Page 46 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

I just had to figure it out.

The troll swiped the ember from my hand. His rough skin scratched my palm, but it was the immensity of his earth magic that had me quickly stepping away. The weight of it pressed against me and cast another shiver down my spine.

Arion meowed, and I met his yellow-eyed stare. The trolls were distracted by the "ember." Each of them passed it around with the care one would take in holding a newborn. I wanted to understand why they wanted it so badly, but when the green-haired one glared, I snapped my agape mouth shut and hurried back to camp.

As Arion and I trekked back to the other side of the pond—giving the horrific waters wide berth—I turned the trolls’ hint over and over in my mind. I couldn’t afford to forget a single word after all we’d gone through to receive the clues.

Before our quaint campfire even came into view, Walker’s and Cadence’s snores bounced off the trees. When I reached them, Ryder sat at the campfire, and a thick ham sandwich was stacked on a paper plate beside him. My stomach growled.

“I was giving you two more minutes,” he said and glanced at the sandwich. “Then this was going to be mine.”

I snorted. “I’ve got to grab my phone, but if that sandwich isn’t still there once I turn back around, Cadence is going to have a new fur to add to her sleeping bag.”

My duffel sat beside the tent. I grabbed the small, touch-screen device and tried to find the Notes app. When the icon continued to hide from me, I cursed.

Ryder snickered. “Let me see it.”

“I don’t need your help,” I sniped. Heat crept up my neck.

“Frey. You’re a witch—it would be more shameful if you actually knew how to use technology.”

Though I knew he placated me, it didn’t stop his efforts from working. I half-tossed the cursed thing at him and grabbed the sandwich. It was filled with store-bought ingredients, but I was too hungry to care. I might’ve moaned a little as I bit into it. Some of the snores hiccupped from inside the tent, and I quieted.

When Ryder found the app for me, I regretfully paused my inhalation of my meal to frantically type out the trolls’ words.

I finished my sandwich and wandered back to my duffel bag to get a change of dry clothes. The fire’s warmth had chased away some of the chill, but I was sick of smelling like a swamp. I took off my jacket, then hesitated.

“I’ll take the first watch,” I told Ryder.

He looked me up and down. “Really, Frey? It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

I crossed my arms and glared.

He swung his leg over the log he sat on and sighed. “I won’t look, I promise, but Iamtaking the first watch. I’m not the one who fought underwater snakes or faced off trolls. Get some sleep.”

For a moment, I got a glimpse of the boy who used to be my best friend—before we’d ruined it with hasty make-outs and teenage hormones.

Before I used him in the way witches are taught to use men.

As I changed clothes and climbed into my tent, I shook off the thought. I burrowed into my sleeping bag and assuaged my mind the same way I did every night.

I pictured Mom’s face. I imagined her mixing spells and meals in the kitchen. I thought of her telling me stories about her acolytes’ latest mishaps, then chiding me for laughing, all while mischief danced in her eyes. I pictured that she was here.

This sort of wish was a bruise to my very soul, but I couldn’t help but indulge myself by pressing it. It was the only thing that soothed me.

I pretended Mom was still alive, and I drifted to sleep.

Chapter Fourteen

Walker

Irolled my shoulders and squinted against the sunlight, which streamed in through the windshield. I gripped the steering wheel and shook myself awake. In the hours I had driven, I had turned the trolls’ words over and over in my mind, but I still couldn’t make much sense of them.

“Witches and wars,” Ryder repeated. “I mean, that could explain why the High Witch has been busy? Maybe there’s a civil war brewing?”

I nodded. “And maybe the chimera will act as some kind of weapon to help her win.”

In the rearview mirror, I watched Freya shake her head. “If a war is on the horizon, my coven—large, powerful, and influential—hasn’t been recruited by either side to act as an ally.”

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