Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
“ B reathe, godsdamn you, Mokido! Breathe.”
I sucked in a breath and shot upward, my eyes darting around but not taking in my surroundings.
Kason—I had to get Kason. Without truly being aware, I tried to push to my feet, only to be thwarted by a strong hand on my shoulder.
For an instant, I thought I hadn’t escaped Farraleigh’s thralls after all, but then I recognized the figures crouched around me.
“Imalfi?” I gasped. “What are you?—”
“I could ask the same of you.” She blew out a breath and ran a hand through her hair. “You scared the piss out of me. There we were, walking along the road, back toward Wekkartt, and we come around a corner to see you lying there. Lifeless.”
“Clearly not lifeless,” I said, coughing.
“Lifeless enough!” Imalfi shot back. “What the fuck? Where’s Kason? Did he do this to you?”
“No.” I bent forward, trying to catch my breath. It felt like I’d run twenty leagues. In fits and starts, I explained the quest assigned to us by Rhianough and our ill-advised visit to Farraleigh’s cabin. “How long has it been since we parted ways at the temple?”
“Two days,” Imalfi reported.
“And then some,” Gemm added grimly. His normally lighthearted expression was heavy with dismay.
By the gods. I’d been lying on the side of the road for more than a day. But we had another day to complete our quest. “How far are we from Connell Cross?”
Berkay grimaced. “At least six hours.”
I tugged on my ears in frustration. Hells, I couldn’t believe she’d ported me so far. Part of me—a small but vocal part—wanted to leave Kason to his fate. We’d tried to fulfill Rhianough’s request, and we’d failed. It happened. Not every job ended successfully. I knew that from experience.
But I couldn’t get the image of Kason’s eyes moving in his otherwise frozen face out of my head.
Kason needed me. No one else would be racing to his rescue.
Even if I could alert someone from the government that their favorite witch-hunter was in dire need of help, they couldn’t possibly mobilize before Kason’s goddess-granted reprieve ran out.
Not to mention that I wasn’t sure what Rhianough would do to me if I ran away from the quest. But it wouldn’t be anything good.
I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring Imalfi’s offered hand as I swayed slightly. “I need to get back.”
“Why?” she demanded, stepping in front of me as I tried to get my bearings. “You know he’ll show you no thanks for this, despite what he said.”
I shook my head and moved around her. “I’m not arguing with you.”
Six hours would give me plenty of time to figure out how to get to Kason, which was priority one. And if it involved taking care of Farraleigh and not just sneaking in and out, well, that would be a nice bonus.
Behind me, Imalfi cursed vehemently, then four sets of footsteps sounded on the hard-packed dirt of the road, following me.
When she caught up, Imalfi slung an arm across my shoulders.
“I’m not letting you go up against a witch who already beat you once,” she said, pulling our heads close in a rare show of affection.
My lips quirked. “She didn’t beat me. I was…temporarily disengaged.”
“Whatever. Let’s make a plan to get your witch-hunter back, yeah?”
For once, I didn’t argue against the possessive. Kason was mine—my responsibility, anyway. Maybe after all this…
I wouldn’t mind revisiting that kiss.
I shoved that thought away to be dealt with later. Much later.
If I ever needed proof that the gods didn’t give a shit about us, the return trip to Farraleigh’s cabin was it.
An hour into our journey, it began to rain.
Hard. Hard enough that the bridge we needed to get across the Good River—ironic name, that—was washed out.
We spent hours traipsing downriver to find a safe spot to ford it.
Hours we didn’t have to spare. I wanted this over and done well before the end of our time limit.
I had one more day, and I was going to use it wisely.
The rain was still coming down, though somewhat lessened, as we reached the bluff where I had planned out our initial foray with Kason.
Night had descended early, the dark deepening immediately with the loss of the unseen sun.
Heavy clouds prevented the moon and stars from offering any light, which wasn’t terrible for our purposes.
We gathered in a loose circle, and I brushed my wet hair out of my eyes as I allowed my gaze to travel over each of my friends.
They were all as somber as I was. For all their shared rough exteriors, they were good people at heart.
I’d never doubted it, but their willingness to—insistence on—helping me, despite their initial protests, reinforced my views.
“Make your luck,” I said. We’d adopted that send-off for jobs years ago, since it was better than depending on any gods-granted luck. Clearly. “But don’t kill anyone.”
