Page 22 of Midwinter Night's Prince

To her surprise, she felt his heat. His touch.

“You have a good familiar here. He protected you from the otherworld.”

The otherworld? And wait. Velvet was her familiar?

Part of Blair accepted it right away. Of course he was. She should have thought of it immediately. The only reason she hadn’t was it was rare animals took to witches these days; it only happened to great, legendary witches, like her cousin Michelle White. Blair was far from powerful or consequential. She was just…Blair. Merely adequate at most spells. A future professor. How did the saying go again, “those who can’t do, teach”?

And yet, Velvet chose her, and protected her even as she laid still on the ground.

“What happened to me?”

Seth’s gaze snapped to hers, confused. Then his expression cleared up. “Ah—your familiar anchors you to this world. I can hear you now.”

She sighed in relief. “Well? Any ideas?”

Seth was the epitome of a know-it-all. Surely he knew what was going on.

“The otherworld attempted to lure you in. Your friend here prevented it—but your mind was already ready to follow. It split your mind and body apart. Which isn’t helpful to me. My soul is in your body.”

Of course, he brought the matter back to the one subject he cared about: himself.

Blair shrugged. “Get it out, then. Take it back.”

“You know I can’t do that. Not while Aveka’s spell is still working on me.”

“Hasn’t it occurred to you that you could ask for help undoing her spells, rather than condemning both of us to this stupid cycle? You chase me, catch me, and have to save me again and again.”

“You think you could undo the spell?” Seth tilted his head, looking unbearably smug.

“Notme. But there are plenty of excellent witches in Oldcrest. They can help us.”

“They might potentially be able to help,” he admitted, somewhat reluctantly. “And while we’re there, Aveka could summon me, demand I destroy the border, and kill everyone inside.”

Blair sucked her lip in. “You don’t know my friends like I do. Greer—”

“I don’t trust anyone—not with this. My sister is in Oldcrest. I’m not risking her life on a hunch.”

“Well, you’re trustingmeto protect your selfish ass,” Blair reminded him. “Trust me when I tell you my friends can help, if you let them.”

Seth stared at her without speaking, but she could see he’d made his mind up.

Egocentric asshole.

“Cat could get out of Oldcrest. Ask her—”

“She won’t abandon her friends when she believes they need help. Sentimental, I know, but not everyone is perfect.”

“Just you, right?” Blair rolled her eyes.

“I’m glad we understand each other.”

“I can’t run forever. I’m going to break. Hell, look at me!” She pointed to the corpse-like figure that hadn’t moved an inch.

Seth sighed. “Plenty of witches send their consciousness away from their physical forms from time to time. Lie back down on your body—you’ll wake up.”

He was telling her thatnow? Blair rushed to do as he instructed, feeling utterly awkward as she knelt next to herself. The moment she laid back on the soft grass, she took a deep breath. She felt cold. Freezing, in fact. Her body had been exposed to the elements for too long, never moving. Her jacket was wet, too. Her muscles hurt as she sat up. But it didn’t matter. None of that mattered even a tiny bit. She was back. She was whole again.

She wasn’t dead.

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