with the prisoner. Guilt for leaving him ate at me as I tackled my English paper, then the math. I couldn’t focus. How could I when there was a possibility that I’d actually projected into another realm? I was still a young Witch. Only powerful Witches visited the spirit world while in a trance.
Of course, I was going to find a way to save the guy. I needed a guarantee that I would come back to my body, not end up in that icy cave again. Whatever I wore or carried often appeared with me in the astral plane. I’d done it with my backpack and once with a cup of chai latte. If I carried a journey charm, it should guide my spirit back to my body. There was only one person who could provide such a charm—Doctor B, the most powerful Witch in New Orleans.
CHAPTER 5. HE KNEW ABOUT ME
EIRIK
The hunger pangs hit me hard the third day. To take my mind off food, I engaged pain runes, shed my shirt, and did crunches and push-ups until I was exhausted. The torch was barely a flicker. One more hour and I’d light the second one. I’d doused the second and third one to conserve the oil. After the third one, I’d be in total darkness.
A creak sounded outside my door and I paused to listen. Guards changing? No, someone was touching the bolts on the door. I moved closer to the door, engaging healing, speed, and strength runes. This was it. I was taking down whoever was on the other side with every force I had, then heading to the west dungeon to find Viggo. I might not know where the hell that was, but I’d find it. Once he was out of this realm, I’d be in a better position to make a deal with my mother.
The bolts snapped one after the other. I crouched low. The door opened slowly, but I was ready. It was another guard. I’d come to recognize their black outfits and cloaks. As soon as he stepped into the room, I flew at him, knocking him to the floor. Rage and the need to escape pulsed through me. I raised my fist and rammed it down.
A hand locked around my hand and stopped me. “It’s me!”
I stared down at my father. “Where have you been, and why are you dressed like a guard?”
“It was the only way I could come down here unnoticed. As for where, it’s always better to let your mother get her way. Pull me up, Son. We don’t have much time.”
I rolled off him, stood, and offered him a hand. Once up, he reached under his cloak, pulled out a water satchel, and opened the lid. I dove for it before he offered it to me and guzzled the water, some dripping down my chin to my chest.
Water had never tasted so good.
“Here,” he said, thrusting a piece of cloth in my hand. Inside it was a loaf of bread. I tore into it. The outside was hard, but the inside was soft, like French bread. It was still warm.
“Your mother has a certain way of doing things that others may find cruel and unorthodox, but her heart is in the right place and she’s always right. This time, I think she’s gone too far. I have a plan. There’s a Grimnir who will lead you out of this realm,” he whispered. “You can trust him. For the last seventeen years, he’s given me news about you, even bringing me pictures of you and your friends.”
I almost choked on the bread. I stopped eating and gawked at my father. “You’ve known where I was all these years?”
“Shhh,” he hissed. “Keep your voice down. Of course, I knew where you were. I personally approved the Sevilles, and I made sure the Norns understood what I wanted. At the time, I felt they owed me. I’d assumed what your mother and I had was just a fleeting thing. An infatuation. I didn’t know she would come to mean everything to me.”
I stared at him in shock, trying to wrap my head around what he was saying. First was the fact that he’d been involved in my kidnapping, then enabling my mother and her craziness because she was always right. Talk about whipped. And now this.
“You had a Grimnir keep an eye on me?” I asked, speaking slowly.
“He kept
Of course, I was going to find a way to save the guy. I needed a guarantee that I would come back to my body, not end up in that icy cave again. Whatever I wore or carried often appeared with me in the astral plane. I’d done it with my backpack and once with a cup of chai latte. If I carried a journey charm, it should guide my spirit back to my body. There was only one person who could provide such a charm—Doctor B, the most powerful Witch in New Orleans.
CHAPTER 5. HE KNEW ABOUT ME
EIRIK
The hunger pangs hit me hard the third day. To take my mind off food, I engaged pain runes, shed my shirt, and did crunches and push-ups until I was exhausted. The torch was barely a flicker. One more hour and I’d light the second one. I’d doused the second and third one to conserve the oil. After the third one, I’d be in total darkness.
A creak sounded outside my door and I paused to listen. Guards changing? No, someone was touching the bolts on the door. I moved closer to the door, engaging healing, speed, and strength runes. This was it. I was taking down whoever was on the other side with every force I had, then heading to the west dungeon to find Viggo. I might not know where the hell that was, but I’d find it. Once he was out of this realm, I’d be in a better position to make a deal with my mother.
The bolts snapped one after the other. I crouched low. The door opened slowly, but I was ready. It was another guard. I’d come to recognize their black outfits and cloaks. As soon as he stepped into the room, I flew at him, knocking him to the floor. Rage and the need to escape pulsed through me. I raised my fist and rammed it down.
A hand locked around my hand and stopped me. “It’s me!”
I stared down at my father. “Where have you been, and why are you dressed like a guard?”
“It was the only way I could come down here unnoticed. As for where, it’s always better to let your mother get her way. Pull me up, Son. We don’t have much time.”
I rolled off him, stood, and offered him a hand. Once up, he reached under his cloak, pulled out a water satchel, and opened the lid. I dove for it before he offered it to me and guzzled the water, some dripping down my chin to my chest.
Water had never tasted so good.
“Here,” he said, thrusting a piece of cloth in my hand. Inside it was a loaf of bread. I tore into it. The outside was hard, but the inside was soft, like French bread. It was still warm.
“Your mother has a certain way of doing things that others may find cruel and unorthodox, but her heart is in the right place and she’s always right. This time, I think she’s gone too far. I have a plan. There’s a Grimnir who will lead you out of this realm,” he whispered. “You can trust him. For the last seventeen years, he’s given me news about you, even bringing me pictures of you and your friends.”
I almost choked on the bread. I stopped eating and gawked at my father. “You’ve known where I was all these years?”
“Shhh,” he hissed. “Keep your voice down. Of course, I knew where you were. I personally approved the Sevilles, and I made sure the Norns understood what I wanted. At the time, I felt they owed me. I’d assumed what your mother and I had was just a fleeting thing. An infatuation. I didn’t know she would come to mean everything to me.”
I stared at him in shock, trying to wrap my head around what he was saying. First was the fact that he’d been involved in my kidnapping, then enabling my mother and her craziness because she was always right. Talk about whipped. And now this.
“You had a Grimnir keep an eye on me?” I asked, speaking slowly.
“He kept
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