Berkay and Gemm nodded in acknowledgment.
Imalfi clapped a hand on my shoulder and squeezed for an instant before the three of them were off, shouting at the top of their lungs.
They were the distraction force, so Herat and I could sneak by Farraleigh’s thralls and get to the bloodsun quartz stone.
Destroying the stone wouldn’t defeat Farraleigh entirely, but it would certainly make it easier.
In theory.
I tried not to think about the what-ifs, but they swirled in my brain anyway. What if I was wrong about the stone? What if it was something decorative and not bloodsun quartz at all? What if this plan of distraction and sneaking got all of us hurt, or worse, killed?
“Your thoughts are too loud,” Herat muttered.
“I know.” She couldn’t actually hear them, but I was well aware of how negativity and worry could emanate outwards to infect others, even if it wasn’t magical. “This is going to work.”
“Uh, yes, yes, it will. It’s me.” Herat flashed me a brilliant grin, which only widened as the sound of fighting reached us. “Let’s go.”
It was easy enough to skirt the side of the cabin when all of Farraleigh’s thralls were focused on the forward attack.
A quick glance in that direction showed two on the ground already—not dead, I hoped—while half a dozen more swarmed the distraction crew or waited for their chance to wade into the fray.
I didn’t bother to send up a prayer for anyone because if Rhianough gave a damn, she would’ve made sure the rain held off for another day.
There was a porch at the rear of the cabin, set off to one side.
We ducked beneath the questionable shelter of the tattered, slanted roof, and I explored the door with my magic to determine whether Farraleigh had left a surprise for anyone trying to get in this way.
There wasn’t one, thankfully. Herat went to work with her picklock tools, and I readied my magic to blast anyone waiting on the other side of the door.
But our distraction ploy had worked well.
No one lurked in the shadows by the back door, and Herat and I crept into the cabin’s interior without being spotted.
We were in a utility room closed off from the rest of the cabin.
Two long, narrow tables stretched on either side of the room, each peppered with vials, various bundles of aromatic herbs, and small crystals.
A mortar and pestle and other tools lined the rear of each table, making it clear this was where Farraleigh did her spellwork.
One stool was tucked under each table, out of the way, and there were open crates at the far end of the room with contents I couldn’t see or smell, thanks to the multitude of herbs in the small space.
Herat eased forward, her steps light and sure, until she reached the door leading into the rest of the house.
It was as old as the rest of the cabin, and time had stolen a sliver of wood from one of the planks, or perhaps it had been like that when the door was first put together.
Either way, there was a small space to see through, and Herat wasted no time in getting a look inside.
She held up three fingers, indicating three people. She turned her head to mouth, “One sitting, one standing, and Kason.”
I resisted the urge to ask her about Kason, though my gut ached with curiosity. I’d find out soon enough if Kason was alive, unharmed, or…not. “Sitting by windows?” I mouthed back.
Herat nodded. Looking back through the crack, she held up a thumb. Their victory sign. My gut clenched. Farraleigh hadn’t moved the bloodsun quartz then. Good. That was good.
Herat moved away from the door and back to my side so we could speak without any unnecessary volume. “I’ll hold back, as planned.”
I swallowed and dipped my chin. Distraction level two. While I held Farraleigh’s attention, Herat would dart from hiding, grab the crystal, and destroy it.
Easy.
“Make your luck,” she said, giving my shoulder a gentle shove.
“You too.”
Herat retreated into the shadows of the utility room, and I didn’t waste any effort on stealth as I shoved the door open and burst through it.
Farraleigh gave a satisfying lurch of surprise at my sudden entrance.
A well-placed magic bolt took out the young woman who acted as Farraleigh’s maid, and she thudded to the cabin floor, making the bloodsun quartz rattle on its pedestal.
I spotted Kason where he’d been frozen—still frozen, still unmoving, except for his eyes, which were focused on me.
With an effort, I turned my attention to Farraleigh instead.
She pushed herself out of the chair, stepping forward to face me. A smirk curled her lips. “Again, little witch? Wasn’t the first lesson painful enough?”
I grimaced at the term little witch . Only Kason was allowed to call me that. “I brought friends this time.”
“So you did.” Her mouth straightened. “I don’t know how you survived our first encounter, but I won’t make that mistake a second time.” Her expression twisted into something horrendous, and she threw a spell at me.