by Cayla Keenan
“A witch, you dayri idiot,” Jayin snapped. It explained how the wall had been built so quickly. The witchhunters had kidnapped another witch—or several—to do their work for them. “They’ve got a witch, and if they catch her—”
For a moment, Kell hesitated. In that moment, Jayin hated him all over again.
“I know what happens if they catch her,” he said finally. He gestured down the alley. “Lead the way.”
Jayin didn’t waste time thanking him. She could hear Kell’s footsteps behind her and that was enough. Jayin followed the girl’s aura easily, as if there was a path laid at her feet. She hadn’t used her abilities like this in months, but in the moment, she didn’t care.
She’d almost caught up when the ground beneath her feet turned to putty. Jayin staggered, arms pinwheeling as she tried to regain her balance. Her boots were encased in ankle-deep mud and no matter how she struggled they refused to come free.
“I’m not going back,” said a voice from the shadows. “You won’t take me back there.”
Earthwitch, Jayin thought. She turned to face the girl, but the mud crawled up her body until she was immobile from the neck down.
“Wait,” Jayin said. “I can help you.”
“No!” the girl cried. Her amber skin was caked with dirt and ash. The bags under her eyes spoke to sleep deprivation. The witch balled her hands into fists, and then Jayin hissed as the mud turned to solid stone. Her chest constricted and she couldn’t draw breath without her lungs burning in protest.
“Jayin—” Kell said, finally catching up. He skidded to a stop, taking in Jayin’s earthen cocoon and the witch who’d trapped her.
“Stop!” the girl said, her voice trembling with rage. The earth sucked at Kell’s boots until he too was forced to be still. “You wait there. I’ll get to you once I’m done killing your friend.”
The witch raised her hand and Jayin groaned as the vice tightened around her.
“Hey, hey, stop!” Kell said, far too loud to be safe. His voice was tight with Jayin’s strain. “Let her go and take me, okay? You don’t want her.”
“Why not?” the witch snarled.
“Because I’m sahirla and I’ve been using her just like they used you.”
Jayin tried to open her mouth to stop him, but her voice had abandoned her.
“See?” he said, pulling at his sleeve so the witch could see the silver cuff around his wrist. “This is one of the weapons in the sahirla vault. Everything that I feel, she feels, but I’ll take it off if you let her go.”
“Why would you do that?” the witch asked, her black eyes slitted with suspicion.
“Because I promised she wasn’t going to die on my behalf, and if you kill me while I’m wearing it, you’ll kill her too.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not,” Kell said. “And if I were, hunters would be swarming this place, and you’d be in chains. Let her go and take me.”
Don’t! Jayin tried to shout but she couldn’t force her lungs to cooperate. The witch relaxed her hand and the vice disappeared, sinking back into the earth. Jayin pitched forward, sucking in as much air as she could. Her head spun, but she managed to keep her footing
The witch wasn’t paying her any mind, too focused on Kell to see Jayin pull one of the knives out of her belt. The dagger was in the air before the girl could draw breath, spinning hilt over the blade, and she crumpled as the handle collided with the base of her skull.
“Jayin, what—” Kell started, coming up behind her. Jayin spun to meet him, her fist connecting with his cheek. Pain radiated down her own neck and her head snapped to the side from the force of the blow.
“What were you thinking?” Jayin demanded, spitting blood out of her mouth. Thankfully she hadn’t used the gauntlets. “She would’ve killed you!”
Kell blinked at her, confusion furrowing his eyebrows.
“I thought,” Kell started. “You could’ve run.” The truth of his words hit her like a blow.
Why didn’t you run? whispered a voice inside her. This is what you wanted; this was your chance! Why did you save him?
She didn’t have an answer.
Jayin shook her head, trying to clear it. “I’m not letting another witch become a murderer on your account.”
The words fell flat, but Kell didn’t comment, instead walking to the witch’s prone form and gathering her into his arms.
“What are you doing?” Jayin asked. Kell raised an eyebrow.
