Page 134 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

Freya

Once we removed the wards, escaping the cells was as simple as melting the locks on the doors down to nothing and stepping into the hall. Ryder’s arms—or rather, what was left of them—posed a greater problem.

Where his wrists and forearms had touched the silver bars, they were burned down to the muscle. The display of blood and flesh and tendons nauseated me. Though he trembled in pain, he remained stony faced.

“You must be healed,” I said.

I reached for Ryder. While breaking the wards should have taken its toll on me, I was far from drained. I wondered if I had used too much of Walker’s magic, but the warlock’s power crackled in the air like lightning eager to strike.

Maybe it’s this strange dimension we’ve entered,I thought.It’s granted us more power.

Ryder dodged my grasp.

“We need to get out of here,” he insisted.

Though the wounds were gruesome, he was right. We stood exposed in the stone-paved hall where anyone who entered the dungeons could see us.

“Fine,” I said.

Everyone stared at me, clearly waiting for me to offer which direction to go.

I swallowed. “Let’s move.”

I led them down the hall, toward the direction from where the vampire had gotten his blood bag simply because it was the opposite direction the Handmaiden had gone. I couldn’t bring myself to tell them I had no idea about the layout of the High Witch’s court.

No one did.

We passed rows of empty cells, and I marveled that the High Witch possessed so few prisoners.

Maybe her prisoners don’t live very long.

I shoved the unhelpful thought aside.

As Walker opened the heavy, metal door, I prayed I wasn’t leading us into a trap. The door creaked, and I cringed at the noise, but we faced a dimly lit, gloriously empty stairway. It was crafted of simple, but clean gray stones. I loosed a tiny sigh of relief and led the way.

The stairs traveled only one floor up, and I couldn’t help but feel like I was leading us into an ambush.

“I don’t actually know where I’m going,” I admitted in a rush.

“You think we don’t know that?” Ryder asked in a rough voice.

“Your poker face is not as good as you think it is,” Cady said and smiled. “We didn’t follow your lead because we thought you had a map. We trust your judgment, Coven Mother Redfern.”

“And if any of us had a better plan,” Walker piped in, “we would’ve spoken up.”

Fear and pride warred in my heart. Despite his teasing, Walker and Ryder nodded along to Cady’s sentiment.

So many lives in my hands.

I couldn’t bear to lose one of them.

No matter what it cost, I wouldn’t.

I reached for Ryder’s arm again, but Cady beat me to it. She wore a cocky smile.

“You just spent plenty energy breaking us free,” she said. “Plus, I can do decent healingandsummon my own herbs. Allow me.”

Goddess, I admired this witch. Seconds after warming my heart, she knocked me down a peg.

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