Page 39 of Captive Witch

“No way!” Wren yells, gasping as she turns to face me. “I wish I could leave with you right now. How freaking awesome!”

“I don’t know if she’ll teach you, but it’s worth a shot asking,” I say, smiling. Reaching for my back pocket, my face falls—my phone isn’t there. “I’d give you her number, but I guess I left my phone upstairs.”

“We can get it,” Jules says, pulling on Wren’s arm. “You can talk to Kaylus and make sure he’s actually okay.”

Wren huffs, letting Jules drag her away. “He’s fine, I swear.”

I laugh, throwing my bag onto the ground and looking Kaylus over. “You really okay?”

He caws, ruffling his feathers.“Of course I’m fine. All she did was say, ‘Talk to me, bird. Come on, talk to me,’ over and over again. Does she think I’m stupid? Or is she stupid?”

Laughing, I throw a leaf at him. It flutters to the ground between us. “Be nice! She’s just a kid.”

He caws again, taking off into the branches above and cleaning his feathers. I lean back against the trunk of the tree behind me, lifting my chin to the small pockets of sun shining through the webbed forest canopy. The rays warm my face until a shadow passes over me, blocking its warmth completely.

“You two were fast,” I say, expecting to see Jules and Wren, but my breath catches in my throat when I open my eyes.

Long, scarlet hair is piled on top of her head, and jade eyes overflowing with venom glare down at me. “Long time no see,witch.”

The hair on the back of my neck stands, and I scramble back, my spine slamming against the hard bark of the tree behind me. My eyes cut to the academy, but Jules and Wren are nowhere in sight. Aramin must’ve tripped the shield, though. They’ll know a wolf is inside their barriers and come out here to hunt her down. I need to get out of here.

She cackles, her head tossed back. “Wow, I’d have thought you’d be way more badass after all the stories I heard.” Stepping forward, the toe of her boot hits the side of my leg.

I look at her, wondering how the hell she even got inside the shield in the first place when it only allows a witch to cross the barrier. “What do you want? How are you even here?”

“What do you want?” she mocks in a high-pitched voice, then rolls her eyes. “I want my life back, you bitch.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I mutter. I look up at Kaylus, and my stomach turns. He’s frozen in midair, his wings barely extended, as if he just took off from the branch below him. Licking my lips, I realize how deathly quiet it is—no birds chirping, no breeze ruffling the leaves on the forest floor. No wolf’s voice in my head.

I try to reach inside and pull my wolf to the surface, but nothing happens. My palms sweat, panic setting in. What the hell is going on?

“How did you get here, Aramin?” I ask again, swallowing past the growing anxiety making my throat tight and glaring at her.

I push off from the ground to stand, but her boot flies at my head, and I barely have time to block her kick with the flat of my forearm. Pain shoots to my elbow, but I bite my inner cheek to keep from crying out. With her off balance for a moment, I climb to my feet, focusing on gathering my magic in the tips of my fingers.

“There’s a shield all around this academy, so how did you get past it?” I narrow my eyes into slits, curling my hands into fists to concentrate my magic into my palms.

Aramin stumbles back, bowing her head and holding up her hands. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry! P-please, just… Can you talk to Gideon? I can’t take it being feral anymore… I…”

My fists start to relax, thinking how lonely and horrible it would feel to be forced to go feral. Aramin’s shoulders shake, and she covers her face with her hands. I almost take a step forward, but then laughter bubbles out of her, uncontrolled and manic. She lifts her face to look at me, and the green of her eyes glows—bright and neon. Her image blinks before me, then my head is slammed into the tree trunk I’m standing in front of, stars dancing in my vision, her hand wrapped around my throat. My fingers claw at her arm, trying to loosen her grip enough to allow me to breathe.

“You’re souseless,” she spits, bringing my face close enough for her saliva to coat my cheek. “What the hell does he even see in something as pathetic as you?”

Gripping her wrist with both hands, I let a burst of magic flare from my palms, and she screams, dropping me to the ground. I land on my hands and knees, gasping and coughing as I try to catch my breath. I touch a hand to my throat, my windpipe sore and bruised. Glancing up, I watch Aramin douse the fire on her forearm with water—from her opposite hand. Nausea crashes over me, realizing how she got through the shield, why the world around us is frozen and my wolf is quiet.

Aramin has magic.

“What the hell?” I rasp. Unsteadily, I climb to my feet, pointing a shaky finger at her hands. “What—”

She pants, glaring at me. Her mouth curls into something resembling a smirk, but all I can see is a wolf, snarling at its prey. “Thought you were the only one with magic, huh?” Blisterscoat her forearm, the skin red and swollen, and a spark of pride pierces me when I see it.

I did that. With my own magic. By my gods damn self.

Pushing my nerves down and trying to blink away the headache building at the back of my head, I work to gather more fire in my hands. I don’t know how she got magic, but right now, I know I at least have a chance of defeating her. I sidestep, not wanting her to have the chance of slamming my head into another tree, and start to walk deeper into the forest. The more distance I can create between Jules and Aramin, the better I’ll feel, and the less chance of the coven catching me.

“Stealing magic won’t make you strong,” I say, trying to distract her.

She barks a dry laugh. “You think I stole this?” Holding her palms out to her sides, she lets them in blue sparks. “This was agift.” Her hands flick in my direction, sending a navy wave of power at me.

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