Page 25 of Traitor Witch (The Deadwood #1)

Chapter Twenty-Five

NILSA

I t takes Elsie two hours to 'pack', and during that time Kier finds me again. He takes in my new clothes, but stays predictably quiet.

"I have two requests to make of Valorean," I mumble. "But he'll refuse."

He arches one brow.

"I..." Ah crap, how do I explain this? "I've been tasked with taking a Solar witch to Idos and I think... I think I have to go there, anyway." I fiddle with the ring around my throat. "How can I convince him to let her onto the Deadwood and take us there?"

Kier shrugs.

Well, that's unhelpful.

"I've thought about it a lot, and I think the only way he'll agree is if he makes me another bargain." I'm talking aloud solely to try to make sense of my own thoughts at this point, but Kier nods along, anyway. "But what would he ask of me this time? "

He moves so fast it feels like I've barely blinked before he's standing directly in front of me, his chest brushing against my own as his eyes bore into mine.

"Scared?"

I shake my head. "I can take whatever he dishes out."

Kier nods and moves back so he's leaning against the tower beside me. It takes some time before he speaks again.

"Curse temple?"

I grimace. So much for being grateful the pirates didn't find me.

"You saw that, huh?"

He shrugs, but there's a tension to his shoulders that wasn't there a second ago.

"It was the first time I've ever cursed anything," I admit. "I just... they made me so angry . How dare they do that to a sacred temple? It made the Goddess mad as well... I could feel her rage. I think that's part of why it burned me out so badly."

I sigh, looking down at the scarves barely covering my body, and let a trickle of magic flow out of Opal to switch them back to the Solar robes of before. She's low on magic, so I resolve to ration what she has to last the next three days.

Goddess, the new moon has always been such an inconvenience, but it's even more so now. Solars can reliably use their power every day—unless there's an eclipse—but Lunars lose access to the magic of the Goddess once a month every month.

"I really miss my own clothes."

Kier's grunt of annoyance makes me smirk. I guess the fae hates my Solar robes as much as I do.

"I'm ready!" Elsie's voice precedes her out of the tower.

For all that time she's spent packing, she still only has one bag draped over her shoulder. Her eyes are dry, but red-rimmed, and her posture is timid .

"Can we... can we stop to see someone before I leave?" she asks.

I roll my eyes but nod. "If it's quick."

"He lives right on the sea wall!" she promises, already halfway across the street.

"Slow down," I say, "I'm supposed to be protecting you, remember? And pull up your hood, you never know who might recognise you after yesterday."

She blushes. "Oh, right. Sorry."

I roll my eyes and fall into step beside her. "Let's get a few things straight. You've already outed me to one person, but as far as anyone else we meet knows, I'm a Solar. Got it?"

"Yup."

"No talking of harems. No mentioning my... job." I toss a glance over my shoulder at Kier, who cocks a brow. "Nothing. In fact, a vow of silence might work best."

"Well, what if you give yourself away?"

"I won't."

"But you walk wrong. Your magic is the wrong colour and surely, with the new moon tomorrow, you'll have to come up with an excuse for why you have no magic."

Now she's definitely gotten Kier's interest.

"How about we just stop giving out Lunar witch weaknesses in the middle of the street?" I hiss, grinding my teeth together as I keep walking. "Who is this person we're going to see?"

"His name is Cooper."

“A male?" That seems strange... for a Solar. "Does your Mother Solar know about this?"

Elsie's aghast expression tells me I've got completely the wrong idea. "Cooper's a friend of the coven! He's not— Ewww gross! I can't believe you thought I'd copulate with him."

I cringe. "Please don't ever use that word again. "

"Copulate? What's wrong with it?"

I make a face at her. "Nothing, just... never say it again in my presence."

"What about fornicate?"

Ugh , this is why I don't want kids. Was I this annoying as a teenager? "No."

"Coitus?"

"No."

"Intercourse?"