“Bringing her back with us,” he said, as if it should be obvious. Jayin scouted the area around them, seeking out hunters as they made their way back to the hideout with the stolen witch. She glamored the three of them, but it was luck more than magic that delivered them to their destination safely.
“I’ll take the first watch,” Jayin said as Kell set the girl down on his bedroll. She spun her knives around her thumbs, watching how the blades glittered in the half-light and steadfastly ignoring the way Kell stared.
“Jayin, what did I do?” he asked, sitting down next to her. Stars, she hated how he said her name. “I thought—”
“I don’t want you dying for me either,” Jayin said. The worst tumbled out in a rush, sounding like a confession.
She couldn’t look at him without seeing Om’s body, bloody and broken on the dock that was supposed to lead them to freedom. She raised her hand, showing the cuff and trying to steady her voice.
“We’ve come too far.” She understood he had never planned to take the cuff off. It was the only thing binding them together, and as he was constantly reminding her, he couldn’t do this alone.
“I saved her for you,” Kell said. “To prove to you—”
“Prove what?” Jayin growled. “That you’re stupid enough to throw your life away after everything we’ve done to get you back to Pavaal? Does none of this matter to you?”
“To prove that I’m not like them!” Kell said so sharply Jayin’s words died on her tongue. “Stars, Jayin, do you think I like the way you look at me? Do you think I don’t know?
Behind them, the girl shifted, and Maddix rose to his feet.
“I’ll sleep in the other room. It’s probably best that the first thing she sees isn’t…me.”
Part of Jayin wanted to insist he stay. Why? asked the insidious voice inside her. Again, Jayin didn’t have an answer, and Kell was gone before she could make sense of her warring impulses.
“Where…?” the girl asked, and Jayin forced herself to refocus.
“You’re safe,” Jayin said. “But if you turn your magic on me again, you won’t be.” The girl paled. Fear froze her aura and turned her blood to ice. “What’s your name?” Jayin asked, trying to smooth the edge out of her voice.
“Kaolin,” the girl said. “Who are you?”
“Jayin Ijaad. I’m sahir like you.”
“Jayin…” Kaolin repeated, her eyes widening. “The explosion. That was you?” Jayin nodded, a glamored plume of emerald flame erupting in the air between them.
Kaolin jumped, the fire reflecting in her dark, slanted eyes. “If you can do that, why didn’t you just blast through the wall?”
“Because it’s not real,” Jayin said, and the fire guttered out. “Illusions are all I have. Good for distraction, not so good for demolition.”
“But—” the girl asked before something seemed to occur to her and she froze, looking around. “Where is he? The sahirla?”
“He’s still here,” Jayin replied, trying not to let her irritation twist in her stomach. “I would appreciate if you didn’t try to kill him either.”
“Why?” Kaolin demanded. “He’s one of them.”
“Actually, he’s not,” Jayin interrupted. “They want him dead too, so for now we’re on the same side.”
“But—”
“Enough,” Jayin said sharply. “Kaolin, please.” The “please” seemed to give Kaolin pause. “We need to get through the wall.”
“There’s no way through,” the girl
replied without hesitation. “I—they made me… It’s not possible. They will kill you if you try to cross.”
And I’ll die if I go around, Jayin thought.
“They’ve tried before,” she said. The arrow scar pulsed like a second heartbeat, like a reminder.
“I made the walls,” Kaolin admitted, ducking her head. “They’re reinforced by magic and guarded day and night. Even if you try to go through where it’s not finished, the sahirla will find you first. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Jayin said. Kaolin flinched.
Jayin closed her eyes, her anger melting away. How could she fault the girl for doing what Jayin had done for years—simply trying to survive? Kaolin had no reason to trust Kell, and after everything she’d been through at the hands of the sahirla, trust would be tantamount to suicide. Stars, Jayin barely had a reason to trust him.
“Kaolin, listen to me. None of this is your fault. The hunters are monsters, and one day they’re going to get everything that’s coming to them.”
“I just want to go home,” Kaolin whispered.
“And where’s home?”
