Free The Witch's Betrayal by Cassandra Rose Clarke Page A

was back inside the house, I did not emerge completely, though it was difficult to see. Going inside was dangerous, but I could not go back to the Order empty-handed. Flowers crowded the rooms. The fallout tugged at the edges of the shadows, trying to draw me out. I didn't let it. I worked quickly, moving from room to room. The fallout made things confusing, difficult to latch on to.
     
    And then I found something.
     
    The highest concentration of magic was located in the bedroom. It was so dense and unstable that I didn't dare move beyond the doorway, not even half-wrapped in shadow. But I didn't need to go further to recognize the eerie, glowing white flowers twining around the bed. They were a particular flower, bred by a particular woman. I had seen similar flowers as seedlings. I had walked through a garden of such flowers, side by side with the woman who had grown them.
     
    "Leila," I said, and the shadows took me away.
     
    #
     
    I rapped on Leila's door. She didn't answer. I shouted her name and rapped harder, the door banging in its frame. Still no answer. A discouraging sign.
     
    I stepped away from the door, turned and looked at the empty street. A magic-cast lantern flickered overhead, casting eerie golden-limned shadows along the rows of houses. Despite being in the city, the air here was clean and bright in comparison to the magic-soaked air surrounding the target's house, and I breathed it in, trying to clear my head after the journey through Kajjil.
     
    The stillness settled around me. I turned back to Leila's house and pulled out my sword , bang ing on the door with its hilt. The sound echoed up and down the street. "Leila!" I shouted. "Let me in!"
     
    A light flickered on in one of the nearby houses. I cursed and sheathed my sword , melt ing into the shadows. I didn't want to enter Leila's house without permission. That's something I only do with targets. But I could n’t wait.
     
    When no one came on to the street, I stuck out my foot and kicked her door one last time for good measure. And only then did it slide open, pale light spilling across her porch, illuminating the flowers she grew in ceramic pots, the same ones I'd seen at the target's house.
     
    Her face appeared, beautiful in the moonlight. Her hair curled around her bare shoulders and her eyes were lined with that dark , smoky make - up she wore when she wanted something. It was clear she had not been asleep.
     
    "Oh, well, isn't this a shame ? " she called out, peering into the street. "I was certain it was my dear friend Naji at the door, but I don't see anyone here." She pouted. "I guess I'll have to go back inside."
     
    She began to pull her door close d . I stuck my foot out again and it jarred to a stop.
     
    "You know I'm here," I said softly.
     
    Leila turned in the direction of my voice and gazed at a space over my left shoulder. She smiled wickedly, her eyes glinting.
     
    "I can't see you," she said.
     
    Leila always made me nervous, despite my fondness for her. She was not a woman to be charmed by a simple smile, and so hiding myself was one of my ways of keeping the upper hand.
     
    "But you know I'm here." I moved closer to her, staying on the edges of the light. The shadows drifted across her face, and she closed her eyes, and smiled again.
     
    "But I can't see you," she said. "How do I know I'm not simply going mad? This could all be a dream."
     
    "You don't expect me to believe you were asleep."
     
    Something flickered in her expression. I caught it because I was looking for it.
     
    "And what do you think I was doing?"
     
    I emerged the n , stepping into the light spilling out of her house. She leaned up against her doorframe and watched me.
     
    "There you are," she said, trailing one hand along my cheek, just as my shadows had done to her. "Always a joy to see your face, Naji."
     
    "May I come in?"
     
    "Of course." She held the door open. I could smell the steely scent of river water coming from inside her