Page 34 of Stolen Oath
“I didn’t think she would be.” Clearing my throat, I was too afraid now to face Char in case I find judgment in her eyes. Not that I’d blame her for it. I was a horrible person for wishing to free him from his commitments, willingly accepted or not. “Was he thrilled to be free?”
I had to ask.
“I don’t know, Allie.” Char sucked in a deep breath before releasing it slowly. “He was livid when he stormed out of here, I didn’t get a chance to ask. She accused him of planning all of it, though.”
“Lovely.” Scrubbing a hand over my face I pressed the bridge of my nose to relieve the headache building there. “I’ll deal with it later and only if I must. Stay here, I’ll be right back.”
“Really, I just wanted to take a stroll first.” Char drawled and I couldn’t help the snort.
“I won’t be long.” Shaking off my hands to rid myself of the nerves, I blew out air strong enough to rustle my matted hair. “À sealladh.”Out of sight, I commanded and didn’t need a mirror to know that it worked when magic buzzed through my entire body.
Touching the door again I applied pressure and ordered it to Open. “Fosgailte.” Well aware that Char was silently watching me from behind. “I remembered everything from the night when I connected to my mother’s journal, too. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back. Let me find us a way out of here.”
“Thank you.” She told me primly. “This dusty ground is not suitable for a goddess like me.”
“I agree.” Snickering I stepped forward to pass through the door and promptly smacked my nose and forehead into solid wood hard enough to make my eyes water. “What in the stars?”
“What happened?” Char jumped to her feet. “You’ll need to make yourself visible because I have no idea how to help if I can’t see you.”
“You are still here, aren’t you?” She asked after a short pause while I kept cupping my nose and hoping I don’t end up bruised like a panda.
“Yeah.” My muffled reply had her frowning. “It didn’t work, I can’t pass through.”
The shock of my magic not working more than anything else had me releasing the spell and becoming visible. We stared at each other, Char and I, silently for a long moment, understanding the implications of that for us.
“Why do they have protections against witch magic?” A heavy feeling of trepidation dropped like a rock in my stomach. “A better question, yet, why wasn’t Angela’s father surprised he had a witch on his running grounds?”
“I don’t know and right now I don’t even care.” Char’s foot started tapping. “What I do know however, is that, the moment that door opens I’m going to melt the skin off the person’s face and we are skedaddling out of here.”
“I love the way you think, your Divine Holiness.” My attempt at bowing was poorly executed but she nodded regally nonetheless.
“Thank you, peasant, you can prostrate yourself at my feet when we get out of here.” Tossing curls over her shoulder she shuffled left and right until she found herself a perfect position. “It’s been almost a day, someone should be checking on us shortly.”
“I hope so.” The words were not yet out of my mouth when both our heads jerked to our left where the scraping sound could be heard. “Please tell me you hear that.” I whispered.
Char nodded vehemently, her corkscrews bouncing wildly around her face.
The sound came louder and stronger after a few heartbeats and we both scurried away from it toward the opposite side of the room. Something scraped over the stone or brick and it set me on edge. Not willing to chance it and let whatever or whoever it was to harm Char first I pushed her behind me although I was the shorter of the two of us. Her muttering in Italian told me she didn’t appreciate it but tough luck for her.
I had a timer ticking on my life, she didn’t. I was planning on keeping it that way. So, when she attempted to elbow her way out and stand next to me I grabbed her forearm and turned her invisible.
“À sealladh.”I finished with a growl because she pinched me as hard as she could. “Thank you would’ve worked too.” I hissed at her.
More scraping could be heard from the other side of the room and I fully expected a sea of rats to burst out of the wall and rush us. A shiver passed through me at the thought which made Char chuckle like some swamp hag. She probably though her pinch had me shivering in my pumps which by some miracle survived everything, fight and all.
We both squealed when tentacles burst from the wall, wiggling at us like some octopus on steroids. My brain was struggling through the fog muddling through it to understand what I was seeing but Char had no problem reacting. Her arm was in her tote one second and the next a glass bottle full of yellow liquid went sailing in the air.
It hit the wall with a crash and the tinkling of broken glass before exploding into a ball of fire. The angry octopus didn’t make a sound but it did wiggle its tentacles faster. What neither of us expected was the familiar voice of a man that started spitting explicatives colorful enough to ensure my face matched my hair. More thick cords burst through the wall making the house groan and I ducked instinctively as if that would save me if the roof collapsed over our heads.
“Why is it still alive?” Char shrieked in frustration clawing at my shoulder as she twisted this way and that looking up and probably expecting us to be buried alive.
“Why are you asking me? Last time I checked there was no octopus living on solid ground.”
“That’s a nice way to greet the person who’s trying to save you.” A man emerged from all the writhing tentacles and although he was covered in dust thanks to Char’s nifty trick, I recognized him immediately. It’s at the same time I saw what was breaking the wall and it wasn’t an octopus. Roots were digging through brick and mortar breaking a path for him to pass.
“Damian!” My excited shout was met with a groan that whipped the grin off his face.
I looked at Char in shock.
