Page 15 of The Witch and His Crow
If I could reach Caym, he would conceal me in shadows. The Coven would never have the chance to find me again. I would get as far away from London as I could fuck, I would hop on a few flights just to make sure I wasn’t discovered again.
I side-eyed Romy who was staring at the wall, continuing to drink the beer like her life depended on it. It was clear she was lost in thought, from the furrowing lines across her forehead to the tension around her eyes.
‘Seems like a steep risk for a stranger.’ Trusting someone wasn’t a skill I had learned yet. I didn’t think I ever would. But I could already tell it would be so easy to fall into the comfort of such a feeling with this woman beside me.
‘Everyone has a reason,’ Romy studied me, leaning forwards on her knees with the bottle dangling between her fingers. ‘You didn’t want to be found, and it is none of my business as to why. But the Coven has the blood to start the Witch Trials, so there’s no good reason you need to be forced to join in. Choice is important.’
I opened my mouth to tell her why, exactly, I’d be forced to join, but stopped myself. There was something easy about slipping into vulnerability around her. ‘Is that all?’
She shook her head, brown curls falling before bright eyes. ‘I’ve read your family’s files, Hector. Back-to-back. The night at clubEnergy, I mean… I understand what drives a person to chase danger. But a coven is a place of family, or at least it should be. Not somewhere we lock up our kin.’
She was speaking of my parents’ murder. Having someone acknowledge it with such a genuine softness in their eyes made my skin itch. A strange twinge passed through my chest. It started in my broken and chipped heart, spreading out across my ribs until the feeling opened up like wings over my back. My lips sealed shut, my eyes refusing to blink for fear a tear would escape, uncontrolled.
Finally, I took a long drink, delighting in the frothy, warm liquid as it begun to weed out the thistlebane from my blood. How long would it take until my power was back? Long enough to ask Romy more questions. ‘I still don’t think you are telling me the real reason as to why you want me gone.’
‘Ah so you’ve got me.’
I almost choked on the beer, shocked at her sudden honesty. ‘As you said, everyone has their reasons. Actions need them too.’
‘True. Well, I saw how you fought back in that alley. I don’t particularly want to face you during the Witch Trials. Consider this a selfless act for a selfish reason.’
‘Then thank you for being selfish.’ I finished the bottle in two more gulps.
‘No bother,’ Romy knocked my shoulder with hers.
I felt my mind shift back to my surroundings, checking the few details to see how best I would get out of a heavily guarded tower full of the world’s most powerful witches. ‘Got any tips for me as to how to get as far away from here as possible?’
‘Oh come on, Hector. Someone doesn’t survive for years,alone—’ she looked at me for a beat, with the glare of someone who knows that ‘alone’ isn’t exactly the term to use. That waswhen I remembered that Romy had seen Caym in the alleyway. Of course she did. But from the lack of mention of familiars, I gather she’d kept that nugget of knowledge to herself. ‘—without being aware of those around them. I’m sure you’ll have no problem finding theshadowsagain.’
Yes, she definitely saw Caym. Speaking of shadows, my familiar’s emotions were building into a chamber of boiling magma. If I didn’t act, there would be a high chance Caym would literally combust.
‘Seems risky, helping me.’ I swiped the remnants of foam from my mouth, delighting in the rush to my head.
‘You seem like a risk worth taking,’ Romy replied, winking. ‘Plus, ensuring you don’t partake in the Witch Trials increases my odds of winning, like I said. It’s a win-win for me if you do escape.’
Dumfounded, I watched Romy stand from the bed, take my empty bottle from my hand, and walk towards the door. She knocked on it, waiting for the movement beyond to signal the guards to open it up.
‘Good luck, Hector,’ Romy called over her shoulder as the door swung wide from the outside. A sliver of brilliant light pierced into the room, making me raise a hand to shield my eyes.
‘I change my mind,’ Caym’s chirp echoed across my skull. ‘I like that one.’
‘So do I,’ I replied, not bothering to whisper as Romy began flirting with guards, her voice brilliant with authority that seemed almost familiar.
‘Father has requested everyone to the central hub to prepare for the Witch Trials briefing. Followed by one last celebratory drink.’
‘But what about him?’
‘Let me stop you there. What you should be concerned with is following my Father’s command.’ Romy’s relation to Jonathancertainly explained her natural affinity with authority. ‘You remember the last time you refused him, don’t you Thomas?’
I didn’t hear Thomas’s reply over the rush of stomping feet. Romy’s soft chuckle was the last noise I caught before the door closed slowly, purposefully. I took the chance Romy offered me, throwing up a hand, casting out my tired magic. As expected, the beer worked wonders. My power rose to the surface, grasping a hold of the door with an invisible hand, stopping it from closing completely.
I was running within seconds.
CHAPTER FOUR
My heart hammered in my throat, the muscles throughout my legs aching. I cursed myself for sitting around for three days doing nothing—my body had suffered from the laziness. Ignoring the discomfort, I focused on getting out of the White Tower. Every passing second as I raced through the seemingly endless corridors of The White Tower, I expected to come face to face with my captors.
Allies and enemies had never blended so perfectly.
