Free Blood Witch by Thea Atkinson Page A

must have
needed it, then," she said and thought she shouldn't have pushed
him so. He obviously had no idea about Aedus.
    He struggled to
his feet and towered over her, looking down. She thought he would
reach out to help her up, but then he took a deliberate step
backward.
    "I don't feel
right," he said. "What did you do to me?"
    She scrabbled
around the dirt to find the quill, then lifted it for him to see.
"We found you with this in your neck."
    He looked down at
it, confused.
    "It's a porcupine
–"
    "I know what it
is," he snapped. "What was it doing in my – oh." His head lay back
on his neck. "Now I remember. That boy."
    "Aedus," Alaysha
said. "Girl, you mean." Aedus could easily be mistaken for a boy,
she supposed, especially if she had muddied her hair up again.
    Gael shook his
head. "Not a girl. I've seen Aedus. I know what she looks like.
There was a boy lurking around the doors. I didn't pay him much
mind, but I did watch him a little."
    "A warrior is
always aware."
    "Right. But inside
the city, well, usually you can let some of your guard down…"
    "But given the
attack –"
    "I trust
nothing."
    "So what about the
boy?"
    "He was drawing in
the dirt just off to the side of the doors." Gael pointed toward
the other side, and even as he did, was setting over to inspect the
area. Alaysha looked down to see what appeared to be a small map.
An e X marked next to a horizontal line in a big circle.
    "That must be
you," she said to him, sticking her toe toward the X.
    He made a
thoughtful sound. "The boy was pointing my spot out to
someone."
    "Aedus." It made
no sense, but Yenic seemed so sure she was just up to more
mischief. She had a predilection for having fun at another's
expense. She'd let Yenic wear the dreamer's worm just for a
chuckle. Alaysha studied Gael's face, wondering what he might have
done to Aedus to incur her angst.
    Gael shuffled
under her scrutiny and then huffed. "Do you think she did find her
brother and is working from within to help him?"
    Alaysha shook her
head. "Her brother cut off her finger; she won't help him take over
the city."
    "Blood is blood,
Witch."
    Indeed, it might
be to someone who had a regular relationship with blood. Alaysha's
blood kin had sent her to kill hundreds of people in her short
lifetime, Aedus's blood had used her as bait to attempt to murder
an entire city. She couldn't imagine the girl remaining loyal under
those circumstances. Alaysha certainly hadn't.
    She had to ask the
one question that lingered, regardless of how painful the answer
might be. "What about Yenic? Could he have been involved
somehow?"
    A look passed
across Gael's face that Alaysha didn't understand. "That boy? He
wouldn't harm the man who was watching your back."
    "Is that what you
were doing? Watching my back?"
    His unshaven jaw
see-sawed back and forth as though he'd been caught at formulating
a lie. "You took a dirk in the belly for me."
    "Hardly; I just
didn't want any of those men to escape." She remembered that some
had, and that the ones he'd attacked had died gruesome, painful
deaths.
    She felt his hand
on her shoulder and wondered at the way the touch could make her
feel so small and so safe at the same time.
    "You're brave,
Witch; I'll give you that. But you are not wise. That boy wants
you. It's clear, and if he's involved in this, he's better at play
than any man I've ever seen."
    She wasn't sure
what to do with all that information, so she chose the least
bothersome. "You think I'm brave?" No one had ever told her so. No
one had given her much kindness, in fact, at least not until
lately. She had the feeling it couldn't last long.
    "You're the
bravest witch I know." He started off in the direction of Saxa's
cottage, weaving a bit, and having to find his direction
constantly. Alaysha found herself following, watching his stride,
thinking how many steps she had to take for each one of his. His
shoulders moved easily through the crowds, despite being broad
enough that he could have pushed