Page 23 of The Unbound Witch

“Unbeknownst to anyone at that time, King Dristan had already fallen in love with his future wife, the newly appointed Fire Coven leader, Juliette. When I arrived, the coven Grimoire in my arms, I fell upon their mercy. Not as a potential bride, but as a young witch, trying to save the world from the damage my mother would bring upon it. I believed if she didn’t have her Grimoire, she would not be able to unleash the Harrowing.”

“Well, you were wrong on that account.” Kir moved away from the old witch, holding my gaze. “Raven is the only one that’s ever survived it.”

All eyes fell on me, but Eden’s were the most jarring. “How did you manage it?”

“I didn’t. Not intentionally anyway. I was only fortunate that the coven leaders and a massive number of witches were nearby. They filled me with power, fighting it. Calling it off.”

Eden shook her head, looking at Grey. “Why would they have saved her? They needed her to die.”

“I don’t think they expected it to work. No one anticipated Bastian to be nearby, to provide magic from the seventh coven. With all the other witches watching them, they couldn’t have let her die, not without a show of trying to save her.”

Of course. I hadn’t considered that every single coven had been represented. And because every Moon Coven witch was there, it more than compensated for Tasa’s absence. I’d been accidentally saved, thanks to the king that was no more. And when he’d told me that fact, I hadn’t believed him.

“Do you think my mother… did something to try to protect me?”

“Oh, I’m quite sure of that, my dear.” Eden reached across the table, taking my reluctant hand in hers. “Your grandmother was a fearsome witch that would have died protecting her family. Your mother was no different.”

“My grandmother did die,” I said quietly. “Protecting the Grimoire, not her family.”

Eden pointed to the spine of a large book stacked below many others on the table. “I gave up my whole life protecting this one.”

I wasn’t ready. Was wholly unprepared to see that treasured book at the bottom of a casual pile as if it meant nothing. My heart leapt into my throat, Kirsi’s audible gasp an echo of my own as we studied the ridges and grooves along the binding. That flicker of power pulsing now.

I pushed a wild curl from my face. “That’s why they can’t scry for you or the book. The human lands are masking you. But surely Endora has realized that by now.”

“I agree. We’ve had a few run-ins with witches over the years. But the shifters have always—” She jerked her head to Grey before jumping out of her seat. “If you’re here, then… who is protecting the other books?”

“Sit down, Eden.” Grey kept his voice calm, though her frantic tone scared me.

The other Grimoires were no longer protected beyond the strength of the shifters. With Bastian’s death, his magical barrier would die. They had to have known that. Not only had they removed him from power, but they’d also given themselves easier access to their most coveted treasure.

I turned slowly to Grey. “Your aunt. When she cast with two Grimoires…”

Eden nodded, slumping back into her seat. “She took the life and light from the Fire Coven that day with the smallest spell. If they learn… If my mother learns this…”

“That’s why we’re here. We need to get back as soon as possible.”

“But the barrier?” Torryn asked, startling me, as I hadn’t heard them return from tending to the horse.

“It’s a risk you knew you’d take one day,” Grey said, his casual posture a little too relaxed to be believable. He was worried. And I hadn’t even considered it, lost in my own grief and guilt.

“You’ll find the shipmaster tomorrow,” Eden said to Atlas and Torryn. “It looks like we are headed home.”

“We?” Kirsi asked.

“The witch hunters are getting closer and closer. The human lands aren’t safe for me anymore. I’ll either be discovered by my mother or attacked and eventually killed. It’s time to face this, come what may.”

Kirsi gritted her teeth, moving to the space between Eden and me. “All these years, the royal family has taken the blame for you. They’ve held your secret no matter the cost to them. And don’t be fooled, that cost was great. Stories were spun. King Dristan didn’t have a chance in hell of making peace as soon as the witches believed he’d murdered you and hid the Moss Coven Grimoire. And now you justdecideit’s time to go home? To put that thing back on the playing board? This is a mistake, and you know it.”

Atlas stepped forward, Torryn just a pace behind him, as Grey rose from his seat.

“Kir,” I whispered, standing.

The room swayed with me, rippling like a drop of water in a still pond. The last thing I remembered was Grey, all arms, lunging for me.

10

KIRSI