Page 20 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

What they want.

Iwantedto go back in time before Cordelia had ever appeared. I wanted to go back before I had the fate of a coven and a cowboy resting on my shoulders. I wanted my mother back, and I wanted to forget Josephine’s betrayal.

Wanting didn’t get me very far.

Chapter Six

Walker

“ABlood Oath?” I asked. Nerves shook my voice. “Like a blood-binding?”

Cordelia smirked, and Freya took my clammy hand in hers. I hated the High Witch, but I hated my own weakness more. The more I tried to stop the memories of Josephine’s cruel smile and the unholy fire of the Bloodblade’s magic, the more the memories fought to freeze me in fear.

The blood-binding promise I made with Josephine had allowed me to save Freya and my family.

It had also nearly cost me my life.

I wasn’t eager to entrap myself in another promise to a power-mongering witch.

“It’s like a blood-binding,” Freya agreed, “but only the High Witch can make a Blood Oath. It’s a promise bound not only in blood, but also by the High Court of Witches. It’s a promise bound by our most powerful laws.”

I swallowed.

“Exactly,” Cordelia purred. “It’s an offer many do not receive.”

It’s your only chance to save yourself and everyone you love.

For a moment, I was grateful Cordelia had finally shown herself. Though fear made my heart race, my magic was blessedly out of reach.

I’ll learn to control it on my own,I vowed to myself.I have to.

“What happens if we break our oath?”

The question tumbled from my lips before I could stop it. Cordelia’s expression darkened. She drew closer, until her breath fanned across my face as she spoke.

“Your blood will turn to poison in your veins,” she whispered, “and you’ll die a very slow and painful death, thus leaving your precious sister defenseless against the High Court’s wrath.”

Cordelia stepped back, and I took a deep breath.

“Well,” I said, “I guess we won’t break it then.”

Cordelia grinned. “I do hope not.”

While Cordelia and Freya argued about the semantics of the oath, I tried to focus, but one thought eclipsed everything. If I couldn’t control my magic, I would get not only myself killed, but Freya, Cadence, and the entirety of the Coven of Hecate too.

Cordelia’s voice brought me back to the present. “It’s settled then.”

With a wave of her hands, the High Witch summoned a small, decorative dagger and sliced her palm. Dark red blood poured out of the wound, and the sickly-sweet scent of her power became overwhelming. As Cordelia wiped the blade clean with a handkerchief pulled from the hidden pocket of her full skirt, I wrinkled my nose but took the dagger she offered. Its midnight blue handle was ornately carved and cool to the touch.

Cursing under my breath, I cut my palm. My skin caved easily under the wickedly sharp blade, and crimson blood pooledin my hand. Pain radiated from the wound, but I gritted my teeth and ignored it. It would be the least of what we faced. After wiping the blade off on my jeans, I handed the dagger to Freya. Without flinching, she slashed her own palm.

“By blood and by honor,” Cordelia said. Influenced by the spell she crafted, her voice rang louder. “By the righteousness of the High Court of Witches, I bind Freya Redfern and Walker Reid of the Coven of Hecate, and I, High Witch Cordelia of the High Court in the following agreement…”

The blood in my palm burned. Beside me, Freya hissed in pain. As my wound sealed shut, Cordelia’s magic made my blood glow and move on its own accord. Like its own beast, my blood slithered off my palm and into the grass, where it congealed with Freya’s and Cordelia’s blood.

Just like the last time I had made a blood-binding promise, dread sank my stomach, even worse than it had when I had faced Josephine. This time, I wasn’t bound to merely duel a witch.

I was bound to hand over someone I had never met to the most fearsome witch in existence.

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