“But not withthisgroup of friends,” Therese insisted. “You’re all so fierce and tenacious.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Tenacious? What has your father been reading you? You’re like five years old.”
“I’m seven,” she corrected, puffing out her throat with indignation. “And I’m always so bored during the day, I’ll read whatever I can get my hands on. I even read one of your books once.Eighty-Six Uses of Carnivorous Plants in Advanced Potions.It was a fascinating read, Mr. Witch. But do some of those plants really get big enough to eat people?”
“Only if they’ve been spelled to eat snooping little girls.” I narrowed my eyes. “I’ve been looking for that book!”
“I returned it just the other day,” she said. “Next, I was going to read up on demon incantations.”
“No, you’re not.”
Freya chuckled. “I don’t know, Callum. Many witches have had human assistants.”
“It’s bad business,” I sniffed. “David does just fine. When he has a mind to.”
“But he doesn’t have a mind.”
I waved her observation away. “And anyway, Narcissa wouldn’t stand for it. She likes to fill that role and feel useful.”
Therese nodded. “Narcissa is rather territorial.”
“Exactly.”
I asked Freya, “How long do you think you’ll need before you can create another portal?”
“I don’t know.” Freya rummaged in my bag for some bread and tore off a piece before popping it into her mouth. “I feel like a horse kicked me in the stomach, and I can barely stand. I was already exhausted before I did that. It took a lot out of me.”
I glanced toward the cave entrance. “Well, the smoke won’t draw too much attention in the dark, but during daylight hours, it’ll be a different story. I don’t want to be ambushed out here, not when I don’t have my ingredients on me.”
“I should be mobile in the morning at least,” Freya offered. “But there’s no way I’m going to be able to teleport us out of here for a few days.”
I would just have to hope Auggie lasted that long. There was nothing else for it. “Fair enough. We’ll rest up for the night, then try to find some better shelter in the morning.”
I lay down and waited for sleep to find me. It took a good, long while. I kept shivering despite the warmth the fire provided, and I couldn’t stop worrying about Auggie. If he lived, our time together was still going to be finite. Lucifer was going to very likely claim him at the end of this journey.
I rolled over, exhausted by tension. Eventually, the crackling of the fire and the sound of melting snow dripping onto the cave floor lulled me into an uneasy slumber.
We trudged through the icy landscape, wrapped in what little extra clothing I’d stored in my bag. It wasn’t spelled as thoroughly as my cloak had been, but there were a few pockets lined with necessities that came in handy, gloves for one. They were gardening gloves, but they weresomething.
My mind kept returning to Auggie and Narcissa at the mercy of the Ember King. I tortured myself with scenes of them being pushed into ovens or lowered into the lava moat. I had to work to push the intrusive thoughts from my mind. If only things hadn’t happened sofast.
“Are those the caves?” Freya asked, teeth chattering as she spoke.
I leaned into her, savoring the small amount of warmth I found there. There was no wind, no snow, just an icy landscape that was impossibly cold. I shuddered to think how horrid conditions would be if it were snowing. There had been little promise of shelter in the directions of the mountains or plains, and while I’d been hesitant about walking toward the Ice Queen’s castle, I’d spied what appeared to be caves in the rocky foothills leading up to the intimidating structure. If we could wait out Freya’s fatigue in a comfortable cave before teleporting the hell out of there, I wouldn’t mind getting a little closer to the castle. It wasn’t like we could put much distance between ourselves and the castle in this wasteland, anyway, hoping to find some shelter before freezing to death. We had few options, and this looked like the best. If we came across some of the Ice Queen’s minions, Freya was a more skilled fighter than I. Fighting the Ice Queen herself seemed a little frightening, given how our run-in with the Ember King had gone.
Squinting against the snow that was blindingly bright in the sun, I nodded, making out openings in the frozen rock. “Yes, I think that’s them.”
“Thank the Gods,” Freya murmured. We summoned extra energy and began racing toward the openings.
Sure enough, they were caves, and we picked one that had a narrow-enough entrance to keep out the snow, yet was deep enough to stretch out comfortably. As we slipped inside, I was surprised to find that it went much farther than I’d expected, although it was too dark to see just how far it went. The sight I’d had from the eye of newt had long disappeared, to my chagrin.
Freya sidled up to me and stared toward the back of the cave. “Do you think it’s safe here?”
I considered, cocking my head to listen for anything making noise. But all was silent. “I don’t think I’ll feel safe until I make sure there’s nothing hiding in this cave.”
Freya hesitated. “I do know a rune that would reveal anyone.”
“No. You need all the strength you can gather right now for the portal. No need to waste any.”
