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Chapter Fifteen
Freya
Cold gnawed at my fingers, and fear swirled in my stomach. I wondered how my mother survived the many long-ago battles she’d told me about as a child. I knew the spells she taught me and the fighting techniques I’d been tutored in from a young age, but I didn’t know how to handle so many lives in my hands. I couldn’t let Walker and Cadence die here—not when I was the one who had dragged them into my mess.
I rubbed my sweaty hands against my jeans and rolled my shoulders. The side entrance was straight ahead, just past a slope of jagged rock. As fog drifted, the small, nearly invisible door shifted in and out of focus. The fog was so dense, the rocks the castle perched on appeared to grow out of misty oblivion.
I slipped on a loose rock but caught myself. A few seconds passed before the rock that slipped struck something solid. Its thump was so quiet I nearly missed it.
“You okay?” Walker asked from behind me.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Keep your voice down. We don’t want them waking.”
Vampires had excellent hearing and vision. They were the ultimate predators, designed to do nothing but kill and consume. Unlike witch covens or werewolf packs, they only lived together to amass power. Family meant nothing to them.
Only blood mattered.
Please, Goddess, I prayed, don’t let ours spill.
The entrance to the castle was less than ten feet away. The doorway was hardly discernable, even this close, but I kept my focus glued to it. The door was cut with straight edges and made from slightly smoother stone, just like Mom had told me.
Almost there, I thought.
I took a step, but no floor met my foot.
I gasped and braced myself for a freefall, but I was jerked back by strong arms around my waist. I sailed back and collided with Walker’s chest. While I scrambled for footing, he barely stayed upright. When we finally caught our balance, we stood in silence for a few heartbeats.
“This is off to a great start,” he whispered.
If he hadn’t just saved my life, I would’ve hit him.
Instead, I replied, “Watch your step.”
He snorted. Lifting his hat, he ran a hand through his wavy hair. The fog had dampened it, as well as our clothes and my own hair. It only worsened the bones-deep chill that seeped through my body.
I studied the steep drop before us, which was hidden mostly by fog. I sent a small gust of wind through it and revealed a twelve-foot-deep ravine that surrounded the castle’s border.
“I guess your mom forgot to mention this?” Walker said.
I sighed. “Maybe they renovated.”
There was a small ledge on the hidden doorway, but I didn’t trust my own balance to jump and land there successfully. I trusted Walker’s even less. I could levitate us with wind again, but the more magic I used, the more likely we’d wake the vampires. Their castle was covered in ancient wards to protect them from daytime attacks. Any magical breaking and entering would raise the alarm. I cursed whatever foolish witch had created the protections. Scaling the ravine would be equally risky.
The Sun drifted lower in the gray sky by the second. We only had a few hours before the moon took over, and absolute darkness blanketed the mountain. We would be in the vampires’ castle with no way to kill them.
Think, think, think.
Finally, an epiphany struck. “A blending spell.”
“A what?” Walker asked.
My stomach flipped with anxiety, but there was no better option.
“A blending spell,” I repeated. “You know how I can alter my appearance?”
He nodded.
“Blending is like that, except you blend into the elements. I’ve done it before.” Once, I didn’t add. “It will get us across without alerting any wards that magic has been used, if I do it right. That’s why it’s called blending—if you completely join with nature, it won’t leave a trace.”
