of air. “Get out of here!”

I didn’t have time to see if Freya heard my garbled command. The creature lunged at me. I caught a glimpse of wickedly sharp horns, vivid green eyes, and a long, serpent-like body before I was trapped inside its huge mouth.

I crouched awkwardly in the creature’s jaws and raised my sword with both hands. As my blade tore through the monster’s soft palette, the sickening squelch would haunt me for years.

At least you’ll be alive to be haunted.

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