I glower at her. "It's fucking. Making love if you're into that wishy-washy bullshit, and sex if it's meaningless. No other terms."

"Not even boinking?"

I glare at her, only to find the Solar is grinning like she's won the lottery.

"Remember what I can do before you decide to piss me off," I caution in a low voice that still makes Kier's pointed ears twitch.

The fae is going to put two and two together and figure out I'm a Shadow pretty damn quick if I keep talking to this kid.

"Come on, let's get this over with."

When Elsie leads us to a huge wall, straight on the seafront, I get suspicious.

This doesn't look like the home of 'just a friend.' This looks like the home of someone wealthier than the Queen.

It has a garden, for Goddess’s sake, and when Elsie leads us over a wall, I frown.

"This is suspiciously like breaking and entering," I mutter.

"Coop's parents aren't friendly to witches," she whispers back, leading us through rows and rows of ornamental shrubs that have no place in a world struggling for farmland as ours is. "He basically lives in his shed, though."

As she speaks, a cloud of smoke billows out of the window of a ramshackle building hidden behind some very tall hedges. This corner of the garden is almost certainly disguised for a reason. There are scorch marks on the walls nearby, and twisted metal contraptions tossed in a heap beside one wall.

The door flies open and out flies a ginger-haired, lanky teenager. His glasses askew and his face covered in soot as he hops in place, trying to put out the fire on his sleeve.

Eventually he gives up, dunking his whole arm in a trough of some foul-smelling water.

"Coop!" Elsie dashes closer and fusses, taking his arm and muttering a prayer to the Sun Goddess until the burned skin is pink and new. "What did you do?"

"I nearly had it!" He pulls his glasses off and tries to clean them with the hem of his shirt before replacing them and scowling at the crack now running through one lens. "Elsie, I was so freaking close..." he trails off, finally catching sight of Kier and I. "Who are these people?"

"This is Nilsa and her male."

I practically sense Kier's smirk at Elsie's assumption and my scowl does nothing to dim it.

"Kier. This is Kier and he's not my male."

Cooper, to his credit, immediately gets between Elsie and me, though he lacks any form of intimidating presence and his stance is so bad that a good gust of wind might blow him over.

"The same Nilsa who murdered your High Priestess's daughter?"

"Apparently, she didn't." Elsie lays a single, restraining hand on his arm. "High Priestess Elodie has charged her with taking me away."

"Away?" All of the protectiveness drains out of Cooper, replaced with a horrible, kicked-puppy look that makes it clear he's half in love with Elsie. "Away where? You can't go." He glares at me like it's my fault. "She's one of the few good things about this city."

I shrug. "I didn't ask for this any more than she did."

"The High Priestess wouldn't have sent me without good reason," Elsie says, though her voice is shaky. "I don't want to go, but..."

Cooper's shoulders sag. "But you have to. I get it." He bites his lip. "Just... just wait here, one second!"

He dives back into the shed.

I give Elsie my best unimpressed look.

Her answering puppy-dog eyes have more of an effect on me than I'll ever admit.

"He's my best friend," she pleads.

"Fine."

"You're the best witch-boogeyman ever!"

I'm the boogeyman now? The moment we're alone, I need to make this girl tell me exactly what the other Solars have been saying about me.

It takes ten more, mind bogglingly dull minutes before Cooper reappears, brandishing a tiny pendant on a long string. The amulet at the end is comprised of several black metal rings, etched with mage glyphs, which orbit a fragment of glowing crystal. The whole thing stinks of burning. Elsie immediately clasps it around her neck, spouting praise at Cooper before tucking the tiny piece of mage-tech beneath the neckline of her high-necked robe.

I almost have to physically drag her away from the awkward mage and his ramshackle shed after that.

"No more goodbyes," I mutter. "I still have to manage to convince Valorean to let you on his boat."

Kier's snort does not fill me with confidence.

