Page 114 of This Witch Is Not Wicked

All mortals knew about the burial mounds. They also knew they couldn’t enter without an invitation or magic.

The question was: why couldn’t I enter? Panic filled me as the townspeople closed in, swords and stakes and torches pointed at me. An icy dread crept up my spine. I reached to grip for my amulet, wondering if I’d somehow drained my magic. It shouldn’t have been possible, but⁠—

My hand hit air. I looked down to see there was no amulet hanging around my neck. Impossible. It couldn’t have fallen off. In thousands of years, it never had. It only came off if someone took it off.

Then it hit me. Oh my godwitches. Vine. Vine had slithered up around my neck. It must’ve taken my amulet in an attempt to stop me from following through with this plan. And in the process, it had doomed me. I’d never taken the amulet off so I’d never known the consequences. I also had never wanted to risk finding out.

I held out my hand toward a tree that hung over the townspeople, willing it to bend over and grab them. It didn’t budge. I was well and truly dead. I couldn’t use magic. I couldn’t slip into the portal without my amulet. I couldn’t do anything but run.

I scrambled to the top of the mound, snatching a fallen branch and jabbing at the townspeople as they came closer. Maybe I could make a quick escape. Running had been an effective deterrent the first time around.

I shifted my body to move when I realized I was surrounded.

Bald Man now stood in front of me, pointing his pitchfork at my stomach. “Now you’re going to tell us exactly how you disappeared.”

It was in that moment I realized I’d made a very, very terrible mistake.

CHAPTER 46

Nevan

Something was slapping my cheek, over and over and over again. I blinked my eyes open, sunlight splashing the ceiling above, my head throbbing.

Vine hovered over me, whipping my face with its tail.

“Ow.” I swatted it and sat up. “Stop that.”

My last memories were foggy. I wasn’t sure how I’d ended up on the floor, unconscious. Maybe I’d been messing with a new potion that went awry, but I didn’t think that was it. An uneasiness had settled in my bones. Enid was usually by my side these days, and she would have intervened if I’d gotten hurt.

Vine gripped my arm and yanked me to a stand, and I had to lean against the counter. Godwitches, I felt so groggy, my eyes heavy and my body weak. My stomach rolled, and I clutched it.

“I think I might be sick.”

Vine reached out and grabbed a wooden bucket, lifting it as I bent over and emptied the contents of my stomach.

“I’m done,” I rasped, wiping my mouth, the taste of bile still on my tongue.

Vine placed the bucket on the counter while I was still bent over, trying to get my bearings. What in the fuck had happened to me?

I massaged my temples, taking a few deep, steadying breaths. I wasn’t wearing my spectacles, but I cocked my head, studying a blurry mass on the floor.

I blinked a few times and reached down to grab it, then held it up in front of my face. A syringe. A syringe had been lying on the floor, a blue liquid dripping from the needlepoint.

I jolted upward, the memories rushing back, her last words stark in my mind. I’m sorry. “Where is she?” I asked Vine, reaching for my spectacles and putting them back on my nose.

It slithered to the window, then rose and pointed in the distance. I didn’t even need to know where it was pointing.

“She’s sacrificing herself?” I asked. “She’s going to let them have her?”

Vine shook its head.

“How can this not be a sacrifice?” I threw my arm out. “She’s going to get hurt. She only has so much magic left.”

Vine shook its head again and looped its body into a circle. I wasn’t as adept as Enid at translating whatever Vine was trying to communicate.

“A circle?” I asked helplessly.

It shook its head, poking its tail through.