Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“But you’re not even a blood witch,” I argued, taking a step back from the Ice Queen. “What good will his sacrifice be to you?” As if I could talk sense into her.
She smiled coldly. “My mistress will see to it that the power from his sacrifice is funneled directly into me. Don’t you worry about that.
” She gestured up into the sky, where the moon stared down at us, impassive.
It looked like a blight of blood among the stars.
“And it is nearly time to harness that power. I think another fifteen minutes, and his veins will need to be opened.”
I shook my head slowly.
“But you could join us,” she said. “My mistress would welcome your aid in this endeavor. Just think: You could have a place in the new underworld. Witches will fear you. Demons will wait on you. You’ll have more power than you ever could have dreamed of.
” She took a step toward me. “And all you have to do is help me ensure the boy’s fate is sealed. Not such a small price.”
I glared at her and she chuckled. “Come now,” she said. “You’ll forget him in time. What place does one of God’s creatures truly have in this world anyway? The human world is a cruel place. It always has been and always will be. Help me end his suffering and we can usher in a new world together.”
I smiled bitterly. “I think I’m going to have to pass.”
She sent me a pout. “If you’re not with me, you are against me. And that simply will not do, you know.”
Before I even had a chance to run, ice began climbing up my feet, freezing me in place. I tried to pull my feet from the ground, but it was no use.
A welcome warmth sizzled across my feet as a swath of fire flickered across them. I looked up, startled to find Narcissa sailing through the air, rounding to come back, eyes narrowed as her mouth opened for another volley of flames.
The Ice Queen cursed, leaping out of the way of the fire that rained down from above, distracting her.
I yanked my feet clear of the melting ice and stumbled back, falling onto my butt.
I took a vial of troll blood and webbing from a giant orb weaver spider from my cloak, swallowing them quickly, although I grimaced from the acrid taste.
When the Ice Queen turned back to regard me, however, I was ready.
She threw her hands out, and a barrage of icicles shot out in my direction.
A demon in the vicinity was caught in the crossfire—skewered through the middle—and stumbled to the ground, gasping as a projectile stuck out of him awkwardly.
It would be an excruciating death, no doubt.
I would not be sharing that demon’s fate, however. As several icicles found my body, they shattered upon impact. My skin crystalized to rock. It would last only a few minutes, but it would be enough to deflect any projectile attacks from this witch, hopefully allowing me to escape.
The Ice Queen hissed her disappointment, then ducked aside as Narcissa returned with another round of fire. But as Narcissa turned to loop into another arc, the Ice Queen’s eyes surveyed her movements carefully.
“No!” I shouted.
I watched in horror as an icicle skewered Narcissa right through the middle of her small body. My familiar’s eyes widened with surprise, and then her wings went limp as she fell from the sky.
I ran as Narcissa hit the ground, bits from the icicle shattering around her.
“Horrid creature,” the Ice Queen said, tossing back her hair and walking toward the town square.
I reached Narcissa in a matter of moments, scooping up her body and pulling her into my lap. I stared down at the icicle still lodged in her stomach. Only the ends had broken off. A trickle of blood escaped the corners of her mouth as she gazed up at me with eyes that couldn’t quite focus.
“Narcissa,” I managed, tears stinging my eyes. Her body was twitching beneath me. “Don’t you dare leave me. You’re under contract.”
Narcissa gasped, then coughed. “I’m afraid cats aren’t very good at following contracts to the letter.”
A hiccup-cry escaped me, and I ran a hand over her little head. Her body felt so small. So fragile. “Narcissa,” I said. “Please.”
“I told you the fire would come in handy,” Narcissa managed.
“Yes, you can keep it. Just hold on.”
“Save the boy,” she continued. “He’s made you … less unlikable.”
I pushed my lips together and nodded, hands trembling. “You were … the best familiar a witch could have ever asked for.”
Narcissa smiled as she went limp in my arms, head rolling back.
