Blood Witch_ Book Three - Cate Tiernan [60]
The woods were dense and untamed, the undergrowth thick and impossible to run through. I ran into a low-hanging branch, and I stopped. I had no idea where Cal and Hunter had gone. It was absolutely black here, and for a moment I trembled. I had to breathe slowly, to focus and concentrate. I clenched and unclenched my fists and squeezed my eyes shut.
“One, two, three,” I counted. I breathed in and out.
A moment later I opened my eyes and found that my magesight had kicked in and I could see. Trees stood out as dark verticals, the undergrowth was defined, and the few nocturnal animals and birds who weren’t hibernating glowed with a pale yellow light. Okay. I scanned the area, and easily picked up the rough track Hunter and Cal had made as they crashed through the woods: the forest floor was scraped and disturbed, and small branches were snapped.
As quickly as I could, I followed their trail. My feet and nose were freezing, and snow began to fall and bleach the surroundings. Slowly I became aware of a dim, rhythmic pounding. It wasn’t the blood in my veins. Then it came to me: of course. Selene and Cal lived at the edge of town; their house was practically on the Hudson River. The surging waters were dead ahead. I quickened my pace, grabbing trees to push me forward, stumbling against rocks, cursing.
“You’re bidden to come with me!”
It was Hunter’s voice. I stopped silent, listening—then rushed forward and came out into a narrow, treeless strip that ran parallel with the river. Hunter was backed against the edge of the cliff, and Cal, holding my athame in front of him, was moving forward. I was lost in a swirl of fear and confusion.
“Cal!” I shouted.
They both turned, their faces unreadable in the snow and darkness.
“Stay back!” Cal ordered me, flinging out his hand. To my utter shock I stopped hard, as if I’d struck a wall. He had used a spell against me.
The next instant Hunter hurled a ball of witch light, and it knocked the athame from Cal’s hand. Cal’s jaw dropped. I struggled to believe that this was real, my real life, and not just a screen full of computer-generated effects. Hunter leaped away from the edge and onto Cal, who was scrambling back toward the knife. As I tried to move forward, I felt like I was wrapped in a thick wool blanket. My legs were made of stone. The two of them rolled over in the new-fallen snow, light hair and dark flashing against the ground and the background of night.
“Stop it!” I shouted as loud as I could, but they ignored me.
Cal pinned Hunter on the ground, then closed his fist and smashed it into Hunter’s face. Hunter’s head whipped sideways. A bright ribbon of blood streamed from his nose. The redness on the snow reminded me of the spilled communion wine last Sunday, and I shuddered. This was wrong. This shouldn’t be happening. This kind of anger, of long-held hatred, was the antithesis of magick. I had to separate them.
Gathering all my strength, I pictured myself breaking out of an eggshell and then tried to shove my way out of Cal’s binding spell. This time I was able to move. A few feet away I saw the athame, and I lunged for it—at the very moment Hunter shoved Cal off him. We all stumbled to our feet at the same time, panting heavily.
“Morgan, get out of here!” Hunter yelled at me, not taking his eyes off Cal. “I’m a Seeker, and Cal has to answer to the council!”
“Don’t listen to him, Morgan!” Cal retorted. I saw flecks of Hunter’s blood on his fist. “He’s jealous of anything I have, and he wants to hurt me. He’ll hurt you, too!”
“That’s a lie,” Hunter spat angrily. “Cal’s Woodbane, Morgan, but unlike Maeve, he hasn’t renounced the dark side. Please, just get out of here!”
Cal turned to me, and his hot golden eyes caught mine. A fuzzy softness clouded my brain. I blinked. Hunter said something, but it was muffled, and time seemed to slow. What was happening