War Witch by Layla Nash

Author:Layla Nash [Nash, Layla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-04-20T16:00:00+00:00

I stood in the foyer and concentrated on that thread of magic in my hand, all that remained from the contortions as the antidote burned through my muscles. Blessed saints, it hadn’t hurt that much the first time I was bitten. Maybe it got worse each time. I shivered to think of it, and drew breath to distract Leif and Moriah from fighting, maybe ask Leif to remove the collar. There was no need for it, not really.

As I turned, the world slowed around me and my heart beat slow and steady. Threat. I looked for the trouble, breathing deep and even as I clenched my hands into fists. Then…appearing from an adjoining hall, three witches, all wearing the symbolic but ineffective steel bracelets the Alliance used when they detained witches but didn’t feel the need to block them from their magic. The tallest one’s face twisted, teeth bared, and her right hand snapped out to point at me. “You.”

Another, with long dark hair that reminded me of Joanne, pointed at me with both hands. She spat curses with enough vehemence and magic that they could have stuck, flaring out from her palms like green smoke.

Chaos erupted as Kyle stumbled back over his own feet, and I reached for the collar as I curled my body in and down, making a smaller target as I got my hands on the iron. Felt the deep burn as it scored my palms. The thread of magic was enough, weak but pure, and all I really needed was intent. The collar came loose, peeling out of the furrow it burned in my neck, and I threw it at the witches as I raised my hands and drew a shield up like a curtain.

Their shifter guards swore, grabbing one to contain her, but were repelled with a wave of magic. More curses spilled out, hateful and dark, and the tall one picked up a nearby vase to chuck at me when the hexes didn’t seem to do the trick. “You murdered my coven mate, you bitch I will kill—”

“They had it coming,” I snapped, raising my left arm to block another hex and then swung it back, knocking Moriah and Leif and Kyle behind my shield and into my sphere of protection despite Jake’s snarls. My right hand called down a stream of blue magic and turned it into spikes, ice and hate, and drove into their clothes and shoulders to pin them to the wall. At least with the magic I didn’t feel exhausted and resigned. I could fight as long as it took. “And I’d do it again in a heartbeat, except maybe I’d do it more slowly.”

The witches howled in rage, struggling against the magic icicles that trapped them like drab moths against a pin board, and pitched wild spells that bounced off my shield and pinged into the walls like magical shrapnel.

Soren roared inside the house, and Leif cursed under his breath as a cloud of red magic rose up and tangled around our knees.

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