The Blood Spell (Ravenspire, #4)(83)
And she wished she did. Her magic worked differently from her mother’s. Mama’s magic had encouraged things to grow and ripen quickly, which would explain how she grew a dangerous fae forest from a handful of seeds in minutes—but didn’t explain how she’d managed to create a lock the wraith’s powerful magic couldn’t break.
“I don’t understand how the lock held. Nothing is ever permanent,” she said as they crested a hill and stared at the landscape spread before them. Orchards, vineyards, and a few farmhouses dotted the plains, with the road cutting through the center. In the far distance, the Giant’s Fist mountain range was a smudge of green against the sky. And at the base of the mountains, spread along the fringes of the plains, the dark shadow of the Wilds waited for them.
“What do you mean?” he asked as they began moving down the hill, his guards behind them on horseback. Kellan’s horse had a large bag of food strapped to its back behind its empty saddle. He’d offered to let Blue ride in the saddle with him, but she’d opted to walk. If she sat that close to him on his horse, she was going to start imagining things that would never be true for her.
“I mean even the most closely bound ingredients can be unbound if you can find something strong enough to break them apart.”
He gave her a troubled look. “That’s not very reassuring.”
“Mama didn’t write down the potion she created for the lock. Without knowing the list of ingredients, it would be really hard to find a way to reverse the spell.”
“And someone couldn’t figure out the ingredients used? Maybe by taking a sample or by experimenting or something?” he asked. “You figured out the ingredients for the fire spell just by smelling it.”
Now she sent him a troubled look of her own. “Actually . . . that’s not impossible. It would be difficult if the ingredients were uncommon, but certainly not impossible. Mama must have planned for that, but I can’t figure out how.”
“Let’s hope her plan worked,” he said as they passed the next farmhouse. He reached for her hand again, and she gave up pretending she didn’t want to keep her hand in his. They spent the next hour walking in silence, his skin warm against hers.
“Let’s stop here,” Kellan said abruptly and gestured toward a lovely patch of wild meadow grass dotted with purple and yellow flowers. “We need to eat before we go into the Wilds.”
Blue didn’t argue. Her knees felt strangely shaky, and her heart seemed to tremble in her chest when she looked at the yawning expanse of darkness that spread out before them just past the edge of the meadow they were in.
Was the wraith still there? Would it approach? Blue didn’t want to find out. She wanted to turn around and go back. Ride on Kellan’s horse with his warm, solid body behind her to anchor her to something better than the sick fear that was crawling up the back of her throat. Close her eyes to the possibility that the wraith was still locked away but that another witch was trying to turn into one.
She wanted to turn away, but she couldn’t. Wouldn’t. Someone had to check the Wilds, someone had to look at the gate and make sure all was secure, and Blue wouldn’t be able to look herself in the eye again if she didn’t find the courage to face what was in front of her. For Ana’s sake. And for the sake of all the innocents in Balavata who deserved to be safe from the terror of a blood wraith.
“You look like the weight of the kingdom just landed on your shoulders,” Kellan said as one of his guards handed him a blanket and the bag of food. He spread the blanket out on the grass, took generous helpings of fruit, cheese, and bread from the bag and gave it to his guards, and then sat and patted the space beside him.
Blue eased down next to him, her eyes still on the Wilds. “I’m afraid of what this means for Balavata.” She swallowed hard and made herself say the rest. “And I’m just afraid.”
“I know.” He leaned forward and tucked one of her curls behind her ear. “But whatever is waiting for us in the Wilds will keep for another few minutes while we eat and steady our nerves. And whatever is there, we’ll face it together.”
She leaned against his hand before she thought better of it, and his eyes softened. For a long moment, they stared at each other. He leaned closer. She caught her breath, a tiny sound that shattered the silence between them, and he jerked his hand back and looked away.
“Do you want fruit? Bread? I think there are pastries in here too, but I’m not sure. Maybe not. I forgot to check, though I know you love pastries. There might be . . . here. Take what you want. Just . . . look. Pastries.” He dumped the bag’s contents onto the blanket and then stared at the food, while her brows rose.
“Are you nervous?” she asked, her nerves still tingling, her skin alive in a way it hadn’t been a moment ago.
He’d almost kissed her again. Worse, she’d almost kissed him back. And that would mean nothing but heartbreak. Kellan wasn’t hers. Would never be hers. The fizzy feeling in her veins, the heat sparking along her skin . . . all that was trouble, and she didn’t need this kind of trouble.
Kellan grabbed a peach that was rolling toward the edge of the blanket, and then slowly looked at her again. “I don’t want to admit that you make me nervous.”
“Too nervous to seize the moment?” she asked, her stomach flipping the way it had when she’d seen him dive off her cliff.