Page 40 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

I continued to hesitate, and Freya sighed.

“I think I was wrong before,” she admitted. “You shouldn't isolate your emotions from your magic—you should trust your heart to guide it.”

"Did Freya Redfern really just admit to being wrong?" I teased.

She shook her head. "I'm serious. All you ever do is fight to protect people. Trust your magic to act as an extension of that desire."

Sobering, I mulled over her words. Though trusting my power frightened me, nothing else had worked.

It was time to sink or swim.

Literally.

In the forest, I had wanted to navigate the darkness more easily, and my magic had responded as naturally as breathing. It had actually been a relief not to hold my power at bay and allow the pleasant buzz of it to heat my veins.

I studied the swirling wind at my feet and how it kept the dark water from touching us. Loosening the last of my restraint, I placed my foot in front of the other and willed my magic to steady my step. Warmth spread through my limbs, and at my back, air supported my body. I successfully got to the edge of Freya’s pocket of wind and grinned.

“Did you do that?” I asked.

“Nope,” Freya said and walked to my side.

As we strode farther into the pond, water swelled around us, but our pocket of air remained strong. I took slow, measured steps, but my magic continued to support me.

“I’ll admit,” I said, “this is pretty cool.”

“Wow,” Freya answered and chuckled. “Does that mean we’re as impressive as the trolls?”

Water swelled around us, and we were almost completely submerged.

“Shouldn’t you be focusing?” I argued.

As the pond closed in on us, some of my nerves returned. The moon’s glow was almost completely masked by the murky water, and everything was dark except for something shimmering far beneath us. With a chill, I realized the tiny, orange and yellow balls of light resembled embers.

Freya raised her hand to her waist, then slowly lowered it, and our DIY submarine mirrored the movement. Down and down and down, we sank. My unease grew, and my magic burned hotter. I clamped down on my control, and the balance it had provided abandoned me. I tumbled forward, but Freya caught the collar of my jacket, and our plunge halted.

“Walker!” she hissed.

Unwilling to pull her down with me, I reached for my magic again, and it righted me with a push of air. I swallowed.

“Trust it,” Freya insisted.

Eyeing me, she raised her hand again and lowered it. As we sank deeper and deeper, I continued to grow more on edge, which put my magic on high alert.

Trust it,I thought.Trust yourself.

I had always prided myself on being dependable. Freya had told me countless times my magic was an extension of myself. If that were true, wouldn’t that make my magic trustworthy?

There was only one way to find out.

Despite the growing heat in my veins, I didn’t clamp down on my magic. I allowed it to buzz under my skin and loosened the reins on my control even more.

It’s an extension of me, it’s an extension of me, it’s an extension of me…

As we descended deeper and deeper, the moon’s glow faded to a distant speck. The orange and red light glowed brighter beneath us. My magic remained simmering beneath thesurface but firmly under control. I breathed a sigh of relief, but a different wariness quickly plagued me.

“This is the deepest pond I’ve ever seen,” I said.

“Have you been to the bottoms of many of them?” Freya retorted.

---