Page 127 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

Walker rubbed his thumb against the rust and revealed a symbol. A moon with a single lily sprouting in front of it was etched onto the back of the lock.

“That’s the Moonflower crest,” I said.

“So this lock was added after Gwendolyn Moonflower joined the family,” Walker said.

I nodded. “She wouldn’t have left this just to leave her signature, though. This is a clue. I can feel it.”

When it hit me, I gasped.

“Cady!” I called.

She rose from where she had crouched at Ryder’s side. After helping him to his feet, she and Ryder hurried to us.

“I don’t think there’s a physical key to the lock,” I explained in a rush. “I think Cadyisthe key. She’s the Moonflower witch named in your family’s curse. I think her earth magic can unlock this door.”

Not to mention, she’s supposedly thekeyto stopping the sorceress.

Cady reached for the lock.

“Wait,” Walker said. Cadence glowered. “Shouldn’t we bring back-up before we ambush the High Witch guns-blazing?”

I nodded. “We’re only going to see if the ripple is in here. When we figure out if we’re right, we’ll bring a crew of witches and wolves to help us or at least to be witnesses. Maybe with the Elders at my side, Cordelia will hesitate to strike us down.”

Maybe.

“She’ll hesitate to kill wolves,” Ryder said. “Once the Sovereign learns Elle is my mate, Cordelia will be forced not to harm her. My father is already working on getting in touch with him.”

“Okay,” Walker conceded. He ruffled his sister’s hair. “Give it your best, Cady-Cat.”

Cadence picked up the lock. Vines—flowery and delicate, unlike the awful things that had covered Clyde—coiled from her fingers and joined at the lock’s keyhole. When the vines filled the keyhole, the lock clicked open, and the bolt slid free. As the door swung open, Walker grabbed his sister and pulled her back.

Arion scratched at my legs, but magic overwhelmed my senses. It pounded so loudly, my eardrums hurt, and my chest rattled. Colors and light and shadows swirled like a kaleidoscope before us. The scents of burning wood and rotting earth and the freshness of rain filled my nostrils. Magic raised the hair on the back of my neck and simmered in my veins.

I had always found portals to be an attack on the senses, but this was a siege.

I reached for the door with the intention of slamming it shut, but an ungodly vacuum of power pulled me forward. My boots slid across the concrete. I grabbed the doorway, but my grip wasn’t strong enough to save me from the funnel of power. Around me, my friends suffered the same fate. I tried to scream, but I couldn’t open my mouth.

I couldn’tbreathe.

As we were sucked into the ripple, all I could do was pray to the Goddess for mercy.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Walker

Time stretched and bent me to its will. I screamed, but I couldn’t hear myself over the cacophony of howling wind, pelting rain, and roaring flames. I searched for Cady and Freya, but all I found was a swirl of colors, shadows, light, and darkness. I couldn’t even recognize my own body, much less feel it. I was being stretched and shrunken and tossed and held.

After an ungodly, immeasurable stretch of seconds or minutes or hours, it was over.

I landed on rough stone with anoomph.

My whole body ached, but the pain in my nose was sharp. Hot blood poured from it, but I couldn’t find the energy to raise my head. It dripped down my face in warm, sticky rivulets. I closed my eyes and succumbed to the pain.

Eventually, alertness trickled back into my body. Scuffles and labored breaths caught my attention, and thehowof it all rushed back to me.

Oh God,I thought.Cady, Freya—

“Walker?” a small, familiar voice asked.

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