“The colonies. My parents sent me to train at the Academy, but I never made it.” Pain twisted the girl’s delicate features, and Jayin’s fists clenched by her sides. “They took me on the road. I—I was traveling with other witches from outside of the Three Kingdoms and they—” She exhaled, her voice breaking. “I’m the only one they kept alive.”
“I was on a ship to the Isles,” Jayin said, not looking at her. “A friend and I—another witch—were looking for a fresh start. We were going to go somewhere no one would ever find us. But the sahirla had a different plan. They killed him right in front of me.”
Jayin took a shaky breath, feeling the remnant of Om’s aura in her second sight, as if talking about him called his spirit to her. “You can go home,” she said, an idea springing to life. “I know someone who might be able to help you, we just need to get you far enough away from here that they’ll stop looking.”
“They’ll never stop,” Kaolin whispered. “They’re never going to let me go.”
“Yes, they will,” Kell said, reappearing. Kaolin stiffened, gathering her magic like a shield. “Believe me, they want us more than they want you.”
Jayin couldn’t disagree. Hale knew that they were close; he knew that they would try to cross the wall. He wouldn’t risk losing them by chasing after a single runaway witch.
“I can get you as far as the next town, and then you need to find your way to Southport,” Jayin said. “Do you know where that is?” Kaolin nodded. “Good. When you’re there, find an old woman named Ayanara Awlsley and tell her that I sent you. She’ll help you get home.”
Jayin stood but Kell was quicker.
“I’ll take her,” he said. “It’s too dangerous for two of you to be out in the open. I’m not a witch; no one will look at me too closely.”
“Kell…” Jayin said, battling between suspicion and concern. For all his talk of wanting to save Kaolin, he was still, well—
“Jayin, please,” Kell said. “Let me do this.” For you. The words rang in her ears, unspoken but heard.
“Fine, but I’ll be watching,” Jayin said, tapping her temple. “Both of you.” She turned back to Kaolin. “You’re going to get home, okay? You’re going to put all of this behind you and no one is ever going to hurt you again. You remember who you’re looking for?”
“Ayanara Awlsley.”
Jayin nodded. “Good.”
“Come on then,” Kell said briskly, his hand on his sword. “We need to get moving before they do another patrol.”
“Watch the skies,” Jayin said, the words coming before she could stop them. Kell nodded and Jayin watched as the two of them wound through the streets before disappearing from her sight. Her magic flared, following their auras as they walked quickly from the town. Kaolin would be okay, she told herself.
They both would.
Chapter Twenty-Five:
Maddix
Maddix could feel the witch girl’s eyes on him as they walked, watching him as they wound through the town.
“Don’t you try anything, hunter,” Kaolin growled. Maddix swallowed his barbed reply. She had no reason to trust him, but the constant threats were beginning to grate on him.
“If I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead, and I wouldn’t bother lying to Jayin about it.”
“What does a sahirla care about the opinion of a witch?”
“I’m not—” Maddix started. “I’ve done enough harm.” And he would do more. The bracelet weighed heavily on his wrist, a shining reminder of his cowardice. He should’ve taken it off before, should’ve just let Jayin go, but he was too afraid. He needed to see this thing through and there was no way to do it without her.
“You really were going to let me kill you, weren’t you?”
Yes. “I knew she would stop you.” Unfortunately, traveling with Jayin had not made him any more adept at lying.
“Trying to go through the wall is suicide. No one gets through except for the bounty hunters and only because they have the paperwork,” Kaolin said after a long, heavy silence. “You won’t make it.”
“I’ve heard that before,” Maddix said. “And here I stand.” The Pit was supposed to be impossible to escape, and he’d managed. The sahirla were impossible to find, and yet he’d found them. It seemed that laughing in the face of the impossible was what he was good at. Maybe—just maybe—it would be enough to get them to Pavaal alive.
They almost made it.
“We’re being followed,” Kaolin said, reacting to something Maddix couldn’t see or hear.
“Just keep walking,” Maddix said under his breath, but when he turned to look at her, the witch was gone. Of bloody course she was.
