Witch's Sacrifice

by Emma L. Adams

  “Thank you,” said Isabel. “Which way is the city?”

  “I can drop you off. It’ll be quicker—and safer.” He shifted into dragon form again in a blink, and before I could quite get a handle on my thoughts, he picked each of us up in a claw and took to the skies.

  Fog brushed me from either side as the dragon’s long scaled body flew over the hillside. Isabel stared open-mouthed at me, while I held my body still to avoid being dropped. Then the dragon touched down on a platform wreathed in fog and placed the two of us in front of him. Isabel and I stumbled, grabbing one another for support. In a beat of leathery wings, the dragon was in the air again.

  “Thank—” I started, but in another wingbeat, the dragon had vanished into the fog. “Damn.”

  Isabel let go of me and swayed on the spot. “I don’t think I like flying.”

  “You okay?”

  She nodded. “He didn’t want to stick around. I’m guessing it’s because he and these other dragons aren’t friends.”

  “I figured.” I looked at her glowing hands. “Is the tracking spell still active?”

  She closed her eyes. “Yes… it’s this way.”

  We walked past twin statues of giant dragons much like the one we’d found on the hillside. In front of us, rows of stone buildings formed a patchwork of streets, each one wide enough to accommodate a full-grown dragon shifter.

  Judging by the size of the houses, I would hazard a guess that a dragon had designed the whole city. Doorways were taller and wider than any I’d seen before, while all the buildings appeared to be one floor each, built of strong, sturdy-looking grey stone. Yet no sounds disturbed the silence, and no people, or dragons, walked in the streets.

  I kept both eyes out for trouble as Isabel followed the trace of the tracking spell, gripping Agnes’s pendant in both hands. She turned to a stone building on our right-hand-side. “The signal stops here.”

  The house was the size of three regular houses, but considering the height of the average dragon, it might well house only one or two of them. Other than that, no signs of any captives were visible through the wide, square windows.

  “Locked.” Isabel pressed her hands to the stone slab of a door. “I can unlock it, but it might be trip-wired.”

  “We’re dealing with dragons, not witches,” I reminded her. “There’s no defences we can’t break.”

  I hope.

  Taking a deep breath, I reached out with my spirit sight. It still seemed muted compared to how it did back home, and yet I sensed a spark somewhere inside the building.

  “Jas, what is it?” said Isabel, her hands on the door.

  “My spirit sight is coming back.” Perhaps it took a little longer to adapt to being so far from home. “At least one living person is in that house. Friend or foe, I can’t tell.”

  Isabel raised her hands, which glowed silver, and the door creaked open. “Let’s see.”

  A wide hall greeted us, with doors on either side leading into large rooms.The place seemed to have been built with dragon shifters in mind, yet the furniture was human-sized. A living room on the right, a kitchen on the left. And below… that spark of life.

  “They’re in the basement.”

  We located a trapdoor, which Isabel took care of with another unlocking charm. My heartbeat hammered in my ears. We hadn’t run into an ambush yet, which struck me as suspicious. Unless Evelyn had scared the other dragons off, that is. I wouldn’t put anything past her.

  When the trapdoor sprang open, it revealed a ladder descending into darkness. My spirit sight told me the person I’d sensed was somewhere down there in the dark. In fact—two sparks of life glowed below my feet. Two captives.

  I placed one foot gingerly on the ladder. Seemed stable enough. “I’ll let you know when I reach the bottom.”

  Within a few seconds, my feet touched hard stone. Then agony exploded across my face as a wave of power pinned me to the wall.

  “Stay where you are,” growled a voice from somewhere in the darkness.

  Isabel jumped down to land at my side. A light spell from her hands shone on bars which extended from floor to ceiling, and a pair of wrinkled hands poking through. My head throbbed. Ow.

  “Wait—” Isabel started, but the woman snapped her fingers again, and a second blast of power sent Isabel flying backwards.

  “We’re here to rescue you!” Damn, she hit hard. Then again, she was related to Lady Harper.

  “You’re a coven leader?” Isabel said. “You shouldn’t have been able to get through my marks.”

