“Good. Good. The rune is the same across the board—it’s the object it’s drawn on that allows you to focus. It will help you find us from anywhere in the world.” He put a hand on Tenn’s shoulder. “Find Tori. And use the runes to bring her back to us.”
“We’ll find her,” Tenn said. He looked to the twins. They were still avoiding his eyes. “I promise.”
*
They left immediately.
A wave of energy washed over him a few yards from the clearing. The magic of the first barrier tingled over his skin and soaked into his bones, and for the briefest moment he swore he heard a whisper, felt the urging deep within his muscles: run, run fast, run away. Then it was over, a voice on the breeze. Apparently, the defenses didn’t have so strong an effect when approached from behind.
A few yards on and he began to slow. Dreya cast him a glance, but she didn’t speak as he scanned the trees. He could sense the next line of defense, the line of runes that somehow kept the clan safe. He could feel it in his gut. And he knew he needed to see the magic for himself.
Something glowed on the trunk of a nearby tree. He walked over and brushed the snow away. Green light shone beneath the flurry, glowing like a faerie fire. A long line of runes was etched down the tree, a sentence he could almost understand: the second barrier. Flashes burned through his mind the moment his fingers grazed the bark—being lost in the woods late at night, a wolf at your heels; spinning around at full force, never stopping; staring into the mouth of a ferocious beast; a chameleon, hiding in plain sight. In an instant the visions cleared, washed away with a whisper of dark promises. His fingertips tingled as he traced the runes over and over, trying to memorize the markings. Something about the language was familiar, like reading Italian when versed in Spanish—there were traces of things he knew, patterns he could almost but not entirely piece together. If only he had more time to study them...
“Tenn,” Dreya snapped. He looked up. “We must hurry.”
He nodded, guilt doubling as he stood. Every time he blinked, he saw the runes burning in his mind, their whispered meaning nearly drowning out his thoughts. “Sorry. Let’s keep going.”
She led him onward—Devon had already disappeared from sight.
“How did they get through?” Tenn asked as they approached the third barrier—he could feel the buzz of its magic now, could see the faint glow of runes scattered throughout the trees.
“I do not know,” Dreya whispered. “They should not have been able to find their way through. Not without the tracking rune.”
Tenn didn’t ask the other questions on his mind: if the Howls had broken through the first two barriers, why had they not penetrated the third? Why were they not out here, waiting, swarming? Why had they not attacked the rest of the Witches?
The field stretched out before them when they broke through the trees, snow freshly trampled. And on the ground, Tenn found his answer. Written in the same script as the desk in his dorm room, were words written in blood.
come out, come out, wherever you are
“He’s toying with us,” Tenn muttered. His gut writhed with anger and self-hate. He’d been right. The illusion of safety was just that: an illusion. He would never be safe. He would never feel at home. Not so long as Matthias was out there.
Or maybe even that was a lie. Maybe Tenn was the greatest danger to himself—death seemed to follow wherever he went.
“Correct,” Dreya said. “And so, the question: Will you play his games?”
Dreya opened to Air beside him, her pale blue eyes fixed on a point far, far away.
“Anything?” Tenn asked. He didn’t answer her question; mainly because he felt like, no matter what, he was a pawn in someone’s game. Matthias or Tomás, the death following him seemed the same. His grip was tight on his staff, the point digging into the frozen earth. He refused to stare at the blood in the snow.
She nodded.
“Yes. I can feel them moving a few miles off. They have quite the start. I don’t know how they moved so fast...” She shook her head and looked at him. “It is not the full army, of that I’m certain. Matthias must have split his forces.”
“Where are they going? And where are the others?”
Dreya gestured to the horizon. “There is a town nearby. They are heading toward it. A few more Howls wait there. But not all. As for the rest, I cannot say.”
This was a trap. They all knew it. But the alternative was waiting around and letting an innocent die. Jarrett’s image flashed through his mind. He wasn’t going to have any more deaths on his conscience. It was time to fight back. The Witches had their defenses—they would be safe. It was Tenn that Matthias was after.
“Well, then,” he said. He opened to Earth and stretched the points of his staff into two wickedly curved blades. “Let’s show these bastards what happens when they mess with our friends.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
TENN AND DREYA sat nestled in the relative safety of a pine grove, huddled under blankets and watching the town on the horizon. To the left of the town was the white light of the sept. Just the sight of it made Tenn shiver. Devon was out scouting. There was no chance they’d use magic and give themselves away, so they were forced to rely on their other senses. He wanted to attack, but Dreya advised waiting—if there were necromancers in the town, it would be best to attack when they were asleep.
It still felt like wasting time to him. The only consolation was the idea that Matthias would have expected them to rush in. That maybe, by biding their time for the proper moment to strike, the trio was turning the tables, playing a game Matthias wouldn’t expect.
It was barely a consolation at all; every blink, and he saw Tori’s blood in the snow. Every heartbeat, and he imagined hers stopping.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the tracking rune?” Tenn asked.
Dreya glanced at him. There was a small fire between them, just enough to give a little light and warmth, but not enough to give them away. Her eyes went wide, then narrowed. It took her a long time to answer.
“What?”
“The tracking rune. Devon knew about it, so you did, too. Why didn’t you tell me? Or show me?”
She opened her mouth to speak, then bit back her words and stared into the fire for a while.
“Because it was not my information to give,” she whispered. “You must understand, Tenn. We have already broken so many vows. We had to hold on to those we could.”
“If you had told me, we could have skipped coming here. Tori would still be alive.”
She gasped. It sounded like she was biting back a sob.
“Yes,” she finally said. “Yes, I know that. But they have magics we have never dreamed of. Runes we’ve never seen—like their defenses. We were ever only shown the tracking rune so we could find the clans. A small magic. Of no use to fighting the Dark Lady. That is why we brought you here—the Witches have access to so much more. They can teach you how to understand runes we’ve never seen. And when this is over... When this is over, you will learn everything they know. They will help you. I’m sure of it.”