Page 137 of Traitor Witch

"We come back," I growl. "Swear it. We don't abandon Nilsa. You will do whatever it takes to find her again."

Val remains silent, casting his eyes over the cliffs.

"Swear it, mage." My fangs are out. Emotion turning my eyes red.

"I promise we'll find her." He runs a hand through his hair. “We'll start looking the moment the cargo is unloaded and if... if she wants to stay, I'll not get in the way."

Kier nods, though we all know the bargain has been struck.

"Casimir!" Val yells over the open ocean. "We've got to go."

There's an answering roar, but it's distant.

"He's lost to his beast." Nos's whisper draws all of our gazes back down to where he's laying, curled up on the deck. He staggers to his feet but smacks away Val's steadying hand. "He'll stay close, but Nilsa is the only one who will have any chance of bringing him back."

Nos grabs in the empty air for the railing, eventually finding it and clutching it to keep himself steady. He's paler than a wraith. The strain of his vision is written into the lines of his face.

"We have to go or she'll beat us there." Despite his haggardness, Nos has a new energy to his voice. A certainty that wasn't there before. "Cawshome awaits, gentlemen."

"Cawshome?" Val echoes. "Why the fuck is the witch going there?"

Nos smiles. "For the same reason all Shadows go to the capital; to kill the Queen."

"None of them have ever succeeded," I retort, gut clenching. "She'll die before she makes it over the palace wall."

Just the thought of Nilsa's body being strung up on the salt wall for the carrion eaters makes me feel sick. The Eagle of Galmere is infamous for her lack of mercy when it comes to punishing traitors.

When she caught her own brother plotting their mother'sdeath, she had him mounted on a pike in the harbour while he was still alive.

It takes hours for a human to die that way.

Even longer for an immortal.

The Seer's secret smile stays in place. Almost like he can feel the three of us glaring at him and just likes keeping us on edge.

"He wouldn't be smiling if she was going to her death," Val says, running a hand through his hair. "Fucking Seers."

Nos's frown is instant and defensive. "Don't blame the messenger."

"Fine. Fucking Fate."

Chapter Thirty-Seven

NILSA

“Again."

Petra's voice is like a whip.

Sweat drips down my spine, slicking my hair to my exposed skin. Magic burns icy-cold against my fingers as I pull myself into the spirit plane.

Then, just as quickly, reform in the material plane again.

"Faster."

Goddess, this woman is trying to kill me.

Spirit. Reality. Spirit. Reality.