Page 10 of The Witch and The Blood Oath

Maybe that’s just how she looks talking to me.

“Your sister is making progress in leaps and bounds,” Azula said. “You could learn something from her.”

I smiled tightly and gripped Cady’s hand. As we walked back to the apartments, my sister waved goodbye to her many friends, and I tried to shake off Azula’s words. It wasn’t like I could actually train with the other witches. Not only would it be creepy for an almost-twenty-year-old guy to train with them, but the young witches’ mothers would have fits over their daughters being exposed to theanomalythat was me.

I couldn’t blame them. Every time I tried to summon my magic, it didn’t come, and every time I stifled it, it fought me tooth and nail.

“Walker?” Cady said.

I snapped out of my reverie. “Sorry. What was that?”

“Oh, nothing,” she said, “I just learned a new trick today. That’s all.”

Of course, you did.“Really? What?”

Cadence grinned and freed her hand from mine. She closed her eyes, and magic tunneled toward and radiated from her. Cady communicated with magic like an old friend. She whispered a spell under her breath. The next second, a pink swirl of light appeared before her. She jumped into it and was gone.

As panic surged in my heart, my magic flooded my system, but Cady reappeared twenty feet ahead of me, next to the damn fountain. She leaped into existence but fell in a heap. I rushed to her side.

“Cady?” Her body shook on the ground. “Where are you hurt?”

As she rolled over, I realized it was laughter that she shook with, not sobs. I sighed in relief and ran a hand over my tired face. My sister reached out, and I helped her to her feet, not that she needed my help.

She rarely did these days.

“So, you can portal now?” I asked.

Cady nodded and couldn’t contain her smile. It was incredible to see her so happy. She didn’t complain about her witch history, math, or language classes. She’d made at least a dozen friends. Every time she used her magic, her face lit up like someone seeing the sun for the first time.

Never before had she been this content. She certainly hadn’t been when her whole world was just her hapless brother and her drunkard father.

Now, Dad and I were just two stones weighing her down.

As my sister skipped down the cobblestones, I vowed not to completely sink her joy. I would do whatever it took to keep that from happening.

Chapter Four

Freya

“You’re a very capable witch, Freya,” Gloria said.

I snapped my mouth shut. That was not how I anticipated this conversation beginning. A small, smug grin tugged at Gloria’s plum-colored lips. She placed a hand on the broad curve of her hip. We stood under the gazebo, and shadows danced between us. As the night grew colder, I wanted to crawl into my cozy bed, but if Gloria wanted to talk, there was only one thing to do—listen.

“See?” she teased. “I can be kind. I amtryingto be kind to you. I just…I can’t watch you throw your future away over a boy.”

I growled in frustration. “Because I kiss a boy, he’s going to ruin me? When did we become so prudish?”

“Kissing is fine,” Gloria snapped. “Letting him make a mess with his magic—the magic you helped give him—is not. You’re being blinded by your heart. How can you not recognize that after what we experienced?”

As flashes of the battle came back to me, tears burned my eyes. I refused to let them fall and swallowed the lump in my throat. When I was certain my voice would be steady, I spoke.

“I am not her.” I took a step closer to the Elder. “I amnotJosephine.”

“No,” Gloria agreed. “You are not. Your experiment was a success, but it won’t be for long unless you get his magic under control. Don’t you see how he suffers? Don’t you see his deterioration?”

“If he’s so out of control,” I argued, “why hasn’t the High Witch come down to smite him?”

“Maybe she sees what I see,” Gloria spoke calmly.So goddessdamned calmly. “He’s already on the path to destroying himself.”

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