Page 149 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

I had been a coward and a fool to think otherwise.

Cordelia had thought herself clever by crafting cuffs that allowed our shared magic to flow, but without her to guide it, I commandeered the Anchor bond and sent some of its power to Walker. The rest of our combined magic simmered in my blood and buzzed in my ears. I hadn’t salvaged a lot, but I had salvaged enough.

It would have to be enough.

“Stop the chimera!”Cordelia demanded.

Alongside his mate in his enormous wolf form, Ryder ripped through guards and held back Handmaidens. His dominance thickened the air and slowed the enemy witches. Cady rushed to her brother and freed him from his cuffs with a key she had apparently managed to steal.

Smart witch.

She was too smart to die in this far away world.

Cordelia launched wind at the Reids, but the Entombment attempt had weakened her. While his sister shielded them with impenetrable stone, Walker countered the High Witch’s attack with a wicked bolt of lightning.

I smiled and did the thing that had gotten us into this mess.

I crafted a lie.

It was the simplest of spells and the easiest of illusions. I couldn’t heal myself and Arion with the power I had left, but this spell could be performed with the remnants of magic I gripped.

I astrally projected myself to stand in front of Walker.

Though I didn’t have enough power left to project myself to the entirety of the room, I held onto enough to trick my friends.

“You don’t know what you’ve done!” Cordelia shrieked.

She wasn’t wrong. As Elle tore through guards and Handmaidens with Ryder at her side, she was a force to be reckoned with. I couldn’t, however, worry about that now.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said and sent my projection barreling forward before Walker could study it for long enough to notice its flaws.

Like I knew he would, Walker followed me into battle.

???

Walker

Only Freya could’ve found a way to free herself and heal so quickly. High on the return of my magic and the rush of hope, I raced after Freya through the frenzy. Guards and Handmaidens reached for us, but my lightning and Cady’s magic kept them at bay. Freya must have scared the snot out of theHandmaidens she faced earlier because none of them lunged for her.

“Arion,” Freya said and nodded toward the trapped familiar. “Can you blast the cuffs off with your lightning?”

Before I could ask her why she didn’t free him herself, she disappeared into the fray of battle.

“I’ll hold them off,” Cady promised.

“Easy, buddy,” I said and approached Arion.

The familiar was especially fearsome in this form, but his amber eyes were dulled by pain. I patted an uninjured patch of fur on his shoulder and studied his collar. It was so tight, there was no way to melt it off without electrocuting his skin, but Freya wouldn’t have trusted me with this task if there wasn’t a way for me to complete it.

I laid my hand on the collar and sent a tentative jolt of lightning, but my nerves were too frazzled, and it packed far more of a punch than I intended. Terrified I had just killed Freya’s beloved creature, I drew my hand back.

Arion peered down at me and nudged my shoulder with his big head, as if to tell me to keep going.

“You’re immune to lightning,” I realized.

Of course.He travels with lightning speed.

I stared into Arion’s big eyes and found a mirror of my own rage.

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