“Well, that’s notominous or anything,” Freya commented as we approached a rickety old bridge. Men’s heads had been shoved onto pikes near a sign that readNONE WELCOME AHEAD. They had been all but cleaned of their flesh.
“A little theatrical, isn’t he?” Narcissa observed. “This Ember King isn’t subtle.”
“No, he’s not,” Auggie agreed, shifting his eyes to Freya. “Neither is your friend’s green skin. She’s definitely going to stand out in Kingsbury, you know.”
I nodded slowly. “We don’t exactly plan on staying long. We’ll get by. Worst case, she can teleport us away.”
“She also has four arms,” Auggie pointed out as he watched Freya’s extra limbs lift from beneath her cloak to test the rope that held up the bridge.
“It’s a little unsettling at first, but you get used to it.”
“Ihaven’t gotten used to it,” Therese croaked, wriggling out of my bag.
Auggie stared at the frog. “Ah. I thought it would be just the cat. Do animals talk around all witches? Because it is rather charming.”
“You hear that, Callum?” Narcissa purred. “I’m charming.”
“He’s just being nice,” I grunted. I leaned over to whisper to Auggie. “Don’t encourage them.”
A man, hanging by his neck from a nearby tree, swung gently in the breeze. He was in much better shape than the heads, just beginning to decay. I brightened, stepping forward and pulling out a dagger. With one fluid motion, I snipped one of the man’s toes.
“Developing a taste for toes now too?” Narcissa asked, wrinkling her nose.
“Toes?” Auggie echoed.
“She’s teasing,” I assured Auggie. “It’s for the potion to change Therese back. One of the ingredients. Hangman’s toe.”
“Only one more to find, right?” Therese asked excitedly.
“That’s right,” I said, then cocked my head. “Lexi didn’t perchance say how long this potion of hers to allow you to speak would last, did she?”
“No,” said Narcissa. “But it’s far superior to your potion.”
“I would like to see her recipe. So that I might burn it and never have to suffer such extended torture again.”
Freya rolled her eyes.
I eyed the nearest head; the man’s face was twisted into a scream of agony. I felt a lurch of worry for our safety, but if things really got bad, Freya could teleport us away easily enough. Although … I paused to reach my fingers into the skull, my fingertips dancing over the teeth. I began to salivate.
“What are you doing?” Auggie hissed.
“Witches have need of ingredients,” I hissed back.
“Have you no shame?” Narcissa sniffed, staring up at me with scrutiny.
“What?” I frowned down at her. “Theydon’t need them anymore.”
Freya crossed her arms. “You could leave the dead withsomedignity intact.”
Even though my heart sank at the thought of leaving such delectable morsels behind, I supposed I had to consider my company. Auggie was looking a little green. No doubt due to his soft human heart. “Fine,” I grumbled, dropping my hand. “They’re probably dried out and flavorless anyway.”
I shifted my attention back to the bridge and its skulls marking the beginning of the Ember King’s territory and all it promised. Below, water raged past.
I hesitated before I stepped onto the bridge. I really did not want to have a confrontation with another witch following the events with Ambrosia, but I had little choice. I only hoped we would be able to avoid this witch’s scrutiny until we reached Kingsbury.
It was irritating how slow our progress was, especially as I watched the sun traverse the sky far too quickly for my liking. Auggie showed less haste as the day went on, and I worried his ankle might have something to do with it, but he insisted he was fine when I put the question to him and picked up his pace for a time. As we ventured into a particularly dark patch of forest, the sun was sinking over the horizon, slowly sending the world into shadowy darkness.
Howls erupted across the land. At first, they could have been mistaken for ferocious winds, but as more joined the chorus, a shudder ran down my spine. There were so many, and some of them sounded far too close for my liking.