Kaolin planted herself in the middle of the dirt road, her arms outstretched and aimed at a wagon that could only be filled with witchhunters.
“Don’t!” Maddix shouted, but the word fell on deaf ears. Kaolin raised her fist and brought it down, and Maddix could only watch as the earth erupted under the wagon. The horses screamed as they were sucked into the ground with the cart. “I’m not going back there,” Kaolin said. Her voice was clear and unwavering. The back of Maddix’s neck prickled and he grabbed the girl’s shoulders, forcing her to duck as an arrow flew over their heads. An ambush.
“You won’t be going anywhere if you’re dead,” Maddix shouted. The wagon had been a decoy and he could hear half a dozen footsteps thundering towards them. He didn’t have time for any other words of warning before the hunters were on them.
“Traitor!” one of them shouted before Maddix plunged his sword into the man’s stomach. Come up with a more creative insult, Maddix thought, yanking his sword free and spinning in time to block the next attack. Through the magic of the cuff, he felt Jayin’s heart accelerate, but he didn’t have time to wonder what was happening on her end, busy with his own battle.
By the time the dust cleared, his arms were bleeding from a dozen shallow cuts and surrounded by bodies. The witchhunters he hadn’t slain were nothing more than earthen statues, solid and suffocated by Kaolin’s magic.
“Why did he call you a traitor?” she asked, nudging the man’s corpse. “I thought you were supposed to be one of them.”
“Because—” Maddix started, before he heard a telltale whistle in the air. “Move!” he shouted, leaping in front of the witch.
Something silver flickered in the edge of his vision and there was pressure against his chest, but no pain. No impact. When he opened his eyes, the arrow was broken on the ground, snapped cleanly in two.
“Come on,” Maddix said, not wasting time to thank her for deflecting the arrow. He grabbed her hand and ran towards the overturned cart.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Get on,” Maddix said, slashing at the leather tying one of the horses to the cart and swinging Kaolin onto its back. “Ride as fast as you c
an as far as you can. Get to Southport. Find Aya.” He smacked the horse’s rump, and it erupted into a wild gallop.
Kaolin shouted something back to him, but the words were snatched away by the wind.
Maddix took the long route back into town, every nerve stretched taut as he surveyed for more hunters. Most of the townsfolk had been recruited to work on the wall, but there were enough milling about to make him twitchy. He couldn’t risk exposing Jayin by going straight back to their hideout, but staying out in the open was begging to be spotted.
“Get outta the way!” a man barked from behind. Maddix ducked his head, stepping to the side to allow him to pass. A man staggered to keep up, connected to the soldier’s horse by a long coil of chain.
Bounty hunter, he thought, watching as the man showed their papers and the doors behind the checkpoint opened.
No one gets through except for the bounty hunters and only because they have the paperwork. Kaolin’s words echoed in his ears. Maddix hurried from the checkpoint before anyone noticed him loitering.
“What happened?” Jayin’s voice appeared a second before she did, the stone around his neck wiping away her magicked disguise. She fell into step beside him, her hood flipped up to hide her face.
“We ran into some trouble,” Maddix replied out of the side of his mouth. “But she’s safe and on her way to Southport.”
Kaolin would be fine, Maddix was sure of it. He pitied anyone who tried to stop her now. The girl’s magic was terrifying.
“Where are you going?” Maddix asked when Jayin didn’t head to their safehouse.
“The sahirla tracked Kaolin to the house,” Jayin whispered. “I had to get creative.” Maddix was almost afraid to ask what that meant, choosing instead to follow in silence as Jayin led them to a rundown hostel only a mile or so away from the wall.
Maddix was worried about hiding in plain sight, but he trusted Jayin not to walk them into a trap. The tiny inn was so filthy and rundown he doubted they’d seen business in weeks.
“Stars,” Jayin said, pushing open the door to their room. “The orphanage was nicer than this,” She sucked in a breath, her eyes snapping to his face. It was a slip, her first, and Maddix wasn’t going to be the one to break the silence. “Don’t look so surprised, dayri.”