Page 65 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

Freya

Goddessdammit,I thought.I always confuse LaLaurie with Laveau.

Behind me, the door Cadence and Ryder had walked through opened, and two witches led the werewolf and witch into the room. I tensed, and pain bloomed throughout my battered body. Though Ryder was pissed, and Cadence was bewildered, neither appeared harmed.

I studied the two unknown witches, but I didn’t recognize either the bronze-skinned brunette or the blonde. The brown-haired witch’s eyes were a startling shade of turquoise, and the blonde’s ears were weighted down with dozens of silver hoops. Both of them eyed Walker like he was a zoo animal. I curled my lip at them, and they averted their gazes. Arion snaked between my legs but didn’t stiffen from a threat.

“You can put down the sword,” Marie Laveau said to Walker. “Despite your Anchor’s mix-up, my coven and I are here to help.”

Walker did not lower his sword, though his lightning wavered. “Anchor?”

I wanted to ask about the odd use of the term too, but the longer I stood, the further my strength faded.

“Whoa,” Cadence said. “You’re Marie Laveau—you’re one of the most talented healers ever. You created what is now the standard salve and spell combo for burns! Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

Marie chuckled. “My death was nothing more than a tall tale for the humans to consume. They like to visit our city for a taste of magic, but they would be frightened to learn of our true power and long lives.”

“Coven mother,” the blonde witch interrupted, “shouldn’t we be returning home?”

Marie nodded and met my gaze. She gestured to the glamoured doorway behind her.

“Come with us,” she said, not unkindly. “We can heal your wounds and offer insight I suspect you desperately seek—insight about the chimera.”

Walker’s hand grazed mine, and I met his gaze.

“Healing would be good,” he murmured.

I considered Marie’s offer. Though I had never personally met her, she was well-respected among witches for both her talent and compassion, and we were short on options. I wasn’t in any state to conjure a glamour, and we couldn’t traverse the city without drawing attention to ourselves thanks to my injuries.

“All right,” I said. “Lead the way.”

With a glare at the witches who trailed them, Ryder led Cady back to her brother’s side. Marie whispered a spell and cast a glamour over us, and we followed her outside, into the bustling city. Thanks to Marie’s magic, nobody paid any mind to the mansion or to us, and humans gravitated out of our path.

Trepidation and exhaustion weighed me, and each step I took felt like a colossal achievement. Glamours required complicated spells and more power depending on the number of people to be fooled. The glamour surrounding my coven’s apartments involved a monthly spell in which every witch’s magic helped cast it. Wearing my Emily glamour had been exhausting, and it was one of the many reasons I had loathed human high school.

Marie Laveau didn’t appear the least bit fatigued.

When we reached a grime-covered grate, the two younger witches lifted the lid, and Marie gestured for us to climb into the dank, disgusting space.

Walker grimaced. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Squeamish?” Marie taunted.

“I don’t think a sewer is the best place for Freya’s wounds,” he ground out, though I doubtedallthe disgust on his face was out of concern for me.

“I don’t think a sewer is the best place in general,” Cady added.

A breeze swept down the street and stirred the already horrific smell. I coughed to cover my gag.

“Every second we waste standing here,” Marie chided, “is another second I must maintain this glamour. I suggest you follow me before my desire to help you wanes.”

None of my friends took a step closer to the grate. We were weakened and without options, which made following Marie into the darkness even less appealing.

“How do we know it’s not a trap?” I asked.

Marie crossed her arms. Considering her age and power, I doubted she was accustomed to being questioned.

“Aside from the fact that I considered your mother one of my most respected colleagues,” she explained, “we also share a common goal. We both want the chimera apprehended. That is what you all want, right?”

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