Page 10 of The Path of Blood and Betrayals

“Thenyougo back and get them.” I glare, crossing my arms, sword heavy in my palm. It’s no secret the Coven doesn’t see me as a part of it, but Gods, the least Nafre could do is fight for them.

My magic swirls in my gut, hungry for more, as it feeds off my aggravation. The heartbeats drum into my ears as an ache blooms across my forehead. Soon, the drums will be too much and I’ll have to get away to calm the tide of power inside me.

She frowns. “I want to, Max. But I can’t.” More Witches come, nightclothes seared. “If I go back to fight, who will get these people to safety? They need a leader and shelter. My first priority is ensuring we live through this and then regroup.”

On Cella’s Crown…

“Fine, then I will.” I stand taller, muscles aching. I’ve barely recovered from my fight with the raiders, body still oozing blood but if she won’t fight for her people, someone has to. “I’ll go back in, direct them to safety.”

Nafre shakes her head, features pulling tight in alarm. “No! You know as well as I do, that this is not your fight. What if your magic becomes uncontrollable?”

I scoff silently. She’s not worried about me—not entirely.

She’s worried about her Witches. What if my powers become too unstable and I attack one of them? It’s happened before, when we were children.

In my defense, that child had thrown a rock at me, calling me a monster, thinking I would run away scared. I would have, if my magic had not reacted,crushing his heart before Nessa had broken my concentration.

I’ve killed two people and Nafre is afraid I’ll do it again. She’s afraid of me.

“I have a sword,” I insist. “I’ll grab as many Witches as I can find and locate Tay. With him, we can get more people back here.”

If I can find him. If I make it that far.If he’s still alive.

Those thoughts stay unsaid.

“Max, no,wait?—”

I don’t stop, running back through the shrubs into the burning village. Fear unlike anything I’ve felt before wracks my body, fighting against my need to help—to prove myself.

They think I’m a monster,evil, but I’ll show them. By saving this Coven, by helping these Witches, they’ll see I’m not evil—just different.

Chapter 4

Max

Dropping back into the clearing, I duck behind a few boulders, shoving shaking hands behind my charred nightgown. Burnt hair and charred flesh floats through the air. Nausea surges up my throat and I battle back the urge to vomit.

This is too familiar. The smells, the noises, everything comes crashing into me as I hold on to my sword and try not to get swept away by fear.

My magic hisses like a serpent, ready to attack someone to offset my panic, but I can’t let it. I need to focus. I need to help—to save as many Witches as I can.

Just because they don’t like me, doesn’t mean they should die here.

Shouts erupt beside me, and I push myself to breathe, lurching forward to the smoldering hut. Smoke flares from the walls and the roof has caved in. Risking a glance, I edge around the corner and sweep my gaze over the entire village.

Figures run by, raiders impaling innocents along the fences, yells of glee and malice thick in the air.

My stomach churns as I search for Tay.

My ears ache as the hearts pound into my senses, so loudly, I don’t hear the one that comes up behindme. I curse as my feet are jerked out, my knees slamming into the grass. A rock cuts into my chin, and the sword flies out of my hand, into the brush.

Flipping over, I glare up into the masked face of another raider.

Twin orbs of floating ice shine out from the black cloth, cheeks pulling taunt as he smiles.

“What do we have here?” He wraps my dark strands around his fist, yanking me upward. “Such a pretty little thing. You’ll fetch a good price at the docks.”

Heart hammering, I snarl, sweat breaking out over my spine. The docks is where Humans sell females for servitude or sex for a lucrative profit. Witches outlawed it centuries ago.