Page 43 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

I attempted to stand and considered I shouldn’t have gotten ahead of myself. My legs had only been scraped by the creature’s teeth, given that it wasn’t able to clamp down on me, but the serpent had gone limp. Inside its mouth, blackness eclipsed my vision. I quickly shut my eyes when something hot burned them—probably its blood.

I tried and failed to heave its body off me. My lungs ached with the need to breathe, but the water around me was so saturated in blood, I wasn’t sure I would be able to summon more air.

Suddenly, wind wrapped itself around me and pulled me out of the serpent’s jaws. Freya blasted the creature with air, andit was launched into the dark water. Freya lost control of her bubble and was forced to swim.

With air filling her cheeks, she gestured for me to follow her and frantically swam to the top. I sheathed my sword, checked my pockets, and followed her. Despite her head-start, I easily caught up. Freya was fast, but my reach was much longer.

As we swam higher and higher, I wanted to ask if she knew how to breathe underwater, but it was becoming more and more apparent that she didn’t. There was desperation in the way she swam toward the dim moonlight.

Finally, we reached crested the pond, and Freya took heaving breaths. When she noticed my easy breathing, she frowned.

“You’re showing me how to do that,” she demanded.

I laughed. “I don’t know. I think I like having something over you for once.”

She rolled her eyes and swam toward the nearby bank. Sand brushed against my feet, and I stood. The depths of the pond confused me, but now wasn’t the time to consider it. I was ready to get out of the damn water. Ryder approached from the tree line, but I was too exhausted to summon a greeting.

Having reached the bank, Freya turned back and frowned. “You’re bleeding—”

Something sharp clamped down on my leg, and my body snapped backward. The water hit my back like a slap, and down, down, down, I went.

???

Freya

One moment, Walker was there, and the next, he was gone. I raced toward the water, but strong arms held me back.

“Let me go.”

I seethed and thrashed, but Ryder’s hold was unbreakable. Arion hissed and paced but made no move to help free me.

The murky waters suddenly came alive with brilliant streaks of blue light.

“You wanna get fried?” Ryder said. “Think the cowboy could live with himself, then?”

As the fight drained out of me, paralyzing fear replaced it.

I couldn’t get to him.

“Walker!” Cadence screamed.

She barreled out of the trees with tears streaming down her face. As another streak of lightning arced across the water, I prepared myself to stop her, but Cadence drew short.

“He’ll be okay,” I said and willed it to be true.

???

Walker

Growing up, I always wanted a hot tub or one of those fancy heated pools.

That dream was dead.

At first, I thought the serpent I killed had magically come back to life, but this one was slightly smaller. Its skin was more green than black, and its horns were more finely pointed. Judging by the rage that shook its body, this was the other one’s girlfriend.

I tried to reach for my sword, but we moved too quickly through the water. Left and right, the serpent thrashed. My bodysnapped in different directions, and in the darkness, my head swam with disorientation. The blood loss wasn’t helping either. A dark realization hit.

This thing was going to kill me by tossing me around like a ragdoll.

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