  “Witches,” croaked the owner of the wrinkled hands. Agnes Briar came forward into the light. Her silvery hair hung in a single braid down her back, and her eyes shone with intelligence and infuriation in equal measure. “They’ve sent witches to torment us now?”

  Behind her was a grey-haired man of around the same age as her, maybe sixty-five or so. He must be Everett. “We’ve spent enough time here to know this city’s inhabitants are bad news.”

  “If you mean the dragons,” I said, “we’re not on their side. We’re here to rescue you.”

  Isabel held out the gleaming pendant. “I got this from Lady Montgomery. It is yours, right, Agnes?’

  “Well, at least the mages finally caught on,” Agnes grunted, taking the pendant from Isabel. “No spell will get rid of these bars, though. I’ve tried them all.”

  “Okay, let me think.” The bars looked like ordinary iron, but that alone made them impervious to faerie magic as well as witchcraft. I had necromancy, but there was no way to use that to unlock doors.

  “There must be a mechanism holding them together,” Isabel said. “I’ll search the house.”

  “Not alone,” I said. “I don’t know about you, but I find it downright suspicious that we haven’t been ambushed yet.”

  I climbed the ladder, on Isabel’s heels. It shouldn’t have surprised me that the dragons had made their prison witch-proof. If Agnes was related to Lady Harper, she might be part mage as well. Her magic had felt unfamiliar, cold and sharp, and not at all like my Hemlock magic.

  Isabel swore under her breath. “I wish we’d brought a sensor. For all we know, the person who owns this place has the key.”

  “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”

  The door flew wide, and a man strode into the hall. Huge and burly, he had grey eyes, which seemed to be a dragon trait, and shoulder-length coppery hair.

  I’m guessing he’s one of the unfriendly dragons.

  “What,” he said, “are you doing in my house?”

  I gave him a smile. “Home inspection?”

  A knockout spell sprang into my hand and I threw it in his face. The dragon shifter crumpled in an instant, sprawling on the doorstep. Isabel and I grabbed him and hauled him into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

  “Let’s get that key.” I grabbed his coat to search the pockets, and his hands shot up and turned to ivory-coloured claws.

  I dropped him a heartbeat before a claw pierced my throat. His long lizard-like form filled the hall, his tail lashing against the stone wall.

  “Oh, come on,” I said. “I’m guessing dragons aren’t affected by knockout spells?”

  Isabel threw another spell at him. The dragon snarled in fury, releasing a jet of fire that hit the wall with a sizzling noise.

  Right, of course everything in here is fireproof.

  Isabel and I backed down the hallway towards the basement. The hall was wide enough for the dragon shifter to turn around on the spot, but he wouldn’t be able to follow us through the narrow trapdoor. Not that I particularly wanted to be backed into a corner, but for some reason, he’d left his captives alive.

  Kinetic power blasted from my hands, bouncing off the dragon’s scaled head. Isabel threw yet another knockout spell, but she might as well have hurled a pebble at him. He was too strong. I bet a spirit drain wouldn’t do a thing to him either.

  “I think he’s immune to most spells,” Isabel said out of
the corner of her mouth. “We’re not here to harm you. You just took us by surprise.”

  The dragon growled.

  “Look.” I raised my hands. “We’re just here to pick up a couple of our friends. That’s all. What use do you have for a pair of witches, anyway?”

  The dragon breathed a stream of fire in answer. I grabbed Isabel’s arm and pulled her after me through the living room door, and the flames flickered past, sizzling against the wall. That would have left a mark.

  Isabel gasped out a thanks and pushed up her sleeves, scanning the room. Damn, I wished I had my Hemlock magic. My whip would easily fit around the dragon’s neck, forcing him to submit.

  The dragon lunged through the door, and a blast of fire engulfed the sofa on my left-hand side.

  “I can’t imagine how many pieces of furniture you went through before you made them fireproof.” Think, Jas. Think. The house was designed to accommodate a dragon shifter, whether in human form or not, so there was nowhere to back him into a corner… or was there?

