Page 10 of A Blade of Blood and Shadow (The Ravaged Kingdom #1)

“You are Imogen’s childhood friend,” she said without preamble. “The one who works for Silas.”

“Yes,” I said, unsticking my throat. “But I don’t work for him anymore.”

The old witch narrowed her eyes, and her lips became a thin line. “I have never heard of a hunter leaving Silas’s employ, girl, so you’ll have to excuse me if I find it hard to believe a single word coming out of your mouth. ”

“It’s true,” said Imogen, the edge in her voice just enough to convey her loyalty without disrespecting the leader of her coven.

Adelaide’s nostrils flared. “I know you believe her, or you would not be here. But I have not lived this long in the Quarter by trusting those who don’t deserve it.

” Those milky eyes snapped back to me. “Do you think I haven’t heard what he does to those who betray him?

” she hissed. “His hunters don’t leave, except in pieces. ”

Imogen stiffened, but Adelaide’s words didn’t shock me. I was more aware than most of how Silas treated those who were loyal to him, much less those who weren’t.

“That’s why I’m here,” I said. “I need a way to leave the Quarter without having my magic tracked. I was searching for the apokropos stone, but I wasn’t able to get my hands on it.”

At my mention of the stone, something flickered in Adelaide’s sightless eyes. It was quick — so quick I almost missed it — but I was sure of what I’d seen.

“You’ve heard of it,” I said.

Adelaide pursed her lips, and those wiry gray eyebrows knitted in irritation. “Girl, there is not a witch as old as I am who has not heard of that stone. But my sisters and I are servants of the earth. We live with both feet on the ground.”

My heart sank. Maybe the stone really was a myth, and Julian had been putting me on. But why give me any hint that he could procure the stone if he had no intention of doing so?

“So you don’t believe the stone exists?” I asked hoarsely. Had I forfeited my life chasing after something that wasn’t real ?

“I never said that. I only meant that we witches are too busy trying to survive in this cesspit of predators to pay any attention to stories like that.”

In the next room, a kettle began to whistle. Imogen sprang to her feet to fetch the tea, but Adelaide waved her off with an impatient snap of her wrist and hauled herself out of her chair.

I couldn’t help the sigh that whooshed out of me when she left the room or fight the heavy weight of despair that seemed to sink into my chest. That stone had been my best hope of survival, and I’d thrown myself to the wolves with no means of protection.

Imogen and I didn’t say a word, and Adelaide reappeared a moment later, pushing an old-fashioned tea tray rattling with cups and saucers. She busily set about serving the tea, which steamed with an unfamiliar peppery aroma.

I stared with trepidation at the dark leaves swirling in my cup. Imogen may have trusted the old witch, but I didn’t. So I merely touched the cup to my lips before setting it noisily back in its saucer.

A long moment passed in strained silence, broken only by the clink of Adelaide’s spoon against the inside rim of her cup. When she’d finished adding honey to her own tea, she sat back in her chair and fixed me with an inscrutable expression.

“Don’t look so morose. If that stone does exist, it’s been missing or hidden for centuries.”

“And that’s good news?” Imogen asked.

Adelaide shot her an irritated look. “That depends.”

“On what?”

“On how far you’re willing to go to get your hands on that stone.” Her milky gaze swept to me. “The best way to find an object that no one has seen in half a millennium is to talk to someone who’s been around that long.”

I sat up a little straighter in my seat — or at least tried to. The old springs in the settee seemed to have given up, and they merely creaked as I shifted my weight.

“You mean a vampire?” Imogen pressed.

“No,” Adelaide scoffed. “Use your head, girl. A vampire would have little interest in a stone like that. I am speaking, of course, of the fair folk.”

I sensed Imogen’s eyes on me, but I didn’t meet her gaze. I hoped she didn’t bring up Kaden in front of Adelaide. Somehow, I didn’t think me being indebted to a faerie would do anything to ingratiate me to the witch.

“Of course, involving yourself with the fae comes with its own set of risks,” Adelaide conceded. “Any information is power in the hands of a faerie.”

I swallowed. “Is there any fae in particular who might know about the stone?”

“I can’t say for certain. I make it a point never to deal with the fae if I can help it. Not that most of them want anything to do with witches. The fae tend to keep to themselves. But there is one you could ask — one who might be willing to speak with you.”

“Who?” I asked, my throat suddenly very dry.

“They call him the Ringmaster. You can find him out at the old fairgrounds. But be on your guard, girl.” Adelaide leveled me with a serious look. “Light fae or dark fae, it doesn’t matter. They don’t give something for nothing. And you don’t want to bargain with a faerie.”

I swallowed. I didn’t relish the idea of going to look for this Ringmaster — whoever he was.

But what choice did I have? If I stayed in the Quarter, it would only be a matter of time before either Silas or one of the clans tracked me down and killed me.

And every moment I remained here put Imogen at risk.

“Thank you,” I said, hoping my voice conveyed the sincerity of my gratitude. It was no small thing for the coven leader to invite me into her home knowing what I was. She’d also given me the only lead I had.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for,” said the old witch. “And I pray to the gods you never darken my doorstep again.”

I pressed my lips together. I supposed that was as warm a farewell as I could hope for from the coven leader. Imogen and I set down our teacups, preparing to leave, but something stopped me from standing up.

“There’s something else . . .” I said, the words slipping from my mouth before I had a chance to second-guess them.

I felt Imogen’s eyes on me as I gripped the smooth wooden arm of the settee. The stain was worn off along the carved end, as though hundreds of women had sat here before me, having tea with this witch who radiated such power despite her frail body.

“Yes?”

I gnawed on the inside of my cheek, debating with myself. Adelaide had no reason to believe me. Gods, I wouldn’t believe me. But after she’d let me into her home and given me advice, the least I could do was warn her.

“The night I left Silas, I was attacked in the Quarter . . . by three higher demons.”

At those words, Adelaide’s proud, shrewd face went slack, revealing the finer lines around her mouth and those etched into her brow .

The story spooled out of me in a rush. How I’d come to make the deal with Julian; how I’d been ambushed by a demon wearing his skin; how I’d defended myself with my witchwood blade.

I only left out the part about Kaden, though I wasn’t completely sure why. It wasn’t as if I’d asked for his help. And even if I had, what did I care what the old witch thought?

By the time I finished, Adelaide’s weathered brown skin had taken on a sickly pallor.

Her white eyes were wide and round, and I could feel her sensing me again, as if trying to discern whether I spoke the truth.

I had no way of knowing if she possessed that sort of power, but part of me hoped she did.

“I know there hasn’t been a demon sighting in decades and that it sounds . . . improbable,” I finished. “But I just thought that you should know.”

Adelaide pressed her lips together and nodded once, though that haunted expression did not fade.

“What does this mean?” Imogen asked quietly.

The old witch drew in a shaky breath, and for a moment I feared she’d had a stroke.

It was a long time before her expression cleared.

Adelaide set her tea on the table beside her, the cup rattling in its saucer.

“If what you say is true . . . that there are demons in the Quarter . . .” She paused, and a far-off look came into her eyes.

“Then what we have feared for many years has finally come to pass.”

Imogen swallowed. “Do you think they slipped in from a tear in the veil?”

Adelaide shook her head. “Not a natural tear, no,” she said slowly. “Our sisters patrol the Quarter to find any place where the veil has been weakened. They weave wards over any weak points and reinforce them regularly to ensure nothing from the Otherworld can pass into ours.”

“Then what —”

Adelaide cut her off with a sharp look. “If there are demons in our world, it means that someone has been working to collapse our wards from the other side.”