The Winter Witch by Karpov Kinrade & Heather Hildenbrand

Author:Karpov Kinrade & Heather Hildenbrand
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781939559647
Publisher: Daring Books
Published: 2019-12-11T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

My dreams are fitful, starting innocently and then morphing into terrible nightmares full of gnashing teeth snapping at the people I love. I wake to a vision that grips me so hard, I am paralyzed to stop it. In it, the snow falls thicker than I’ve ever seen before. The villagers of Willowdale are buried beneath it, their houses completely barricaded by the drifts. Fires go out. People freeze.

I come out of it weeping for the dead and unable to shake the feeling that this vision is a premonition rather than a simple nightmare.

Instead of dressing, I hurry to the cabinet where I’ve stowed my herbs and pull them out, choosing a specific blend that will allow me to see what’s to come more clearly. These visions are often vague and challenging to interpret, but I have to try.

After grinding the herbs, I mix it into a cup of tea already hot and waiting at my bedside and then lean back on the bed, ready for the effects. The drink hits me hard and fast, pulling me under just as my bedroom door opens and Alaric walks in.

“Adara?” he calls, but I’m already too far inside myself to answer.

This time, I come out of it gasping, with Alaric shaking my shoulders. Worry lines his features as he calls my name repeatedly.

“Adara, can you hear me?”

“I’m here,” I say, winded and trying to get my bearings after such a disturbing scene.

“What happened? Are you sick? What can I do?”

His worry borders on desperation, but I shake my head, reassuring him. “I’m fine.”

I hesitate, wondering how much to tell him about what I saw and what I am. But when I meet his eyes and see the concern reflected in their black depths, I decide to go with the truth.

“I had a vision,” I tell him. “I wasn’t sure if it was a nightmare at first, so I made a potion that would help me understand.”

“And what did you see?”

“There’s a storm coming. A bad one. Worse than this kingdom has ever known. It will wipe out Willowdale.” I grip his arms, reliving the scene I just witnessed in the vision. “Everyone will die. We have to do something.”

Alaric sighs, releasing my arms and sitting on the edge of my bed so that we are eye to eye. His expression is unreadable now, and I wait to see if he believes my claims.

“I know you care about your people,” he begins, and while I’m relieved he’s not bringing up how I’ve managed to conjure a vision, I can’t help but point out his word choice.

“Our people,” I say stubbornly, and after a moment, he nods.

“Our people, yes. And if there was something I could do, I would do it, but if I go down there, it would still end in death. Please understand that by staying here, I am protecting them from myself.”

He’s right, of course. And even if he were to let me go, I am still not well enough to travel that distance and warn them.

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