Page 141 of The Wolf and the Chimera
“Both of us are blessed by the Sun god,” I said. “Were both of us betrayed by him too?”
The sorceress’s eye twitched, and I realized my words had hit their mark.
“Are you trying to find common ground with me, pet?” she asked. “Isfriendshipyour grand plan of escape?”
The shadows caressed my skin. Their touch was so cold, it burned.
After decades of living as a parasite, was this what her magic had become? Still powerful, but shaped by hate and cold cruelty?
I swallowed my fear and forced myself tothink.
I control her as surely as she controls me.
That glimpse of the reality surrounding my body, back in the physical realm of being, had shown me that. Every minute that slipped by brought us closer to being drained of power completely and handed over to the High Witch to be Entombed.
Despite all her power and bravado, the sorceress couldn’t take control. She couldn’t save herself. If she could have, she would have already.
She would have seized control as soon as we traveled through the ripple, back into this realm.
Think, think, think.
“You say friendship like it’s a flimsy thing,” I argued, “but it’s a bond stronger than anything you could conjure with a spell. Friendship is chosen family.”
The sorceress snorted. “I promise you, it doesn’t matter if family is chosen or by blood, it’s a farce. Everyone has a price.”
She planned on bullying me into doing her will, but something in me knew—my chimera, my instincts, my gut—that it wouldn’t be like other possessions. With my half-formed bond to Ryder threatening her connection to me, nothing would make the sorceress cede control once she got it.
Swift and sharp as an axe, a terrible plan took shape.
The sorceress was right—we were soul-bound. The only way to save myself would be to save her too.
I wouldn’t bow to the sorceress.
I would outsmart her.
I lacked the ancient training of my ancestors, but their determination ran in my veins as surely as the sunlight I was blessed with.
I lifted my chin.
“What’s your price?” I asked. “What’s the price of my freedom?”
All witch, she cackled.
I remembered that was what she truly was—a witch. Without the bravado and years of inflicting pain and terror, she was only a witch, born mortal, like the rest of us.
It was time I started thinking of her like that.
“There is no price forthat,”she hissed.Medeahissed.
As she caught her name in my thoughts, her gaze widened, but only for a second.
I cocked my head. “Really? Because if that’s the case, your miserable existence will come to an end soon. You heard the Sovereign—the High Witch is coming for us. Drained of power, we will be completely defenseless to her Entombment spell.”
She crossed her arms and studied me.
“Your mortal need to survive will stop you before it gets to that point,” she countered. “You nor the so-calledHigh Witchscare me.”
“I would rather succumb to Cordelia’s spell than let you transform me into a monster,” I promised.