  Isabel caught my arm and pulled me behind an armchair as the dragon breathed fire yet again. I whispered in her ear, and she dipped her head in assent.

  I strode into view. The dragon opened its mouth, and I jumped onto the armchair, using the momentum to launch myself at the dragon’s head. Fire whooshed under my legs, tickling my shoes, but I landed between the dragon’s horns without being barbecued. Sharp scales dug into my legs, and I grabbed the dragon’s horns for balance. The dragon roared, trying to shake me off, but Isabel darted out in front of him and ran towards the basement.

  A rumble grew in the dragon’s throat, and I hurled a spell into his eyes. The dragon might be immune to its effects, but the spell disintegrated on contact, and even a huge reptile would notice a sudden flurry of dust in its eyes. With a roar, the dragon swung his head at Isabel, who jumped down the ladder out of sight.

  Snarling and hissing, the dragon clambered over to the trapdoor. As he did, I grabbed his horns, forcing him down through the human-sized hole into the basement.

  The dragon overbalanced as I dropped to the ground, tipping headfirst into the basement. The dragon’s thick, scaly neck stuck fast in the basement opening, unable to back out. His huge head turned left and right, smoke billowing from his nostrils, but if he breathed fire in here, he’d end up choking on his own smoke.

  Agnes moved closer to the bars. “What in the world are you doing?”

  The dragon hissed and snarled, his fiery breath warming my skin, but he couldn’t break free.

  Then, as I’d predicted, he shifted to human form, grabbing the ladder for balance. At the same time, I gave the ladder a firm tug. With a yell, the shifter tumbled head over heels, landing in a heap at my feet. I punched him in the jaw, hard, and his eyes rolled back in his skull. In human form, he was more vulnerable, both to physical attacks and to spells. Isabel’s boot slammed into his nose, and thick blood spurted everywhere.

  “Damn, Isabel,” I said. “All right, you. Give me the key to this cage and I’ll let you walk out alive.”

  He spat out a globule of blood. “I will not.”

  “Then we’ll have to give you an incentive.” I kicked him in the crotch, hard. He swore explosively, turning for the ladder, only to find Isabel blocking his path.

  “We’re not letting you leave until you let us take your prisoners home with us,” she said. “They can’t be that valuable to you if you left them to rot in the dark.”

  “They’re evil,” he growled. “If freed, they will bring ruin upon us.”

  “You’ll get a hell of a lot worse from me if you keep them here. Trust me.”

  I didn’t know a thing about the dragons’ circumstances, but as far as I was concerned, he was between me and stopping Evelyn, breaking the Hemlocks’ curse, and saving my friends. I turned on my spirit sight, and his glowing form in the spirit realm filled my vision. I reached out, deep into his soul, and felt the rushing energy waiting to be taken.

  The dragon shifter went completely still, his eyes widening. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m a necromancer,” I told him. “I can make you wish for death without laying a hand on you.”

  I let my spirit sight flood the room with grey, showing him the dark form of my shade lurking out of sight. The dragon shifter stumbled over his own feet, and even Isabel inched closer to the bars of the Briars’ cage.

  “Unnatural,” he spat. “Take the witches with you if you must, but if you try to leave this city, my brethren will hunt you down.”

  “Don’t try anything,” Isabel warned, stepping back to allow him access to the cage bars.

  The man shifted his hand to a claw, reaching through the bars. There was a clicking sound and the bars withdrew into the ceiling. Agnes and Everett stepped into the light, looking a little worse for wear, but Everett smiled in gratitude. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me until we all get out of here in one piece.” I watched the dragon shifter jump up the ladder, pulling himself out into the hall.

  “Don’t worry about him,” Agnes growled. “There’s a reason they fear us. Get us out before he brings all his friends to hunt us down.”

  Isabel climbed the ladder first, and I heard her swearing as she reached the top. There came a crashing noise, and the distinct smell of burning.

  “Isabel, be careful!” I climbed up to join her, peering over the edge in time to see the dragon poke his head into the living room. Isabel must have set off a spell as a diversion, but the dragon shifter apparently had no qualms about attacking my friends the instant I looked away. I needed to get the bastard out of the way of the door if the Briars were to make a run for it without being burned alive.

