Page 38 of Traitor Witch

“I didn’t do it,” I whisper to whichever witch has scried me.

They don’t need to know my location if they can trace my own strands of magic back to me. That’s child’s play. Now someone has, and I’m defenceless. No herbs, no salt. Nothing to banish them except the sea water.

“I didn’t kill either High Priestess,” I insist, addressing the unknown witch in the room with me. “I’m going to prove my innocence, if you’ll just give me a chance!”

The water in the tub starts icing over.

Damn it! They’re trying to stop me from washing off the trace.

“Mother Moon, let this water wash the traces of your magic.” The ice is freezing, chilling me down to my bones as my teeth start to chatter. “Mother Moon, let this salt cleanse and purify me.” It’s solidifying around me now, and panic starts to set in as the sensation of being trapped threatens to overwhelm me.

My only chance is to finish the chant. “Mother Moon, let this power replace the old.”

I draw from Opal, but she seems further away, and the magical ice is covering me at an incredible rate.

So cold.

My breath mists in front of my eyes.

“Mother Moon.” It’s getting harder to force the words out. My tongue feels like a block of ice. My vision darkens at the edges. “Hear my prayer.”

There’s a distant smash.

Then it all goes black.

Chapter Eleven

CASIMIR

I’m cheating at cards—and winning—when the cat leaps up to Kier and jabs its claws into the fae’s inner thigh. I wince in sympathy as he shoots into the air with a yell that could wake the dead. It takes Kier seconds to reach down and extract its claws from his flesh, but the cat just goes straight for him again.

I can’t help my chuckle because, so far, the little tabby seems quite fond of anyone who feeds or strokes her. Obviously, Kier and Val haven’t figured that out, and I have no intention of telling them when the results are so funny to watch.

But when the cat goes after Rysen? That’s when we all know something’s wrong.

I lurch to my feet, staring at the cat in confusion.

“Nilsa?” I ask.

The feline nods at me.

I’m worried enough that I don’t even question it.

All three of us bolt for the hatch, supernatural speed making the distance to her door take less than a second.

Val’s already there. “What the hell is the witch doing?” he demands, rubbing his arms like he’s trying to ward off a chill.

The door is iced over, but Rysen ignores that and kicks it open, charging into Nilsa’s cabin like a man possessed.

She’s not here.

The whole room is covered in a layer of frost, and we look at Kier who shrugs.

No. This isn’t his doing.

We spin on the spot, searching for our mate.

The cat doesn’t have time for us; she leaps from Rysen’s arms and bolts into the bathroom like a creature possessed.