It isn't until we get to the rowboat that I realise it's just the two of us and Kier.

"Where's Cas? Rysen? "

The fae just gives me a look .

"Right, they're adult men who can look after themselves. It's only me who apparently needs a babysitter," I grumble.

Elsie grins. "I'd want to keep an eye on someone with your reputation too."

I level her with my best 'shut up now' glare.

"Right. Silence..."

We all climb into the tiny rowboat and Kier takes the oars as I struggle to come up with a reason why Val should take Elsie and me to Idos.

Opal sits in my lap, feet curled beneath her, and watches the fae as his powerful arms propel us across the bay towards the dark ship on the horizon.

I still haven't thought of anything by the time the shadow of the hull looms over us.

"Why have we picked up yet another witch?" Val grumbles, though I can't even see him.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, master bond mage," Elsie pipes up. "Elsie at your service."

Kier abandons the boat, flying up to the deck as ropes descend to anchor the tiny craft to the Deadwood .

Val's silence worries me more than I can let on.

It's cowardly, but I let Elsie go first and climb the ladder onto the deck, inwardly dreading what I'll find at the top.

But it's nothing like what I expect.

Elsie is making cooing noises and fussing over ... the biggest, most slobbery dog I've ever seen. The beige-coloured monster is on its back, making funny, running motions with its feet in the air as Elsie pets it.

"What—" Opal begins, tone dripping with disgust— "is that?"

But one look at Val's smug face and I know.

This is his revenge.

I want to laugh out loud .

Opal can eat that slobber monster for breakfast.

"I think it's a challenge," I whisper to my familiar.

My cat drops from her customary perch around my shoulders, arches her back in a stretch and turns her head towards me.

"Hmph. We shall see."

She has the attention of everyone except the mastiff.

That is, until Elsie stops rubbing his chest to observe.

"Meet Titan." Val's self-satisfied smirk just makes what's coming all the sweeter. "I decided we needed a ship's dog to deal with a certain pest."

His tone makes it clear that the pest he's talking about is Opal.

I glower at him.

"If Opal makes him submit, you take us to Idos."

He doesn't even blink. "Done."

I hear Nos's chuckle behind me.

Titan gets to his feet and examines the innocent-looking cat now sitting three feet away from him.

The instant Titan growls, Opal shifts. Going from house-cat to tigress in a matter of seconds.

Her growl is louder.

The mastiff bolts, heading for the space behind the stairs like his tail's on fire.

"What the fuck is that thing?" Val roars, chasing after his new dog with a scathing look at me.

Opal shrinks back to normal, makes a tiny mew of satisfaction, then pads over to Elsie, demanding the strokes the Solar was just giving to Titan.

"Where's your familiar?" I ask Elsie, only now noticing her lack of one.

Normally, all witches are chosen by their kittens at thirteen. White cats for Solars and black for Lunars .

That Opal is a grey tabby is an anomaly, but I've never questioned the Goddess's judgement.

"The mages started slaughtering cats for being bad luck." Elise shrugs but her fists are clenched. "There weren't any left by the time of my thirteenth summer solstice ceremony."

"Maybe on Idos..." I trail off.

I've never heard of a bonding happening so late.

"Yeah, maybe." She trails off, abandoning Opal in favour of helping Val coax a terrified Titan out of his hiding place.

When the mastiff emerges, Val glares at me. "Why did no one mention that the cat is a shifter?"

Suddenly all of the other men have somewhere else to be and it's just me, smirking at the bondmage.

"If I may, Captain, I'd like your permission to perform a blessing for the journey," Elsie pipes up.

Ugh. Solars.

I may vomit.

Val just looks suspicious. "How much?"

Elsie frowns. "The Sun Goddess frowns on charging for her services."

Of course, his eyes go straight back to me, accusation lingering in their depths.

I clench my teeth. "I'll be in my cabin. Tell me when we reach Idos."

Hopefully, Elsie won't have given away everything by then.