  Agnes popped up out of the basement. A wave of magic poured from her hands, slamming into the dragon shifter, who flew backwards with a crash that shook the whole house.

  “Don’t just stand there, run!” Agnes leaned down to help Everett climb out.

  “Isabel!” I exhaled in relief when she ran from the living room, smelling of burning herbs. We flat-out sprinted past the sprawling dragon and out into the street.

  Two more dragons blocked the road, one black, one blue. Huge wings extended from their shoulder blades, and smoke blew from their nostrils. Oh, fuck

  Isabel veered into a side street between the houses, and I dove after her. Fire burst from the dragons’ lungs, hitting the spot where we’d exited the house—just as Agnes reached the door.

  “Agnes!” I yelled.

  Crap. Please say they didn’t hit her. Breathless, I risked a look—and magic blasted from Agnes’s hands once again, knocking the two dragons into the air.

  “Holy crap,” Isabel whispered.

  Agnes and Everett hurried into the alley to join Isabel and me. The four of us sprinted out into the street, the sound of wingbeats echoing behind us. Agnes threw another magical attack over her shoulder, but I didn’t stop to look at the carnage. We skidded past the twin statues at the city’s entrance, then halted. There was no sign of the dragon who’d brought us here, which came as no surprise. He might be a powerful dragon shifter, but at least a dozen of them were on our tail by now.

  Agnes swore. “Please tell me one of you knows the way out.”

  “Uh… back through the stones,” I said. “Which are somewhere in the fog over there. Sorry.”

  Isabel nudged me. “Or maybe not.”

  I looked where she pointed. One of the pieces of Moonbeam stone lay not five feet away from us. Thanks, dragon.

  A roar sounded, and more wingbeats. I jumped through the Moonbeam piece, the others on my heels, and we crash-landed back into the mirror’s room at the necromancer guild.

  I lay flat on my back on the stone floor, gasping for breath. For a moment, nobody spoke.

  Then Isabel said, “I hope they don’t follow us.”

  “They’d bloody better not,” said Agnes, lifting her head. “Where are we?”

  “Necromancer guild.” I pulled myself up
right, aching all over, and extended a hand to help Agnes to her feet. She declined, standing with the agility of someone half her age, and reached over to give Everett a hand. “Nobody’s here. I think we lost more time than I thought.”

  Footsteps rang through the hall, and Lady Montgomery entered the room. “Good. You’re back. Vance was ten minutes from sending a search party after you, though I told him not to.”

  “That wouldn’t have ended well,” Isabel said. “How long were we gone?”

  “Twelve hours,” said the boss.

  “Could be worse.” I rested a hand on the wall. “God. I’m tired.”

  “How do you think I feel?” said Agnes. “I’m too old for this nonsense. Lady Montgomery, you’re looking well.”

  “So are you,” said the boss. “I didn’t know you knew Jas.”

  “Who?” said Agnes.

  “Me,” I said. “Isabel, are you okay?”

  She rubbed her forehead. “Yeah. Tired. I think I overused my coven magic.”

  “What the bloody hell was with those dragons?” I asked the two witches.

  “They were driven out of their city once before,” said Agnes. “They’re very protective of it. Thanks for helping me out, Jacinda.”

  I stiffened. “So you do know my name?”

  Agnes studied me. “Of course I do. Nobody else can cross between realms.”

  “Nobody but the Briars and the Hemlocks,” I said. “I guess I can forgive you for running out on me, considering you were locked in a cage.”

  “If I’d known that would happen, I would have left a warning for you,” said Agnes. “Before I was taken captive, I hoped to stop that second soul of yours before she brought disaster down on all of us.”

  11

  It took several minutes before we had a moment to breathe. Once they’d had finished bombarding the Briars with questions, Vance and the rest of the council had insisted on offering them accommodation at the same hotel the mages were using as their base.

  “We have a safe house,” Agnes told Vance. “If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to stay in my own home after spending the last few days in such uncomfortable accommodations.”