A choked sob bubbled up and I cradled Narcissa against my chest. No, no, no. Not Narcissa. Not my one constant companion over the years. Who would keep me in line? Who would I find orchids for, just to have her lift her nose in the air at them? Who would color my every day at the potion shop?
“You can’t leave,” I told her, pressing my face into her neck. Gods, she already felt cold. “I won’t allow it.”
“Mr. Witch?”
I turned to find Therese and Freya. Therese’s eyes were wide. Freya looked on, crestfallen, eyes fastened to Narcissa.
“I …” I didn’t know what to say.
Therese stepped forward hesitantly and reached out to lift Narcissa gingerly into her own arms, gazing down at her. She rocked Narcissa, as if she were a baby. I couldn’t watch her, sliding my gaze instead to Freya, the lump in my throat nearly making it impossible to speak.
“Get Lexi,” I managed after a moment, mouth feeling dry and thick. “Now. We’ll need her.”
Freya hesitated. “Auggie is—”
“I’ll see to Auggie,” I snapped. “Now. Don’t waste time. It might take a coven to defeat them, and that means we need one more witch.” I gestured in Therese’s direction without looking at her. “And take the girl with you. A battlefield is no place for her.”
I spun on my heel and stomped away, making for the town square. I picked up my pace until I was in an all-out run, tears streaming down my face freely as rage scorched the blood in my veins. I glanced back only once to see Freya doing exactly as I asked, stepping through a portal behind Therese.
Good. I had little faith that they would return in time to be of any use, but Lexi would kill me if I didn’t summon her to help the wounded here anyway.
More importantly, I did not want my friends to see me like this.
Because I was going to murder the Ice Queen and Erik.
Auggie would not be dying today, unless it was over my own dead body.
Which looked like a very likely scenario at this point.
I gathered devil’s moss and murder hornet honey, bat wings and four-leafed clovers, kneaded them together, and shoved them into a potion bottle, mixing them briefly before swallowing the concoction as I stalked purposefully toward the town square.
Then I removed more ingredients: troll’s eye, naga scale, lava shard, mummy dust. Lock of siren hair, hydra nail, rose thorns.
Hogweed, Satan’s bolete, gnome whisker. Jackalope antler, orc drool, philodendron stems, sugar water.
The orb at my neck dwindled quickly, and then winked out altogether.
I felt the power seep from my limbs, squeezing the magic out of my body to meet the demands of the spells.
Many exotic ingredients had side effects when they interacted, but I needed to be at the height of power. Failure was not an option.
I grunted as I neared the town square, a flash of blinding pain stabbing into my side. I ignored it, even as I coughed and tasted blood in my mouth. If I survived the oncoming fight, I would see to my health. But for now, I would see to Auggie’s.
A demon with a lion’s head snapped to attention as I approached the town square. He held an axe and as he opened his mouth, a forked tongue slipped out. “Apologies, sir. I have orders to—”
I lifted my left hand, and a vine squirmed out from my wrist. I grunted as veins ripped open and my skin split aside to make way for it.
It reached out and wrapped around the demon’s body.
The demon clutched at his throat as a shout was cut off, and I swung him into the wall of a house so hard that his upper body went directly through it.
This would be thanks to the siren hair, hydra nail, and rose thorns.
It would be a temporary power, but I would make the most of it.
I stepped into the town square, gaze zeroing in on the center, where a gallows had been erected.
Several men hung from a beam, while bodies of others littered the ground beside an altar, the earth all around it drenched with blood.
Benedict was among the dead, staring sightlessly upward, deposited like trash.
I would mourn the human when I had the time.
I shifted my gaze, and my attention snagged on a figure splayed out on a bench, tied and gagged.
Auggie. His eyes were wide, his hair disheveled.
He was stock-still as he gazed up at the menacing figure that loomed over him.
I held myself back with some effort as I assessed the man who stood over Auggie.
He was well over six feet tall and so muscled that his skin bulged everywhere.
His hair was glossy, his naked chest smooth, and power radiated from him in waves.
It was quite the transformation from the sniveling coward I’d come to know in Greenland.
Erik.