The Last Windwitch by Jennifer Adam

Author:Jennifer Adam
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2021-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

— Eighteen —

Hex

“A HEX?” THE thought was enough to shake Brida’s composure. Hexes had to be cast from dark magic, and they were very rare. “Who would wish to harm her?” Brida said it lightly, as if to reassure the boys that this was nothing but a fever that would soon break. After all, that was the most likely explanation. . . .

She didn’t expect their reaction.

Bear leaned across the bed and grabbed Brida by the wrist. His eyes had gone wild and a flicker of fear sizzled through her body. He was so much bigger and stronger than her.

“The queen,” he said.

“Why would the queen—”

A shadow darted across the small window on the far wall, accompanied by the flap of wings. The watery pane of glass had a crack in the bottom corner and was so covered in dust it barely let in a dim glow, but Bones flung himself toward it. Pressing his nose against the dirty window, he stared at the sky for a long, breathless moment.

“Not a Crow. Just a dove,” he finally said.

“A white dove?” Brida asked, and then realized she was being witless. Of course it wouldn’t be her dove, so far from Oak Hollow.

Hush sucked in a rattle of air and Bones flew back to her bedside, standing beside Bear. “Can’t you help her?”

“I’ll try, but . . . I’m not a hedgewitch.” And I’ll probably never be a hedgewitch. “I’m just an apprentice, and . . . I’m not a very good one. I’ll do everything I can for your friend, but I can’t promise it will be enough.”

The confession tasted bitter on Brida’s tongue, but she owed them the truth.

Bear’s muscular shoulders hunched as if he’d been hit and he turned away, but Bones smiled. “You got strong magic. You can do this.”

Brida didn’t share his confidence, but she’d endangered these boys the instant she followed Bones from the alley. The least she could do was try to save the girl they cared about.

Pressing her folded hands to her stomach, she took a few slow breaths to calm and clear her mind. She needed to remember everything Magdi had taught her. If she made a mistake now, she might not get a second chance to help Hush.

“Bones, can you find me yarrow, grated gingerroot, and peppermint leaves?” These formed the foundation for most remedies and were commonly stocked with spices, but Brida couldn’t risk wandering around the market looking for a shop with the Huntsman and his Hounds out there.

“I’ll go,” Bear said, rising and lumbering toward the door.

Brida grabbed the small purse of coins Mother Magdi had insisted she carry and tried to hold it out to him, but he thrust his hands in his pockets.

“I don’t need your money. I can get the herbs myself.”

If he was half as quick as Bones had been, she had no doubt he could snatch whatever he wanted and disappear before he was noticed—even given his stature. But she didn’t want to try a healing spell with stolen ingredients.

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