Page 217 of Lady for Embers

“Who is this?” the High Witch asked, trying and failing to keep the sneer off her face as she looked over her shoulder at Razik.

“My brother,” Cassius replied tightly.

The High Witch nearly tripped over air. She was quiet for a long moment, seeming to gather herself, before she turned to face them fully. “Do you bring news?”

“We do not have time for that,” Cassius replied, stepping forward. “We came because we need your help.”

“My help?” the High Witch asked, brows shooting up.

“A few days ago we were in a ?ght in Rydeon. Sybil had a potion that nulli?ed powers. We need one that would do that to a Fae but not affect an Avonleyan.”

“For what purpose?” the High Witch asked.

“None of yours,” Cassius returned coldly.

Her ?ngers twitched at her sides, but other than that, the High Witch had no reaction. “It is rumored my sister has met her end.”

“She has,” Cassius con?rmed. “At the hands of a mortal male.”

Again her ?ngers twitched, a brief glimpse of shock skating across her features, before they were hard once more. “Good. Come with me.”

She turned, leading them through her home, and Cyrus couldn’t help but notice there was no one else present. Did she live in this giant castle by herself ? That protective of her privacy and secrets?

They followed her down several halls before they entered some kind of storeroom. There was no other way to describe the room they were in. Shelves lined the walls and freestanding shelves were throughout the room. It was like being in a library only with vials instead of books.

“What are all these?” Cyrus asked, forgetting he was in the presence of the High Witch. Surprisingly, she answered him.

“Do you think we have not been preparing for war as you have been?” the High Witch demanded.

“These are all for battle?” Razik asked. “Impressive.”

“I do not require the approval of a male,” she snapped. She came to a stop beside some shelves lined with vials that held grey liquid. Pulling one from the shelf, she held it out to Cassius. “Add your blood and his to it. When you use it, throw it to the ground to enact the spell.”

“It will work on Talwyn?” Cassius asked.

“This one will, with your blood added to it,” the High Witch replied. “You are as much Witch as you are Sargon.”

Cassius glared back at her. “One wanted me and one didn’t. Forgive me for embracing the half of me that did.”

“You are both, whether you embrace it or not. It would be stupid not to master all parts of you with war on the horizon.”

“She is not wrong,” Razik said, perusing the other vials on the shelves.

“No one asked you,” Cassius bit out, slipping the vial into his pocket.

“What else do you need?” the High Witch asked.

“Some place to stay until nightfall,” Cassius answered. “You may stay here. No one will bother you.”

Cassius nodded. “Can we take two? Just in case?”

“You can take whatever you need,” the High Witch answered.

“This is all I need.”

Hazel nodded curtly, gesturing for them to follow her back out of the storeroom. They went down two more passages before she pushed open the doors to a large dining area. “I will have some food prepared. So you can eat before you do whatever it is you are here to do this evening.”

She was gone a moment later, the doors thudding shut behind her. “So that was your mother,” Razik commented a heartbeat later.

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