Witch's Sacrifice (The Hemlock Chronicles Book 5) by Emma L. Adams

Author:Emma L. Adams [Adams, Emma L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-11T16:00:00+00:00

13

Isabel and Agnes waited for me when I reappeared on Waverley Bridge. A cold breeze stirred my hair, cooling the tingling in my skin from the aftereffects of the god’s magic.

“Did you undo the binding?” asked Agnes.

“I did,” I said, “but the curse is spreading even faster than before.”

“I was afraid it would,” she murmured. “What did you learn?”

I told her, in brief terms, what I'd witnessed through Evelyn’s eyes. When I’d finished, Agnes remained silent for a few long moments, while Isabel watched us both anxiously.

“You knew, didn’t you?” I said to Agnes. “You knew Evelyn’s parents died in the other realm, and their—our—magic woke the Devourer.”

“I did,” she said. “I wanted you to witness those events for yourself before making your decision.”

“Not much of a choice.” I tugged my sleeves down over the fresh grey-brown colouring on my arms. “I stay cursed forever, or everyone dies. Evelyn’s still missing, and the curse isn’t going to wait for me to find her before it claims me.”

Like it or not, it was starting to look like the Soul Collector might be the only person capable of tracking her location in time for me to redo the binding before the curse ensnared me for good.

“We’ll find her.” Isabel frowned over my shoulder. “Asher. What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you.” Asher walked over, eyeing Agnes. “I didn’t know you were in town, Agnes.”

“Did everyone in the city know who you were except for me?” I shook my head. “If I didn’t know the Hemlocks had as little sense of humour as Lady Harper, I’d accuse them of orchestrating this whole thing to screw with me on purpose.”

“We kept our distance for a reason,” said Agnes, giving Asher an appraising look. “Isabel, you never told me your boyfriend was cursed by one of the gods.”

Isabel stiffened. “Excuse me?”

Asher turned on Agnes. “What did you just say?”

“That’s what it is, right?” said the older witch, unruffled by his accusing tone. “I can see its magic feeding on your soul. I’m surprised you’re still standing.”

Isabel’s eyes grew rounder with each word, her hands twisting together.

Asher shook his head. “It’s not like that.”

“You told me it was a blood curse,” Isabel said to him, her voice quiet.

“It is,” he said, not meeting her eyes. “But I didn’t put the mark there myself.”

Isabel’s frosty expression, and the sudden flare of bright runes on her arms, made the air turn static. I didn’t blame Asher for taking a step back.

Agnes grunted. “You’ll be lucky to last another year.”

Isabel’s visible anger gave way to disbelief. “You said two years, Asher. Two. What did you do?”

I remained still, uncomfortable to be witnessing something so private, but with no idea how to sneak away unnoticed.

“I hoped we might be able to stall it,” Asher said. “And you were right—the concoction has helped, just not as much as I’d hoped. Her magic did, too.” He jerked his head towards me, and I halted mid-step.

Damn. No wonder my Hemlock magic had temporarily healed him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.