Page 127 of Pirate Witch

Klaus must be reading my mind, because his eyes flash toward me.

“Go. Find her.”

The others nod. “Keep your guard up,” Ry adds.

“And you better be in one piece by the time we get there,” Cas warns.

I take a deep breath, meet every one of my men in the eyes, and draw power directly from the Moon. Kier—apparently not on board with leaving me alone—glamours himself just as I direct my magic to the camouflage sigils on my spine. I can’t see him, but I can feel the chill of his power against my skin as we move, and I’m grateful for his silent company as we jog through the shifting grey corridors. Last time, Catherine was in her tower, but I have no idea how to get there.

“Can you scent Lily’s magic?” I ask Opal, as my familiar jumps to the ground.

“It’s all over the place,”she complains.“It’s almost impossible to get a fix on where she is now.”

Shit.

“We head up,” I decide. “We know the Eagle’s personal chambers are in a tower. It makes sense to try that first.”

My familiar nods, and I pull out my broom. Flying indoors isn’t usually a good idea, but it’s faster than searching on foot. Hopefully Kier, with his wings, will be able to keep up. Opal hops onto the front of the stick and I kick off from the ground. We zoom past fleeing people, scanning every face for the one whose death will end this.

Where are the fucking stairs in this place?

“Alert Her Majesty. They’re inside the palace.” My ears latch onto the frantic order, and I pull the broom to a stop just in time to see one shifter guard yelling at another.

The second guard takes off at a run. I lean over my broom, pushing it faster to keep up with his speed as he unknowingly leads me straight to my target.

When we burst outside into fresh air, I pause, doubting my decision for a second. There are more guards out here. Even with my sigils keeping me hidden, I feel ridiculously exposed and outnumbered. But I can’t retreat into the spirit realm. Not without risking losing my one lead.

The shifter takes off across an immaculate lawn towards an outbuilding nestled against the wall. He bursts through the door, revealing two guards on the other side and a single room, which is empty except for the long stairs leading down into the earth.

I waste precious moments dispatching the guards by the door before taking off after the shifter again. The stairs go deep, descending into the cliffs for what seems like ages until they stop, replaced by a warren of tunnels. Opal has the guard’s scent now and she whispers directions to me, guiding me through a hidden labyrinth of rooms I might never have found otherwise.

Drawing power from the Goddess, I launch spirit blade after spirit blade into every soldier I come across. Kier joins in, decapitating those I miss. It’s exhausting, but we can’t afford to leave Catherine and Lily with so much backup. The fight ahead is going to be hard enough as it is without extra combatants getting in the way.

When I hit the first barrier, it knocks me off my broom, winding me, and sending me sprawling onto the floor. Kier reappears by my side, helping me sit as I cough, disoriented for a moment. He pats my back until I manage to shrug it off and push back to my feet. Opal’s back is arched, her fur standing on end, as she hisses at the wall we’ve run into.

The barrier is thin, almost translucent. I can feel it, but it’s easy to see why I ran into it like I did. Given that this place seems to be the Eagle’s secret stronghold, it’s probably the first of many.

Taking a deep breath, I reach for it, laying my hand over it as I reach for the Solar power stored in the bone charm at my waist.

“Mother Sun, grant me entrance.”

It feelswrongsaying the words, but the spell is effective. On my spine the mark of the Sun warms, and my hands fill with the unfamiliar dry heat of Solar power. The solid shield evaporates beneath my palms, and I step through, hooking my broom onto my back as I do.

We can’t be far now. Only one door remains at the end of this corridor, so there’s no use flying.

I test my connection to the spirit world, unsurprised to find a barrier there too.

A second prayer takes care of that problem.

“Wait here,” I say to Kier. “I’ll see what we’re up against.”

His jaw tightens, but he nods. “If I hear trouble, I’m coming in,” he warns.

Fair enough.

Opal stays by my side as we jump onto the spirit plane and use it to slip into the room beyond. We’re just in time to watch the guard’s spirit sever from his body and drift upwards to the Stars above.

Dead. Killed by Catherine.