Page 135 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

Quickly, Cady whispered a spell, reached her hands in front of her, and pulled herbs from seemingly thin air. Her magic hummed and echoed in the stairway, and I hoped no one else heard its song. Cady rubbed the paste into the mangled remains of Ryder’s arms, and he hissed but remained still. Though I watched her closely in case she needed help, in minutes, she rubbed the herbs off Ryder’s arm and revealed knitted flesh.

“You didn’t even leave a scar,” I whispered in amazement.

Cady grinned, and Walker fist-bumped her.

“Thanks, kid,” Ryder said and ruffled her hair. “But it’s time to go.”

I nodded. As Walker pulled the door, we hid in the narrow space behind it. My body singing with magic and adrenaline, I braced myself.

No one was there.

We faced a dining hall from the medieval era. Lanterns hung over well-worn tables, some of which were littered with uneaten food. Across the stone-paved space, there was a bar anda swinging door that I suspected led to a kitchen. Ale and piss and body odor stung my nostrils.

Something skittered, and I tensed. Walker reached for his sword, but Cady laid a hand on his arm.

“Look,” she told him.

A rat scurried across the room.

I released my breath and stepped forward. I studied the still steaming porridge abandoned on the nearest table and frowned.

“Something’s not right,” I said.

I cast out a magical net of awareness. Magic of all kinds oozed from the court’s very walls, but a flicker of familiar, chaotic power caught my attention. My heart squeezed.

“Arion,” I whispered.

He was so far away, but he wasscared.I had never sensed his fear before.

I have to get to him.

I raced for the nearest hallway, but Walker caught me around the waist. Without thinking, I elbowed his ribs. He coughed but didn’t let go.

“Think,” he rasped into my ear. “If you race after him, you’ll be surrounded in seconds. Clearly, he’s drawn everyone in this godforsaken place to him. Let’s use that to our advantage and move with stealth. Think it through.”

I didn’t want to think. I wanted to get to my familiar. I wanted tosavehim. I wanted to ride out of this place with him and cuddle his fur until the end of time.

Think.

I swallowed. “Okay. Okay, you can let go. I won’t do anything stupid.”

I couldn’t jeopardize his safety or ours by letting my emotions guide me. I slipped back into that calm place where certainty and instinct collided.

Walker released me.

“Elle is upstairs,” Ryder said. “Many, many levels up. I can sense it.”

“There must be another staircase then,” Cady said. She studied the outdated dining hall with a frown. “It’s too much to hope for an elevator, right?”

If Arion’s panic didn’t haunt the back of my mind, I would’ve laughed.

Across the room, two hallways branched off from the dining area. I couldn’t sense which direction would be faster to get to Arion or Elle. I only knew they were up.

“This one,” Ryder said and went to the left.

I wondered if he based his choice on wolfish instincts or a gut feeling, but I followed him regardless of the answer.

We walked down a narrow, dimly lit hall that wasn’t so different from the one in the dungeon. Rooms lined it instead of cells, but a few of the doors had been left ajar. I peeked inside and spotted a couple dingy cots, a single chest of drawers, and a lone lantern in each. The sheets were ratty at best and in pieces at worst. Judging by the fact we had yet to see a window, we were still underground.

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