Page 116 of Traitor Witch

But the light of the crystal lantern they're carrying is headed right this way.

Shit.

My heart jumps into my throat as I consider my options.

Confront them and probably lose since Rysen is a behemoth and Val controls every tiny thing aboard the ship.

Hide and hope they won't catch me. Again, Val will find me.

Run and later make up a plausible excuse as to why my scent was in the hold.

Panicked, I do the only thing I can think of.

"Lady Moon, grant me the power of shadow."

My whisper is barely audible. More a movement of my lips than true words.

Just quiet enough to escape the attention of a vampire listening to his captain rant about witches.

It works.

In seconds I've thrown myself back into the spirit world again. That horrible feeling made a thousand times worse by not having a destination in mind.

I slink through the hold, darting carefully between barrels when they're not looking. A few times, one of them comes too close. But the only trace of me left in the material plane is a shadow in their peripheral vision.

No one ever suspects a stray shadow to be anything but a trick of the light.

I make it out of the door before my grip on the magic weakens.

Tumbling back into the physical world I land on the stairs to the gun deck above. Dry heaving, I send more magic to the sound-muffling sigils on my heels and flee.

I don't stop until I crash through my cabin door.

"You were supposed to keep them distracted!" I hiss at Opal, edging the door closed and turning to face her, lying on the bed.

"I did...until Valorean decided the only way to deal with me was to find you."She gives a very feline snort, then jumps down to the floor, where a very large, very soggy, black mess has been dumped.

"Is that...?"

The ship's flag.

I burst out laughing.

"What did you do to it?" It looks like it's been dragged through the ocean, then clawed at.

Opal ignores the question."Shouldn't you be disposing of that shirt and working on your alibi?"

She has a good point there.

I rip the shirt over my head, set light to the fabric with a whispered prayer, and hurl the burning mass out of the window.

That done, I head straight for the bathroom, leaving a trail of the rest of my clothes behind me as I strip.

I was prepared for the eventuality that I might need an alibi when I started this crazy plan. So the bath already stands full of water. A whispered prayer heats it up until the air hangs heavy with steam and I slip into it with a sigh.

But my heart's still pounding.

Not long after, I hear the knock on my door.