Page 129 of The Unbound Witch

Tossing the stone back to Bastian, his eyes wide with shock, I started running. “If we’re going to save your power, we need to move. Now.”

The Moss Coven brought back a world of nightmares. The final Trial playing in my mind as we passed the phoenixes and kept going. As the forest that filled the expanse beside us reminded me of the deja and of Nikos’ demand to kill Bastian. I hated it here. I hated the way it smelled of musk and foreboding. Of damp wood and witch’s poison.

Still, we ran. Stopping only to drink or catch our breaths, following the owl-like creature in the sky as he led us. I’d motion occasionally, feeling for the Forest Coven book, knowing that soon we’d encounter a horde of Forest Coven witches and had no plan on how we were going to kill their leader and steal their precious Grimoire. That statement whorled in my mind until I realized I had become someone’s villain. I’d wondered why Bastian had accepted the role so fully and now I understood. Like beauty, villainy was in the eye of the beholder.

54

KIRSI

Keeping pace with the witches was far slower than keeping pace with Atlas, but we followed behind Rave at a steady stride, hoping like hell she had a plan for when we came face to face with the Forest witches.

Nym didn’t leave us. Instead, she ran as desperately as Torryn flew. I thought she’d go; run back to her family after I’d blown her off to leave with Atty. But she hadn’t. Her heart remained with me. She carried Scoop in a satchel at her side, just as she’d have done for her familiar, taking care of him because she knew what he meant to me.

But she’d kept the truth from me for so long and I couldn’t let that go. I wasn’t ashamed to admit I’d fallen behind several times just to watch her run, though. She just did something for me no one else in the world would be able to do. And maybe when this day was over, I would find my way into her bed and we could discover a path to forgiveness together. I didn’t even care if that made me a shitty person. Nym was a fucking queen. She was wrong, yes. But also, perfection.

Atlas spun, running backward as he moved between Nym and I, grinning. “I think you’re staring.”

“Mind your business, Pup.”

“Are you guys fighting or what?”

“Or what.”

He tilted his head like a curious puppy. “What?”

I bit back my laugh. “I hate you.”

“You love me and you know …” Smile fading, he threw up a hand, releasing a short, sharp whistle.

Everyone stopped. Tor swooped low.

We moved in close, watching him as he took a deep breath, scanning the horizon. With trees to the right of us and the mossy cliffs to the left, we were wide open in a valley.

“Fuck,” Bastian whispered, understanding before the rest of us. “They’re here.”

55

RAVEN

Atlas made a circle with his finger, and shifted into a wolf, growling as he faced the woods. A low-lying fog crept from the forest, inching toward us. We backed into each other, rotating as we scanned the trees. Torryn flew away, content to watch the sky for danger.

“Do not hesitate,” Bastian ordered.

“The book is still moving,” I whispered. “It might be a distraction from the Moss witches.”

Atlas growled again, shaking his head. He’d smelled them. Had somehow known the origin.

“Forest, then. Good. Better that Endora doesn’t know we’re here yet.”

I cast, pulling in a breeze to blow away the fog. Three witches stepped from the forest, while three more moved in from the top of the cliffs. Nym ran for them. She’d been here before and Talon, roaring at her heels, remembered exactly how to climb the rocks. The fiery phoenixes scattered, screeching as the white tiger tore through them with Atlas close behind.

Tor dove from the sky with his talons extended, ripping into the face of a witch who hadn’t seen him coming. All hell broke loose. Bastian caught the witch Torryn had attacked before she had a chance to cast, holding her arms behind her back as she thrashed. Kirsi had vanished, appearing behind another witch and ripping her throat from her neck.

A spell struck me in the back, turning my veins to lava as pain raced through my body. I fell to my knees, sending thick vines up the witch’s legs to suffocate her, crushing her to the ground as I held back the death spell, afraid of its totality. I rose to a knee and another witch cast, her spell narrowly missing me. Halfway through the motion of a second attempt, Atlas came flying down from the cliffs, claws digging into her back as she dropped to the ground beneath him. His mouth came away bloody. I was confident the wolf still winked at me before tearing off toward Nym once more.

We’d nearly taken down every witch that had come for us. An unnecessary massacre, had they only seen reason and truth. With one final witch on the rocks, Bastian and I moved together as we waited and watched. Talon stepped slowly, like a predator hunting prey. The witch inched back, her long cloak falling over the ledge of the small cliff.

Atlas circled below like a shark in the water, waiting for her to fall. She sliced her hand through the air, her markings glowing green as the tiger was thrown to the side, exposing Nym. She cast again, but before her spell could leave her fingers, Kirsi appeared between them, plunged her hand into the witch’s chest and ripped out her throbbing heart, saving Nym.