Page 135 of The Unbound Witch

“It’s… When I feed power into your coven, it’s not just you. Everyone feels it, everyone pulls from it. I can, but I can’t promise you much time.”

“I’ll take what I can get,” he said as I put the stone in my lap. “We don’t have time to wait and I can wake her.”

I amplified the tiny sliver of magic nestled within, squeezing my eyes shut in concentration. Nym sat beside me, her leg pressed to mine with Atlas on the other side, holding the sleeping witch’s hand.

Eden sat up with a gasp, then swayed and fell back down, the king catching her head. With eyes closed, she cast upon herself, willing whatever form of healing into her own body she could as she slowly sat up again, her face full of sorrow.

“You came?” Her broken voice was so sad.

“Of course we came for you,” I answered. “Always.”

She looked around, studying who was there… and who was not. “Torryn? Crow?”

Atlas dropped his head. “Torryn is safe. Crow… didn’t make it.”

Eden clutched her chest, trying to silence her wail as she repeated him. “Didn’t make it?”

Bastian knelt, gently taking her hand. “Atty found his rings and blade in the rubble. I’m so sorry. How did you survive the blast?”

She swallowed, likely fighting the lump in her throat. “We share the same blood. I hadn’t thought of it when I cast that barrier around your shop, Raven. That’s how she got in. I’m sorry. She used…” her eyes flashed to Bastian. “She used the Fire Coven Grimoire as a shield to protect both of us from the blast. I’m sorry for that and the store.”

His sharp jawline ticked. “Don’t be sorry. Things can be replaced.”

“People and magic cannot,” she whispered.

Scoop crawled from the satchel and curled into Eden’s lap. She lifted him, bringing his nose to hers. “You must have more than nine lives, you little devil.”

“At least double that,” Kirsi confirmed, though her general sarcastic tone had been replaced with something far more sad.

“Can you walk?” Bastian asked, standing. “We can’t stay here.”

“Let me do it,” she answered. “I need to do it.”

He glanced around the tiny cove before dipping his chin. “A death earned.”

Eden knew the grounds of the mountainside perfectly. Though slow to start, she scaled the rocks, leading a clear and easy path toward the cottage that looked down upon the others with ease. The magic within me pulled in a different direction. The single remaining Grimoire was not in Endora’s home, fortunately. I thought about breaking away from the group, hunting it while they saw Endora’s death to the finish. But Bastian had no idea what my final destiny was. Didn’t know his mother had halved her own power for me to fulfill it, come what may. So, I pressed on. Silently.

The door to Endora’s cottage blasted to pieces, and Eden stormed forward. Her mother’s taunting laughter could be heard from somewhere below. Eden wanted this moment. Had earned it many times over. But I wasn’t here to play games or draw out a lifetime of revenge. She’d have her moment and if she couldn’t see the deed done, I would cast and end it. The madness, the murder, all of it.

Surging into the home, an open door in the floor greeted us. Potentially hidden when she willed it, she hadn’t taken the time as she ran. Though it felt like a trap, none of us backed down as we descended the steep stairwell and chased Endora through a narrow stone hall lit by floating candles.

Eden cast before her, sending a ball of fire rushing forward, crashing into the water Endora had conjured, tumbling for us. We ended up in a hollow cave carved into the belly of the mountain. I stumbled, realizing I’d been here before during the Trial that began below the catacombs of the black castle. Somewhere ahead, a fire serpent would be lurking.

We wouldn’t get that far, though. Not as Endora cast, moving the discarded boulders to lock us in the room. I didn’t bother proving that I could move them also. I simply took a step behind Eden, letting her flick a spell at her mother.

“Always a disappointment,” Endora said, spinning, far more spry than she’d ever given hint to. “Even in death, you betray me.”

“Save the small talk,” Eden answered.

But rather than attack her daughter, she turned to Bastian, casting a spell that he dodged. It exploded into a green cloud of poison as it hit the dark, curved wall behind him, crumbling the stone. The stalactites hanging from the ceiling like swords, shuddered.

Eden yelled, turned to Bastian and ripped the knife from his belt before running forward and forming a small, green-tinted barrier over her and her mother. My heart dropped into my stomach as I realized what she’d done. Atlas shifted to wolf as Bastian raced forward, pounding on the hard shell. Atlas clawed and dug and growled.

We all knew Eden would never be able to kill her mother on her own. She’d fight a good fight, and we’d have her back, but in the end it would take several of us. But this was not a barrier like the one she’d placed over the shop. Her mother would only escape if Eden died, or she dropped the barrier herself. She’d learned that lesson the hard way.

Endora cackled, flicking her fingers, striking Eden across the face. An angry red welt formed where the spell had smacked her. Eden countered and, though her mother was only feet from her in the clear dome, she missed as the old crone moved to the side.

“Take it down,” Bastian yelled, banging his fist.