Page 21 of A Trial By Blood

Begone. The mother hissed in my mind.

Ronan was thrown from the clearing. I watched as he jumped to his feet and tried to charge back in, to get to me, but he slammed up against an invisible barrier. The mother had locked him out.

The serpent’s massive head swung back to me. Explain yourself, witch.

I hugged myself tighter. I was going to be hypothermic soon. At least I would get my wish. I would die tonight, not the way I’d wanted, but there was no way I would live through this. First, though, I had to try to make the mother understand. “Mother, I have been s-sick…my whole life. An unexplainable illness…that my family has tirelessly tried to find a cure for. There isn’t one. I’m going to die. There is no stopping it… I am too w-weak to pass your task or fight in a magical battle. I have come here tonight to beg your mercy. To ask you not to punish my coven for something that is out of their control.”

Is your heart still beating, witch?

“Yes.” Though I didn’t think she expected an answer.

“Then save your excuses. I expected more from the sister of Willow and Iris Thornheart. I see before me a coward, ready to give up when there is much to fight for. Not all tasks require the witch to have physical strength, but all require mental strength, stubbornness, and an iron will. Your sisters did not pass their tasks alone.” Her head swiveled to Ronan standing at the edge of the clearing, his eyes locked on me. And neither will you.

Oh god, she won’t listen. She doesn’t understand. “Mother, please. Look at me, at my body. I’m close to death.”

Are you willing to use the time left to fight for your family? Your coven? Her steely gaze locked on mine. There is only one answer I will accept, witch.

I did want to fight for my family. That’s why I needed to die. If I tried to do this, I would fail. I would fail without a doubt, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. So I gave her the truth, what was in my heart, even though it was impossible. Because I would do anything for my family, even try to live for a little while longer. “Y-yes,” I choked out.

Then you must complete the task I give you by the time the vines meet. If you fail, you will be unworthy of trial, and gifts past will be returned to the mother. If you complete your task yet fail to win your trial, again, your coven’s gifts will be returned to the mother.

She spoke the words into my mind, referring to herself in the third person as she hissed and slithered closer. I knew what was coming, and I wasn’t prepared for it.

She struck fast. Her long, razor-sharp fangs sank into my left shoulder. The pain was excruciating. Then she opened her mouth, released me, spun, and slithered off.

I lay there gasping for breath as wave after wave of pain radiated through me. Demons. I could hear them in the distance. Calling to each other, coming closer. Suddenly, the cold wasn’t so bad anymore, and I closed my eyes as darkness crawled closer. I thought about Ronan, about our kiss. The darkness crowded in, closer still.

I was going to die.

This was it.

CHAPTER 7

Rose

I blinked. Then blinked again.

I was still in the field. Snow drifted all around me. No, not snow. Something gray. Ash. There was a growl and a hiss, then a thud. I turned my head.

Ronan.

He stood only a few feet from me. His shirt was gone, and he was covered in blood, and piles of ash and mutilated demons, unable to move but still alive, surrounded me. Ronan turned, scanning the clearing. His fangs were extended, and his eyes were wild, feral. Not cold, not emotionless.

I’d never seen him like that in my life.

“Ronan?” I choked.

His gaze slid to me, and he strode forward. Then, without a word, he covered me with the coat and scooped me up. “We need to get out of this clearing. My powers won’t work here anymore,” he said. Tucking me close, he ran for the edge of the clearing.

“What h-happened?”

He didn’t stop, he kept running. Fast. So fast, the forest was a blur around us. When he looked down at me, the rage I’d seen on his face was gone. The flat coldness was back in his eyes. “The demons got a head start. The block around the clearing didn’t drop until the mother was long gone. They almost reached you before I could.”

“So you…k-killed them all.”

“Yes.”

He held me tight. My hand rested on his chest, and it was slick with demon blood. God, how many had he fought on his own? He could have been killed.