Winter Fire (The Witchling #3)(90)

Biji strained to see what happened. She tripped on a tree root buried beneath the snow and cursed it. God help her, she’d never set foot outside in winter again after this.

She struggled free of the forest. The sounds of voices reached her, and she stopped to catch her breath before hurrying into the cemetery. Her heart sank when she saw Noah standing with Alexa and Jason, talking to them. The two Dark teens from the SUV had stopped in front of a large mausoleum whose door gaped open.

Biji’s eyes watered, and a sense of betrayal slid through her. Why Noah didn’t turn her in, she didn’t know, but it was clear he was still working for his sister.

Fury filled her. Biji’s gaze fell to the open door of the mausoleum. Ducking behind a statue, she summoned her air magick and sat, shivering. She ordered it to tell her what had happened.

The memories were fuzzy. The air magick recalled Summer, because she, too, shared the element. Biji watched the images only she could see. The arrival of a phantom SUV that looked like a blob floated to the point where the SUV sat now. Shadows pulled a white cloud she took to represent Summer and a gray one she assumed was Morgan from the blob of an SUV.

They all disappeared into the mausoleum. Several shadows emerged – without the white and gray clouds.

Biji dismissed the air memories and debated what to do. She couldn’t take three Dark witchlings. If what Noah said was true, her friends were buried alive in the mausoleum. Which meant, she didn’t have time to hesitate.

She stood and started forward, determined to make it into the mausoleum, no matter what the Dark teens did to her. Just as she had given up hope on Noah, she saw Jason retreat to the SUV. He turned off the ignition and grabbed something long and dark. She tried to make it out. While Alexa stood talking to Noah, Jason was returning around the backside of the SUV, approaching Noah from behind.

Crowbar. The Dark teen raised it to smash it into Noah’s head.

“Noah!” Biji shouted. She propelled her magick forward. It shielded Noah, and the crowbar bounced back.

Dawn’s brother spun, surprised. Alexa grabbed him from behind, a knife in one of her hands while Jason took a second swing. Biji struggled to follow the rapid movements. She blocked Jason again, but missed Alexa’s strike.

But Noah wasn’t caught off-guard twice. Snow exploded around them, leaping from the ground. It turned to water then ice, slamming into both Dark teens. Alexa’s knife froze and snapped in two while Jason was flung away.

Biji halted. The mini-snowstorm overtook the SUV and mausoleum, wiping out her ability to see what happened next. Unable to help Noah, she waited with baited breath. After a moment, the snow dropped back to the ground in neat piles.

Noah stood over Jason’s body, crowbar in one hand. Alexa lied still in a pile of snow.

Biji stared at the blood dripping off the end of the crowbar. Red splattered the snow around the Dark teen. Noah tossed the crowbar and straightened. He turned and met her gaze.

Suddenly, she wanted to run. The same boy who built her a fire and kissed her appeared menacing in the low light.

“You okay?” he asked.

“My god. You killed him,” she responded before she could stop the words.

Noah glanced down. A disturbed look crossed his features. He shook his head and stepped away.

“Thanks for your help,” he said. He held out his hand again.

Biji looked from Jason to Noah, balking at the thought of being anywhere near a murderer.

“Biji, don’t do this,” Noah said quietly. “Let’s get your friends and get out of here. We can talk about what happened later.”

Summer and Morgan. The mention of her friends jarred her from her shock. Biji moved forward again. She didn’t take his hand, but went with him into the mausoleum. It was too dark to see, and she hesitated.

“Jason had a flashlight,” Noah said. “I’ll grab it.”

She said nothing. Biji stepped carefully into the mausoleum. She held her breath, listening, but could hear nothing that indicated her friends were inside. As her eyes adjusted to the pitch blackness, she spotted a soft glow. Like an ember dying.

Biji started towards it, smashed into a tomb, and mumbled a curse. She patted the length of it, following it to its tip then stretched out her hands to ensure she didn’t run into anything else.

A beam of light penetrated the dark. Six stone tombs with heavy lids were in the crypt. The one that glowed was at the far end.

“Biji?” Noah called. “What is it?”

“I think they’re in that one,” she said, weaving through the tombs. “It was glowing.”

“Fire magick?”

“Maybe.” She reached it and touched the top of the lid. She snatched her hand back from the heat of the stone. “It’s gotta be this one. The lid’s hot.”

Noah joined her, standing too close for her comfort. He set the flashlight down on the lid and felt it.

Biji pushed at the stone lid. It didn’t budge.

“I can use air magick, I think,” she murmured. “Step back.”

Noah did so. Biji moved away to give her room to work then summoned her air magick. It swept into the mausoleum and through her, chilling her quickly. The impact of using her magick in such a confined space combined with the cold made her already weakened body stagger.

“It’s okay, Biji,” Noah said. He steadied her and wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her into his body. “I got you. You get them.”