Page 71 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

I squared my shoulders. “It’s like riding a bike.”

“Good,” she said, “you’re going to need them to wrangle a kelpie.”

“A what?” I repeated.

“You’re crazy,” Ryder argued.

“It’s a magical horse of the sea,” Cady explained. She chewed on her bottom lip. “But they’re dangerous. Like, man-eating, soul-stealing kind of dangerous.”

“They are,” Freya agreed, “but they’re almost as fast as Arion.”

“And how does one go about catching them?” I asked.

“We’ll need a bridle and reins.” Freya searched the dock, as if a fisherman would have one handy. She spotted something past my shoulder and stalked toward it. “Cover me.”

Freya crouched beside a heap of chain left next to an empty spot on the dock. “Ryder, go find me some strong rope.”

“So bossy,” Ryder muttered but did as she asked.

As Freya whispered a spell, I faced the ocean as if I were admiring it and blocked her from the fisherman’s line of sight. Fire flickered to life in Freya’s palms, and she melted a piece of the thick chain into a snaffle bit. Beside me, Cadence gasped.

“Damn,” I whispered in awe.

The snaffle bit glowed with heat, so Freya hung over the dock and dunked it into the water. It sizzled, but when she raised it out of the water, I admired her handiwork. Ryder returned to us with a handful of thick, white rope.

Soon enough, Freya had finagled a bridle and reins out of rope and chain. It certainly wasn’t the prettiest tack I had ever seen, but it would hold.

I hoped.

As Freya handed it to me, she frowned.

“I wish I could be the one to do this,” she said. I interrupted and brushed a hand against her cheek.

“No one else can keep Arion in check in his fastest form,” I said. I couldn’t hold back my cocky smirk. “And no one else can breathe underwater.”

“He’s developed one skill,” Cady muttered, “and he is sure as heck never going to let us forget about it.”

We chuckled, but the tension quickly returned to the moment. We stood on the precipice of capturing our ticket to salvation, and all that stood between us was my ability to ridean underwater horse. Though I had told Freya my cowboy skills were ones I would never forget, I remembered the fear in Jesse’s eyes when my magic had gotten out of control and wondered if I had spoken the truth.

There’s only one way to find out.

I crossed my arms. “Tell me what to do.”

“There will be kelpies near the docks,” Freya explained. “They’re drawn to hubs of potent magic, but you’ll need to swim pretty deep.”

“What if I find a shark instead?” I asked.

Freya rolled her eyes. “Then attack it with your Sol sword and keep searching for the kelpies.”

“You have lightning in your veins,” Cady implored and hugged me. I hugged her back fiercely. “Don’t forget it.”

“Exactly,” Freya agreed. “When you find the kelpies, bridle one of them, and it’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

“Just be specific,” Cady warned, “say you want it to take you to the chimera, not to meet up with us, because the bridle will only hold for one journey.”

“How does that work?” I couldn’t help but wonder.

“Must we stop and explain everything to you?” Ryder complained.

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