Page 49 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

With the dagger hidden in my combat boot, I lunged. The cowardly giant dragged Walker by the neck and used him as a shield. Walker was half-limp, presumably because of the injection still hanging out of his neck. Fast as a snake, I grabbed the injection and yanked it out of Walker’s skin. The needle was longer than I had anticipated, and blood spurted from the wound.

Walker’s magic, however, flourished in the needle’s absence. It raised the hairs on the back of my neck and made my magic thrum even louder in response. As lightning crackled over the cowboy’s body, the Ranger yelped and stepped back.

Ryder and Arion circled the other Ranger. What should’ve been an easy kill had left them both bloody, though I couldn’t spot any lethal wounds. Doll Man was quick as an asp and wielded two silver blades. His badge blazed with protection spells. Beyond them, Cadence lay so very still.

“Freya,” Walker said. Lightning still danced on his skin. “I can’t touch her.” His voice broke on the final word.

I nodded and looked at the large Ranger, who was shaking himself back to life after the shock Walker had given him. “Hold him off.”

Drawing his gun with inhuman quickness, the larger Ranger pointed the pistol at us. A gunshot boomed, but before itcould even hit the forcefield of air I projected, it was shot down by a dart of blue lightning and sizzled out of existence.

Damn,I thought. In any other scenario, I might’ve congratulated the cowboy…or ogled him. Instead, I darted around the brawl and rushed to Cadence’s side. Her life force was still there, though muted, and her magic was snuffed out. When I crouched beside her, I noticed the small patch of blood on the back of her scalp and grimaced.

Though everything in me screamed to seek revenge on the monsters who would launch a sneak-attack on such a young witch, I instead ran a hand down Cadence’s back in an effort to comfort her. She groaned but did not open her eyes.

“Let’s get these cuffs off,” I said, “and make them pay.”

Careful not to strain her shoulder, I barely lifted Cady’s hands and gritted my teeth at the soul-sucking cold of the cuffs. These were more powerful than the standard ones used by my coven for punishments. They were not meant as temporary bonds, but permanent ones.

Why wouldn’t they just kill her?

The answer boiled my blood.

Someone had to conjure the protection spells the Rangers used to defend themselves from us. Given her young age, they had probably assumed Cadence would be an easy witch to control. They had planned to capture her, force her to design the spells they wanted, and discard her.

“They don’t know you very well,” I told the unconscious witch.

Desperate to free her, I tried an unlocking spell, but it was as if I did nothing at all. The cuffs were entirely immune to magic.

Behind me, feet stomped across the dusty ground, and male snarls filled the air. I twisted to study the two hunters and found what I sought. Clipped to Doll Man’s belt were a large ringof keys. I cast out my magic and sensed a distinctly cold, energy-sucking key among the normal ones. I tried to bring the key ring to me with a gust of wind, but the key was just as immune to magic as the cuffs.

It was not, however, immune to a werewolf’s teeth.

Ryder faked left then lunged for the key ring, tore if off the Ranger’s belt, and tossed it to me. I stood and caught it, but my relief was short-lived when a shot clanged through the air, and Ryder fell to the ground.

When the giant wolf’s amber eyes closed, my chest cleaved. The Ranger grinned wickedly and pointed his gun at Arion, but my familiar darted out of the way. With the big cat distracted, the Ranger pointed the pistol straight at the wolf’s head.

“Sorry, doggo,” the Ranger drawled. “This isn’t a no-kill shelter.”

I rallied my magic to burn the Ranger into oblivion, but before my flames could reach him, Ryder snapped back to life.

With a roar, he raised his head and closed his maw around Doll Man’s arm. Like a dog tearing up a chew toy, he ripped the Ranger’s appendage clean off. The gun flew through the air along with the Ranger’s arm. As Arion rushed to finish the screaming, bloody Ranger off, I was distracted by the rumble of approaching motorcycles.

Time to get the goddessdamned hell out of here.

I crouched beside Cady once more and snagged the ancient, chilling key out of the assortment on the key ring. As I unlocked the cuffs, Cady’s magic shimmered back to life, and she found the strength to sit up.

Cadence blinked rapidly, clearly trying to clear the cobwebs of her injured head. When her gaze locked on her brother, who leaped out of the way of an onslaught of throwing stars, her shimmering magic became an echoing thrum. BeforeI could stop her, she summoned a swirling, pink Portal and appeared at Walker’s side.

Chapter Fifteen

Walker

Earthen walls of soil so dense they were practically concrete closed in on the Ranger who faced me and squeezed him like a vice. Without looking beside me, I knew who was responsible for those walls.

Cady.

For once, I was relieved to see her leap into battle—it meant she was okay.

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