Bloodwitch by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Author:Amelia Atwater-Rhodes [Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-98074-8
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2014-05-12T16:00:00+00:00

I WOKE, GAGGING, trembling, and struggling to breathe. My skin crawled. My muscles twitched. My head ached. And even though I felt like I was awake, all around me the shadows warped and stretched, threatening me.

“—is beyond what I—”

Burn! Must burn! The image of wildfire spreading across an endless plane forced its way into my vision.

“—can’t you try—”

I was vaguely aware of figures leaning over me, but they were dim and colorless, fighting with the fire and the shadows, which seemed so much more vivid.

I lost my tenuous grasp on the real world and sank back into nightmares.

I woke again, this time on a little bed in an unfamiliar room that smelled of herbs, with an underlying odor of rotten blood. I knew that last scent too well. It was as if my dreams followed me, even when I opened my eyes.

I tried to push myself into a sitting position, but I was still too weak.

Just turning my head was enough to wind me. Once I had, I found that I was not alone.

Jaguar was standing in the doorway, his expression blank and unreadable. He was looking in my direction, but did not seem to be seeing me.

Sitting beside me was Yaretzi, the pochtecatl who had tried to drag me back to the market. She looked at me when I turned my head but did not meet my gaze before looking back down.

My arm was stretched out, extending past the edge of the bed. Yaretzi was holding my wrist just below two cuts in the skin of my forearm, which were dripping blood into a gold basin she held in her other hand.

“A bloodwitch is a holy vessel, dedicated to carrying Malinalxochitl’s magic,” she said, looking only at the flow of blood and the elaborate beaten-metal basin in which she gathered it. “When we come of age, we make sacrifice at the temple. Our kin make prayers on our behalf, and after that, Malinalxochitl hears us. We sacrifice our blood to her, and she allows us the use of her magic.

“This boy was never dedicated. Sacrifice was made; someone near him was bled, violently, probably fatally, and so his magic woke.” Calysta. Felix. I had seen enough blood and violence to last me a lifetime, it seemed, but I didn’t comment as she continued. “But the proper rites were not observed. The vessel was profaned. He does not give sacrifice, so the magic just builds within him, and he has no way to direct it. Without kin to guide him, he never will.”

“What can you do?” Jaguar asked.

“I gave sacrifice with his blood,” she answered. “That will quiet the magic for a little while.” She put a hand over my hand. “Ehecatl, Malachi Obsidian tells me you were raised in this world and have never been given the opportunity to choose another. Now the vampires tell me that by their laws you are freeblood. So I will give you this one chance. I will speak on your behalf if you choose to leave here and join our people.

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